EXPERIENCE 206 | Harpist to a King and Winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2011 - Meredith McCrindle and Jai McDowall drop by The LoCo Experience podcast!

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Harpist Meredith McCrindle was in northern Colorado for a few weeks this winter visiting her parents on an extended trip away from her transplanted home in Ere, Scotland.

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For a portion of the trip her close friend Jai McDowell joined her his first time in Colorado.

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I met Meredith when she was at our Rotary Club one morning, promoting her upcoming concert with Jai in Fort Collins.

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She agreed, and Valin told Jai to come on the show, and it was a whole lot of fun.

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Meredith's album, When Walls Speak, is a study on Dumfries House.

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Home to King Charles when he's in Scotland, and where she has been resident harpist for many years.

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She's also resident harpist for Trump Turnberry, Glenap Castle, Culzean Castle, and more.

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If you need an amazing harpist in Scotland, or around Europe and the world, you'd be wise to call on her.

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She's also the founder of a festival called TAMFest, a serial entrepreneur, and a business consultant.

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Jai McDowell grew up in music, and performed on stage with his father going back to his teenage years.

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After he won Britain's Got Talent in 2011, his life changed forever, and he caught amazing traction during his first year.

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When he went independent, however, he had much to learn.

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Equipped with Meredith's friendship and insights for business, he's crafted an extraordinary, world ranging career from those first opportunities and is a great case study on how talent alone isn't enough.

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Inspiring and entertaining as always, and this time with one of the world's most famous harpists, plus a friendly baritone with a fun Scottish accent.

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Enjoy.

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Let's have some fun.

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Welcome to the Low Cove Experience Podcast.

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On this show, you'll get to know business and community leaders from all around Northern Colorado and beyond.

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Our guests share their stories, business stories, life stories, stories of triumph and of tragedy, and through it all, you'll be inspired and entertained.

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These conversations are real and raw and no topics are off limits.

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So pop in a breath mint and get ready to meet our latest guest.

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And Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast.

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My guests today are Meredith McGlynn, McCrindle, McCrindle, I was, see, I was supposed to ask how to say it again before we started.

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Meredith McCrindle and Jai McDowell.

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And, uh, Meredith is Harpist to King Charles, of sorts.

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I know you're not supposed to say it quite like that.

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No, you're really not supposed to say it.

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But I can say whatever I want.

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You can correct me.

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And Jai is the winner of Britain's Got Talent season Five.

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Season five.

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And, uh, they were going to be doing a concert here in Fort Collins in a few days for one of my good friends and Rotary Club members and her non profit.

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And so I had a chance to come into the podcast.

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It's a pleasure to be here.

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Thank you for having us Kirk.

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Jai, what's uh, how would you describe your musical style?

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Like, what, what got you the prize?

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Just a big voice?

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Yeah, pretty much, pretty much.

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No, I, um, so I, I've been singing since I was very small.

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And, uh, and because of that I sort of picked up a lot of styles along the way.

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And, uh, Right before Britain's Got Talent in 2011, I had joined a few amateur dramatics groups in the area and one of those groups happened to put on a musical called Chess, which was written by Tim Rice and, uh, and Bjorn, I can't say his singing name, but the guy from ABBA.

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Okay.

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And, uh, and there was, and I, I ended up getting the main part in, uh, in that musical then that kind of ignited my love for musical theatre.

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And, and as a result of that, the song that I sang on my very first audition was called Anthem and it's from the musical chess.

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And so I, uh, I sort of, because I went on with musical theatre, I then sort of transitioned into this crossover world which was like pop but with orchestra.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Um, and for the listeners, you know, if you've ever, uh, come across Josh Groban or Susan Boyle, it's sort of the similar style to that.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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You're going to find out I'm not very cultured.

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And, um, but I say I have an inch deep in a mile wide.

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I know a little bit about a lot of things.

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Nice.

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I like that to be fair.

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Um, it's good.

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It's good.

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And, uh, yeah.

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And so I, I sang, so I sang Anthem from a musical, uh, I then sang Bring Me To Life, which was an Evanescence song, but um, but instead of being rocky, uh, again, it was with an orchestra.

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So it had a slightly different feel.

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Uh, and then in the final, uh, of Britain's Got Talent, I sang To Where You Are, which is a Josh Groban song, uh, and it was written by, uh, the songwriter Richard Marks.

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So it's a, it's a very lovely song, uh, very touching and, uh, and yeah, I'd still sing it.

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Again, with an orchestra backing?

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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So that sounds like kind of the.

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Hey, check me out.

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I got a voice that's big enough to contend with an orchestra.

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I mean, I'll take that.

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I mean, it seems like the formula just for my, you know, I've been very lucky to have performed with many an orchestra in the last.

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13 years.

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And it's, it's not something I take for granted.

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That's for sure.

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Um, you know, even though I, I do have a big voice and sometimes people turn me down because I'm too late.

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Yeah, you never know.

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I've, I've, I've almost broken some PAs, but, um, be nice to the sound engineer.

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They make you sound good, or bad, depending on where you're at.

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And so when was this?

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Uh, so, I was on Britain's Got Talent back in 2011, so It was 11.

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Almost 14 years ago.

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And then you've just been riding the coattails of that success since then?

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Yeah.

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You get to travel all around and do stuff?

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Yeah, pretty much.

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Um, I, yeah, pretty much.

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No, I've, uh, I've been, uh, all over the world.

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Yeah, I've been everywhere.

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I've been to China.

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I've, I've came here to, do they all like get careers like that?

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Like if you're actually the winner, you're pretty much got some kind of a golden goose ticket or do, or are you just better than most of the other winners that kind of, kind of sucked after that.

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I don't know if that's entirely true.

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To be fair, my journey wasn't, uh, it wasn't all plain sailing.

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It, um, you know, it started off really well and, uh, I had such a good career for about a year and then it sort of died down for a little bit and it became something that, uh, because I, I went from being, uh, how I would term it, a Joe Bloggs, so a normal guy to, to being in the music industry pretty much overnight because of the show and, uh, and so.

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In the first year, you are assigned like management, and you're assigned to Sony, uh, BMG, or whatever it may be, Syco, which is Simon Cowell's label, and you have people around you who do things for you.

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And know what the industry is like.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So, they take care of everything, and then when they go away, it's just like, oh my god, what is this?

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Interesting.

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Um, and, and I, it was, it was almost, you know, trial by fire.

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And I had to learn really quickly, um, not only What the business was all about, but also how to conduct myself, um, sure.

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And how to deal with sound engineers and, you know, tour managers, right.

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And venue managers.

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Well, if you built your career over 10 years or 15 years of slaving and out starting in clubs for 50 bucks, plus free drinks, you know, then you know all that stuff, then you know that, and, and I was, I mean, you know, it wasn't, I was very fortunate.

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My dad, uh, as a, as a singer, he, he's played in bands my entire life.

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And, uh, and so I actually did start singing with him when I was about 14.

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So I did the, the pub circuit and the working men's clubs.

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And I don't know if you have that in this country, but, um, we, you know, we, I, I wasn't totally foreign to, um, and, and I think, you know, although it was a bigger beast and the industry was bigger and it, it did open up a lot of doors to, to the rest of the world, basically, um, it was, uh, I, I wasn't green at performing as such, but it was just different.

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And uh, and so, yeah, so it's just been a lot of hard work and perseverance really.

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Um, and then, you know, you meet wonderful people like Meredith here and they bring you to the States to do gigs and it's just, it's just magic.

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Yeah.

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What a neat thing.

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We've done a lot of things.

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I've made you do a lot of things.

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You have.

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I learned a whole new word when I was, when I've been here in the States.

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Servant of sorts.

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He kind of is.

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Yeah.

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I've, I've just, I've adopted him.

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Do what Meredith says in my life is just easier.

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To be fair, you're not wrong.

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Um, I don't know.

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Easier I, uh, that's a great word.

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I learned a, a new term, uh, here in in America.

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Since I've, I got here about a week and a half ago, and it's called, it's Voluntold.

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Oh yeah.

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Not volunteered, Voluntold.

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And Meredith likes to voluntold, volun tell me?

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We, uh, make up a lot of words, and one I was just thinking about was, uh, perspiverance.

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That's a perspiration plus perseverance.

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So you gotta sweat for a long time.

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Like, you gotta work hard for a long time, and then eventually you get your business to work, or whatever that looks like.

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Yes, yep.

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Alright, Meredith, uh, the, the, not officially the I'm definitely not officially the King's Harpist at all.

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You're gonna get me beheaded.

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It's um, no, I, I have played for, um, King Charles.

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I have.

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Um, and I think I could have kind of officially say that, but you have to be careful.

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Like how many times you've played?

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Yeah, it's all very You can't really talk about who was there?

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No, no.

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Um, it's Yeah, I got in trouble for it.

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Yeah.

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Many times.

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And can you share that?

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Well, I, I can, well, I can share that story.

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So let's, let's just talk about why you're here in Fort Collins, Colorado in this podcast to do that.

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I think a little bit, maybe it's worthy that, that's a good segue too, from being fallen told.

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Well,'cause you were like, I, I'm gonna go to Colorado.

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Ja.

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Why don't you come with me and Yeah.

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Do some sing stuff.

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Well, and so my family's from Colorado.

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My mom was born and raised in Aurora.

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Um.

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I have a huge family in Loveland, and they were actually all originally from Berthed, um, and Fort Collins, and, um, so Northern Colorado is, is kind of my second home.

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Um, I grew up in Texas, but we spent every summer here.

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Oh, you were those kind of Texans.

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Yes.

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Gotcha.

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Yes.

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I like those kind of Texans.

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Oh, thanks.

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Well, I'm glad.

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Thank you.

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Like, they're way better than Californians.

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Um, but no, I mean, Colorado is definitely in my blood, and, um, so I met Jai, of course, in Scotland.

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I moved across.

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Um, to St.

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Andrew's in 2009 and then to Asure in 2011, the same year that Ja won Britain's Got Talent.

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Okay.

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I didn't actually own a TV though, so I didn't know who you were.

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I know.

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I'm really sorry.

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Terrible.

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Right?

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Terrible friend.

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Um, and were you studying music at St.

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Andrew's?

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I was.

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Studying, uh, management in the creative industries Okay.

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For my postgraduate degree.

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Okay.

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In 2009, um, it, the reason for that was I went to my undergraduate degree in New Orleans, in Louisiana.

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Mm-hmm Um, before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.

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Oh.

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So I moved there in 2004.

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Um.

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Katrina hit 2005, uh, in August, and then I, I was, you know, we, we all left.

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So, New Orleans is a beautiful place.

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The people are beautiful.

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The food is amazing.

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The music scene is awesome.

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Um, I went there to study jazz.

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Jazz is really hard, especially on harp, and it's like, and it is a thing.

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Um, but I, I turned more orchestral and, um, Hurricane Katrina hit, of course, and I actually spent that semester at CSU.

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Oh, is that right?

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Yeah.

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So I moved up here.

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Um, and then I finished, I graduated in New Orleans and it was, it was a dangerous city.

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I mean, post Hurricane Katrina, it was really hard.

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It was hard going.

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Is it still tough?

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Or less bad?

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I haven't, I haven't been back.

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Right.

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Right.

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For a long time.

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I mean, like even downtown Denver ain't what she used to be.

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Yeah.

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You know, Minneapolis, Chicago, even.

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Yeah, it's, I mean, I think all cities have their, their spots.

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I mean, I grew up outside of Houston, Houston's very similar.

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A lot of them had a rotten spot and the rotten spot just got worse.

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Really bad.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So I think the final straw for me was somebody got shot in front of my house and I thought I should probably move.

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So I started looking for safer places to live and the safest place that I found was indeed Scotland.

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Is that right?

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Is it still?

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It's, it's really safe.

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I mean.

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Well, cause we hear so much about the rape gangs and stuff in the UK.

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England.

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That's England.

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But the Scottish are like, no, you can stay over there.

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Yeah, they built a wall for a reason.

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Hadrian's wall is up for a reason.

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Uh, it's a joke.

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So I thought they were kind of subject to whatever Britain said.

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It's just too cold for the, for the Yeah, yeah.

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You have to be pretty strong to Too cold?

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It was minus 21 here like two weeks ago.

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I know but it's a different kind of cold here.

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It's dry.

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I mean to be fair I went to the gym this morning and I wore shorts.

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I know.

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You're a tough Scot.

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Your dad was like, what are you doing?

00:13:45.505 --> 00:13:57.890
I listened to a podcast recently that said that kind of the, the reason America prospered in so many ways is because the Scotch Iris blood that came over here kind of infiltrated lots of different places and made everybody tougher and smarter.

00:13:57.890 --> 00:13:58.990
That's totally true.

00:13:58.990 --> 00:13:59.630
I'll, I'll take that.

00:13:59.671 --> 00:14:00.770
It's true.

00:14:00.770 --> 00:14:03.380
The alcohol consumption was the only downside to all that.

00:14:03.380 --> 00:14:04.880
That's not a downside.

00:14:04.880 --> 00:14:05.701
Surely, no.

00:14:05.701 --> 00:14:06.125
Surely not.

00:14:06.125 --> 00:14:07.609
You've got to get through life somehow.

00:14:07.609 --> 00:14:08.033
I know.

00:14:08.033 --> 00:14:16.301
Well, and most interesting fact that I found from living in Scotland, and I love history, like wherever I go, I want to know about the history of the place and the people.

00:14:16.461 --> 00:14:23.240
And that was when Scotland's fight for independence, which we lost to the English, unfortunately.

00:14:23.270 --> 00:14:24.171
I know, I know, I know.

00:14:24.350 --> 00:14:26.110
But they were shipped out to America.

00:14:26.171 --> 00:14:28.620
They were sent on ships and said, you know, get out.

00:14:28.961 --> 00:14:31.821
And those were the same people that fought in the American Revolution.

00:14:32.201 --> 00:14:32.841
Same guys.

00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:33.850
They fought two wars.

00:14:34.711 --> 00:14:35.071
Scotland.

00:14:35.071 --> 00:14:35.671
They were kicked out.

00:14:35.671 --> 00:14:36.061
They lost.

00:14:36.061 --> 00:14:37.410
They were like, we're not losing this one.

00:14:37.770 --> 00:14:38.701
know we we're out.

00:14:38.701 --> 00:14:39.900
You get to fight those sons of bitches, kid.

00:14:39.900 --> 00:14:41.041
Yeah, let's do it.

00:14:41.041 --> 00:14:41.730
And they did.

00:14:41.730 --> 00:14:44.130
And they won the second time, you know, and we haven't met them.

00:14:44.130 --> 00:14:51.000
So really, you didn't really like research the whole world and you were like, okay, I'm moving to Scotland'cause it's safe, or you pretty No, no.

00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:51.811
It just happened that way.

00:14:51.811 --> 00:14:52.410
Some other stuff too.

00:14:52.441 --> 00:14:52.980
Yeah.

00:14:53.010 --> 00:14:53.311
Yeah.

00:14:53.311 --> 00:14:55.860
I mean, I, I moved out of, do you have family roots maybe.

00:14:56.870 --> 00:15:01.100
You have kind of a British looking face, Scott, for, for Scottish for sure, or whatever.

00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:02.931
Not British looking face.

00:15:03.230 --> 00:15:03.591
British looking.

00:15:03.591 --> 00:15:05.301
Well, I assumed you are white.

00:15:06.260 --> 00:15:06.770
Know what you mean?

00:15:06.770 --> 00:15:06.775
I know what you mean.

00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:07.370
Rele.

00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:11.870
I don't know if that's a maiden name or not, but it sounds a, a very, uh, it not uh, no, no, no, no.

00:15:12.441 --> 00:15:13.551
Les kind of a name too.

00:15:13.701 --> 00:15:14.120
Yes.

00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:14.301
No.

00:15:14.301 --> 00:15:16.191
Ryle is a, is a Scottish name.

00:15:16.191 --> 00:15:16.370
Is it?

00:15:16.551 --> 00:15:16.971
Okay.

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.260
My former husband was.

00:15:18.681 --> 00:15:19.250
It's Scottish.

00:15:19.321 --> 00:15:19.900
Um, or is.

00:15:19.931 --> 00:15:20.640
Well, he's still alive.

00:15:21.181 --> 00:15:21.780
He is Scottish.

00:15:21.780 --> 00:15:22.691
He remains Scottish.

00:15:22.691 --> 00:15:23.650
Just no longer your husband.

00:15:24.091 --> 00:15:24.390
Correct.

00:15:24.791 --> 00:15:25.571
I've got it figured out.

00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:26.610
It's a very small clan.

00:15:26.941 --> 00:15:28.971
Um, but it's a very nice name.

00:15:28.971 --> 00:15:30.280
So, um, we're going to keep the name.

00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:30.701
But, um.

00:15:30.701 --> 00:15:32.500
But that was part of the draw, at least.

00:15:32.541 --> 00:15:33.638
It was totally the draw.

00:15:33.638 --> 00:15:35.140
I mean, you could have moved to Minnesota, or.

00:15:35.280 --> 00:15:35.730
Yes.

00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:38.331
So I, I, my parents made a deal.

00:15:38.331 --> 00:15:40.571
They said, look, you know, move out of New Orleans.

00:15:40.571 --> 00:15:44.650
You can go anywhere you want for your postgraduate, for your master's degree, but get out of New Orleans.

00:15:44.681 --> 00:15:45.961
And I was like, that's fair.

00:15:46.030 --> 00:15:46.571
That's fair.

00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.510
So during the summer I went on tour with spinal tap.

00:15:49.510 --> 00:15:50.301
That was a fun story.

00:15:50.811 --> 00:15:53.510
And then, um, they said, okay, you've had fun.

00:15:53.541 --> 00:15:54.895
Let's, Let's get serious.

00:15:54.895 --> 00:15:55.926
What do you want to do?

00:15:56.015 --> 00:16:00.416
Um, as the harpist for spinal tap as I was not the harpist, I was a production coordinator.

00:16:00.416 --> 00:16:01.816
So it was actually on crew.

00:16:01.816 --> 00:16:04.145
Um, great fun, like best summer.

00:16:04.725 --> 00:16:07.005
Uh, and then I said, I want to go to London.

00:16:07.096 --> 00:16:08.135
I love London.

00:16:08.135 --> 00:16:09.375
London is brilliant.

00:16:09.446 --> 00:16:12.475
Um, to visit, to live.

00:16:12.806 --> 00:16:13.765
I didn't feel safe.

00:16:14.091 --> 00:16:15.681
I found an apartment, and I just thought.

00:16:15.681 --> 00:16:16.841
That was 15 years ago.

00:16:17.041 --> 00:16:18.701
It was not safe then.

00:16:19.221 --> 00:16:19.980
I don't think I do feel now.

00:16:20.030 --> 00:16:20.780
Yeah, I know.

00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:24.410
But at least there's cameras watching everything you do at all times.

00:16:24.510 --> 00:16:24.841
Yeah.

00:16:26.191 --> 00:16:26.490
Sorry.

00:16:26.490 --> 00:16:27.821
Everywhere.

00:16:27.821 --> 00:16:28.801
Everywhere.

00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.841
Yeah, that's totally a thing.

00:16:31.841 --> 00:16:33.331
Can't pee in the street anymore.

00:16:33.395 --> 00:16:34.765
Are you sad about that?

00:16:35.035 --> 00:16:35.495
Yeah.

00:16:37.176 --> 00:16:37.745
Actually, that's not true.

00:16:38.615 --> 00:16:39.826
I don't know why I'm bringing this up.

00:16:40.326 --> 00:16:42.346
You actually can pee in the street in London.

00:16:42.346 --> 00:16:44.066
They have urinals in the street.

00:16:44.510 --> 00:16:44.910
Stop it.

00:16:45.020 --> 00:16:45.660
Oh, I swear to God.

00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:46.730
Really?

00:16:47.130 --> 00:16:48.341
And certain points of the city.

00:16:48.341 --> 00:16:49.341
Do you know where they all are?

00:16:49.350 --> 00:16:50.230
Have you like, mapped them out?

00:16:50.591 --> 00:16:51.140
Maybe.

00:16:51.171 --> 00:16:52.951
Cause when I drink, I like to pee.

00:16:54.130 --> 00:16:57.019
I don't want to go into a place without beer yet.

00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:58.296
Anyway moving on.

00:16:58.296 --> 00:16:59.573
Are we though?

00:16:59.573 --> 00:17:01.081
You were telling a story.

00:17:02.890 --> 00:17:03.760
I don't think so.

00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:05.611
Um.

00:17:05.861 --> 00:17:07.381
I'm from North Dakota, so.

00:17:07.976 --> 00:17:12.306
Like public urination is like you just pee on the tractor tire or whatever, right?

00:17:13.046 --> 00:17:17.076
Like there's no bathrooms for eight miles at times.

00:17:17.076 --> 00:17:20.246
It must be great to be a man.

00:17:22.036 --> 00:17:31.846
Well, I flash to a thought of my wife and I take in exchange students pretty regularly because we don't have any kids of our own and just short periods of adulting, I like to call it.

00:17:32.395 --> 00:17:34.965
And we've got a young man from Finland now.

00:17:35.076 --> 00:17:35.516
Oh, nice.

00:17:35.596 --> 00:17:45.230
And, uh I don't know, months ago now, maybe in the first month he was here, Jill wasn't, Jill had a technique of going in the bathroom immediately after Lenny came out of the bathroom.

00:17:45.621 --> 00:17:48.111
of his bedroom to wake up in the morning and had to go pee.

00:17:48.260 --> 00:17:48.661
Uh huh.

00:17:48.971 --> 00:17:51.401
And I'm like, dude, pee outside.

00:17:51.411 --> 00:17:54.661
Like, there's a whole corner over there that's super private from the neighbors.

00:17:54.661 --> 00:17:56.131
It's all, whatever.

00:17:56.171 --> 00:17:56.681
He's like, no.

00:17:57.080 --> 00:17:59.730
I'm like, dude, you gotta punch your man card.

00:17:59.730 --> 00:18:00.730
You're 18 now.

00:18:01.141 --> 00:18:03.080
And, just pee outside.

00:18:03.080 --> 00:18:04.191
Just go pee outside.

00:18:04.201 --> 00:18:05.611
Like, you need to I mean, I have two boys.

00:18:05.631 --> 00:18:06.661
I, I do understand.

00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:07.171
They should.

00:18:07.300 --> 00:18:08.891
I mean, everybody should have.

00:18:09.300 --> 00:18:10.941
I mean, it doesn't mean you should do it everywhere.

00:18:11.530 --> 00:18:12.631
It's easier for men.

00:18:13.026 --> 00:18:19.776
It is easier for men, and I try to avoid, like, neighborhoods, even, like, sometimes in a commercial district or something, be like, Oh yeah, I can pee here, yeah.

00:18:21.256 --> 00:18:22.105
He might get arrested.

00:18:22.276 --> 00:18:23.056
He might get arrested.

00:18:24.296 --> 00:18:26.516
You have to have a high confidence of not being arrested.

00:18:27.385 --> 00:18:29.836
That's kind of the, that's basically the criteria.

00:18:32.086 --> 00:18:35.556
How bad do I have to pee and what's my likelihood of being arrested?

00:18:37.625 --> 00:18:38.736
I've learned so much already.

00:18:38.736 --> 00:18:39.276
I'm so sorry.

00:18:39.276 --> 00:18:39.695
I love that.

00:18:39.726 --> 00:18:40.226
I love that.

00:18:40.266 --> 00:18:41.286
That was a good segway.

00:18:42.096 --> 00:18:42.596
Is it a segway?

00:18:43.675 --> 00:18:44.226
To what?

00:18:44.645 --> 00:18:45.846
I don't know.

00:18:46.115 --> 00:18:48.955
See, that's why people listen to this podcast is the squirrel chasing.

00:18:49.246 --> 00:18:57.016
So you got hooked into this kind of Scottish music scene and, uh, And then I found this one.

00:18:57.405 --> 00:18:58.476
Um, yeah.

00:18:58.476 --> 00:18:59.931
I mean, the Scottish music scene was.

00:19:00.270 --> 00:19:15.701
I mean, I went there for a management degree, and then I met, I met Simon, my former husband, and he moved me across to the West Coast, to Ershur, where, where Jai is from, um, and so I You said I met this one like that was Like this one right here, Jai.

00:19:15.701 --> 00:19:19.060
So, um, So you're, so you are No.

00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:21.361
No, no, no, no.

00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:21.760
You're just friends.

00:19:21.760 --> 00:19:22.260
Professionally.

00:19:22.260 --> 00:19:22.431
Yes.

00:19:22.431 --> 00:19:23.211
Yes, yes, yes.

00:19:23.211 --> 00:19:24.750
Yeah, no, we're good pals.

00:19:24.790 --> 00:19:26.490
And do you have a girlfriend?

00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:27.280
Do you have a boyfriend?

00:19:27.951 --> 00:19:28.550
Uh, no.

00:19:28.590 --> 00:19:29.060
Single.

00:19:29.300 --> 00:19:29.681
Very, very single.

00:19:29.681 --> 00:19:30.570
And you're both that way?

00:19:30.621 --> 00:19:32.661
We did decide that we would have beautiful children.

00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:34.480
We did at one point.

00:19:34.931 --> 00:19:35.280
Yeah.

00:19:35.361 --> 00:19:35.611
Mm hmm.

00:19:35.711 --> 00:19:39.131
And then I realized that you potentially could move away to Colorado.

00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:39.921
Yeah, I know.

00:19:40.141 --> 00:19:44.790
But you could follow her and then you could I'm sorry.

00:19:44.891 --> 00:19:45.560
I love it.

00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:45.861
It's beautiful.

00:19:45.891 --> 00:19:46.790
It is not.

00:19:46.851 --> 00:19:47.250
It is.

00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:48.240
It's freezing.

00:19:48.411 --> 00:19:48.691
Dude.

00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:49.191
The snow.

00:19:49.230 --> 00:19:50.530
I'm trying to make a snowball.

00:19:50.550 --> 00:19:53.941
Have you been here in any time from April through October?

00:19:53.951 --> 00:19:54.800
He's never been here before.

00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:56.080
No, well then you shush.

00:19:57.520 --> 00:19:58.300
You're wrong.

00:19:58.300 --> 00:20:04.730
Like I guarantee you, if you spent a year in Colorado, you'd be like, oh my god, the weather is It's so much fucking better here all the time.

00:20:04.730 --> 00:20:05.545
It is beautiful.

00:20:05.545 --> 00:20:06.086
Fair enough.

00:20:06.086 --> 00:20:06.901
And it's sunny.

00:20:06.901 --> 00:20:11.171
I mean, I find it beautiful right now with all the snow, so I'm pretty sure in the sunshine.

00:20:11.181 --> 00:20:15.893
You guys are here, uh, this week and leaving pretty soon, like in a week from now or less.

00:20:15.923 --> 00:20:18.577
Uh, go back to the Back to Scotland.

00:20:18.587 --> 00:20:19.518
Yeah, back to Scotland.

00:20:19.518 --> 00:20:20.327
We leave on Monday.

00:20:20.377 --> 00:20:30.107
Um, but I mean, I've been here for three weeks and Jai came across and then you went up to New York and um, and visited some people and I've, I've been working.

00:20:32.788 --> 00:20:34.986
You're like, you're like someone's gran.

00:20:34.986 --> 00:20:37.013
Are you winching son?

00:20:37.013 --> 00:20:38.278
Are you winching?

00:20:39.627 --> 00:20:41.097
I don't think Kurt knows what winching means.

00:20:41.827 --> 00:20:42.478
Yeah, yeah.

00:20:42.528 --> 00:20:43.157
It's kind of like.

00:20:43.708 --> 00:20:44.617
Good Scottish words.

00:20:44.617 --> 00:20:45.377
It's a good Scottish word.

00:20:45.377 --> 00:20:45.827
I thought I'd get it.

00:20:45.827 --> 00:20:46.548
It's a good Scottish word.

00:20:46.567 --> 00:20:47.157
But um.

00:20:47.442 --> 00:20:50.952
No, I, so, just business, business stuff.

00:20:50.952 --> 00:20:54.221
I was trying to get big gigs and stuff and all that stuff.

00:20:54.221 --> 00:20:56.202
No, but you ask the question, it's fine.

00:20:56.573 --> 00:20:59.413
Uh, and then I saw some shows and, uh, yeah, met some friends.

00:20:59.813 --> 00:21:00.343
Take it, yeah.

00:21:00.393 --> 00:21:03.583
It's probably quite a interesting community to be a part of.

00:21:03.962 --> 00:21:13.788
Right, like, that kind of orchestral, like there's only What, a few thousand people that are really kind of on the front edge of that scene in the cities around the world.

00:21:13.788 --> 00:21:14.057
Yeah.

00:21:14.178 --> 00:21:14.488
Yeah.

00:21:14.528 --> 00:21:16.728
I mean, maybe you're not on the front edge.

00:21:16.758 --> 00:21:23.218
I'm not trying to network, but I mean, you've, you have performed with some amazing people who are on the forefront of that.

00:21:23.218 --> 00:21:23.528
Yeah.

00:21:24.018 --> 00:21:28.327
And I, um, and I think, you know, it's, it's New York itself.

00:21:28.327 --> 00:21:31.917
Like I've only ever been, I actually only went to New York last year for the first time.

00:21:32.567 --> 00:21:36.827
And uh, and it's one of those things as a, as a creative person, it's such a.

00:21:37.663 --> 00:21:45.732
A melting pot of just I don't know, just creative energy, yeah, just all that kind of stuff, chaos and power.

00:21:45.732 --> 00:21:47.103
All of that too.

00:21:47.272 --> 00:21:47.883
A bit of chaos.

00:21:49.083 --> 00:21:50.813
Well, but that's kind of what power is.

00:21:50.823 --> 00:21:51.702
It's really chaos.

00:21:51.702 --> 00:21:53.353
It's the word that puts it into order.

00:21:53.583 --> 00:21:54.363
Yeah.

00:21:55.012 --> 00:21:59.692
But, I mean, your story about Josh Groban's a really good one.

00:22:00.022 --> 00:22:00.343
Is it?

00:22:00.462 --> 00:22:01.032
Yeah.

00:22:01.042 --> 00:22:01.432
Okay.

00:22:01.532 --> 00:22:02.073
Because you.

00:22:02.367 --> 00:22:05.272
Oh, he out saying Josh can't, gr can't see.

00:22:05.272 --> 00:22:06.387
What if Josh is listening to this?

00:22:06.387 --> 00:22:07.288
Josh is a good guy.

00:22:07.288 --> 00:22:07.738
Well, good.

00:22:07.917 --> 00:22:08.458
Josh.

00:22:08.637 --> 00:22:08.968
Josh.

00:22:08.968 --> 00:22:09.988
Practice more.

00:22:09.988 --> 00:22:10.347
Yeah.

00:22:10.407 --> 00:22:10.708
Okay.

00:22:10.738 --> 00:22:10.978
Out.

00:22:10.978 --> 00:22:12.238
Say you anyway.

00:22:12.238 --> 00:22:13.317
And it's online.

00:22:13.827 --> 00:22:14.847
You can go and see it.

00:22:14.998 --> 00:22:15.178
Okay.

00:22:15.238 --> 00:22:17.278
Well, you're never gonna play the heart for Josh Grob, are you?

00:22:17.278 --> 00:22:19.347
I, I still, I love Josh Groins work.

00:22:19.347 --> 00:22:20.577
I'm not saying that anyway.

00:22:20.637 --> 00:22:28.788
No, I, um, so I was, um, so as I mentioned before, uh, the musical anthem, uh, yeah.

00:22:28.788 --> 00:22:30.948
He performed the part that I.

00:22:31.843 --> 00:22:32.742
I eventually played.

00:22:33.042 --> 00:22:33.373
Oh, okay.

00:22:33.462 --> 00:22:38.803
Mm-hmm So when I was practicing for that, I listened to a lot of Josh Robbin and then became a Josh Robbin fan.

00:22:38.833 --> 00:22:39.343
Oh, wow.

00:22:39.732 --> 00:22:45.853
And, uh, and then as I said, I sang, you surpassed him Now his song Well, it's a good story though way.

00:22:45.883 --> 00:22:48.617
I, I, I sang his song on Britain's good talent.

00:22:49.143 --> 00:23:09.692
And then, uh, Twitter was in its infancy then, and he tweeted that I'd just sang his song on national TV, and I was like, oh my god, this is, oh my god, and uh, and so then, anyway, fast forward from June till I think October time, I had actually already bought tickets to go and see him in Glasgow, because he was on tour.

00:23:10.637 --> 00:23:19.028
And, uh, and I thought, I'm going to be really cheeky, I'm going to text my management, and I'm going to be like, can I meet this guy, because I'm a massive fan, and he tweeted about me, and blah, blah, blah.

00:23:19.948 --> 00:23:28.837
And, uh, and actually at this point, so I'd been working solidly for months at this point, because after the show, you just, you get management, they're like, can we have your diary?

00:23:28.837 --> 00:23:31.117
And you're like, yeah, can you make me money?

00:23:31.117 --> 00:23:31.407
Of course you can.

00:23:32.208 --> 00:23:40.413
And, uh, And so I did, and I hadn't really been home and hung out with my mates, you know, in a long, long time.

00:23:40.413 --> 00:23:48.212
So I was at a house party, I had a drink in my hand, I thought I'm going to be really cheeky, I'm going to text my manager and ask him if I can meet Josh on Sunday.

00:23:49.002 --> 00:23:54.242
And uh, and he says, Oh, let me, let me make some calls, see what I can figure it out.

00:23:54.242 --> 00:24:00.012
And about 20 minutes later, he texts me back and said, how do you, oh no, that's a lie.

00:24:00.012 --> 00:24:01.012
He, he, he.

00:24:01.508 --> 00:24:05.248
called me and said, how do you fancy singing with josh on sunday?

00:24:05.708 --> 00:24:06.698
And I was like, fuck me.

00:24:07.428 --> 00:24:11.188
So I then put my drink down and all my friends were like, oh, what now?

00:24:11.508 --> 00:24:12.387
Come on.

00:24:12.928 --> 00:24:14.867
And I was like, I can't tell them.

00:24:14.867 --> 00:24:15.518
I can't tell them.

00:24:15.518 --> 00:24:15.827
I can't.

00:24:15.897 --> 00:24:20.057
And then I just ended up having to tell them so that they left me alone because they were still trying to give me a drink.

00:24:20.117 --> 00:24:20.657
Right, right.

00:24:20.807 --> 00:24:23.087
And uh, and it was, it was incredible.

00:24:23.117 --> 00:24:29.928
But one of the things that I remember because on the show, they take the song that you sing and they cut it down.

00:24:31.147 --> 00:24:32.958
So that it's, you know, good for TV.

00:24:32.958 --> 00:24:33.478
Sure, sure.

00:24:34.117 --> 00:24:39.387
Then I was like, Oh, I'm going to have to learn the whole thing by Sunday.

00:24:40.538 --> 00:24:51.218
So anyway, turned up on Sunday and I, at the time, coming off the show, my gig uniform as such was like ripped jeans, a t shirt and a leather jacket.

00:24:51.268 --> 00:24:51.607
Okay.

00:24:51.998 --> 00:24:55.448
And I turned up in this, uh, these jeans, t shirt and leather jacket.

00:24:55.448 --> 00:24:59.827
My mum's absolutely furious because she got, managed to get tickets to come.

00:25:00.067 --> 00:25:02.907
Oh, she thought you should be upping it a little bit.

00:25:03.438 --> 00:25:03.917
Suit.

00:25:03.998 --> 00:25:11.827
Yeah, so Josh is there in his lovely suit and it's his tour so he's dead relaxed, whereas I'm like, oh my god, this guy is pretty much my idol at this point.

00:25:11.917 --> 00:25:12.077
Yeah.

00:25:12.548 --> 00:25:15.508
Um, and I'm, I'm genuinely, I'm shitting myself.

00:25:15.508 --> 00:25:26.028
Like, if you go onto YouTube and you see it, he's swanning around and I'm standing there holding the, the microphone with two hands just staring into this massive audience.

00:25:26.028 --> 00:25:26.657
Terrified.

00:25:27.028 --> 00:25:27.807
Yeah, pretty much.

00:25:27.807 --> 00:25:31.317
Not really terrified, but intimidated by the scene at least.

00:25:31.317 --> 00:25:33.508
I was, I was definitely nervous anyway.

00:25:33.548 --> 00:25:34.577
And I mean, Josh was lovely.

00:25:34.577 --> 00:25:40.433
We, we ended up meeting before the show to run through the song and, and it was lovely and he was great and he was so relaxed.

00:25:40.433 --> 00:25:41.768
Whereas I was just like, Oh my God.

00:25:42.508 --> 00:25:42.958
No.

00:25:43.807 --> 00:25:47.847
Um, and yeah, and then it got recorded and put up on YouTube.

00:25:47.907 --> 00:25:57.887
It got recorded, put up on YouTube and to be honest, there are points in the song and even my mom and dad say this, they can't tell if it's him or me and even I can't tell if it's him or me.

00:25:57.938 --> 00:25:59.097
So were you going back and forth?

00:25:59.127 --> 00:25:59.438
Yeah.

00:25:59.438 --> 00:26:00.367
So we were singing different bits.

00:26:00.548 --> 00:26:00.968
Okay, cool.

00:26:01.028 --> 00:26:02.948
And I'm like, is that, is that me?

00:26:03.008 --> 00:26:03.978
Is my mouth moving?

00:26:04.488 --> 00:26:06.097
Um, that's really cool.

00:26:06.097 --> 00:26:06.768
That's a really neat bit.

00:26:06.778 --> 00:26:08.988
There is a, there is a bit in the song, which.

00:26:09.988 --> 00:26:19.117
Does make me feel a bit proud because you can tell that he's obviously went holy shit that guy can actually sing this song Yeah, yeah, because I went for a big note and then he comes in and goes What the fuck?

00:26:21.897 --> 00:26:25.958
But no, he was great and it was such a lovely experience at the time.

00:26:26.067 --> 00:26:26.137
Yeah.

00:26:26.137 --> 00:26:28.167
Yeah, and Cool thing.

00:26:28.307 --> 00:26:31.377
Yeah, and have you ever connected with him further?

00:26:31.377 --> 00:26:43.508
I assume you have some Yeah, just social media really, um, I, I don't know, you know, he's been on Broadway and things like that, but I've never been around at the time, um, to, to kind of go and catch a show.

00:26:43.518 --> 00:26:48.768
Well, in Scotland, it's probably not the, in Britain even in general, is it leading edge for?

00:26:49.313 --> 00:26:51.472
culture these days, or?

00:26:51.772 --> 00:26:54.103
I mean, we get, we, we do pretty well.

00:26:54.103 --> 00:27:03.583
I suppose London always is, because they've got the aristocracy that always goes and does that stuff, because they've got money coming from some side channel from the crown from who knows how long ago.

00:27:04.492 --> 00:27:05.750
But, um, but no, we get.

00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:06.813
Yeah, we already talked about that.

00:27:06.843 --> 00:27:10.143
We have a good music scene in, in like Glasgow and Edinburgh and things like that.

00:27:10.143 --> 00:27:20.036
Like, we've, we've got, Fantastic venues and a lot of big artists like, you know, we've, we had Taylor Swift last year, Hattie Stiles, you know, like massive, massive artists from around the world.

00:27:20.036 --> 00:27:21.459
How big is Glasgow?

00:27:21.459 --> 00:27:23.594
Um, you're pretty, she's probably bigger.

00:27:23.594 --> 00:27:26.440
I can tell you the population of Scotland.

00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:28.575
Of course you can't, I can't.

00:27:28.575 --> 00:27:29.642
Which is 5.

00:27:29.642 --> 00:27:30.397
6 million people.

00:27:30.397 --> 00:27:33.038
Okay, so just about the same as Colorado, really.

00:27:33.117 --> 00:27:33.678
It is.

00:27:34.167 --> 00:27:35.518
Which is also about the same as Finland.

00:27:35.932 --> 00:27:36.712
Oh, there you go.

00:27:36.772 --> 00:27:37.002
Yeah.

00:27:37.053 --> 00:27:37.722
Nice.

00:27:37.782 --> 00:27:38.212
Yeah.

00:27:38.252 --> 00:27:40.222
It's also about the same as Houston.

00:27:40.542 --> 00:27:40.982
Right.

00:27:41.143 --> 00:27:41.482
Yeah.

00:27:41.623 --> 00:27:45.482
I mean, that's, that's how I equate it, but it was called in such a small country.

00:27:45.492 --> 00:27:50.462
If you laid out Houston, metropolitan Houston, it would stretch from coast to coast.

00:27:50.542 --> 00:27:51.063
No shit.

00:27:51.123 --> 00:27:51.303
Yeah.

00:27:51.303 --> 00:27:53.137
Like Houston could just about cover just Yeah.

00:27:54.528 --> 00:27:55.307
Oh, that's interesting.

00:27:55.307 --> 00:27:59.647
So Scotland is almost as dense in population as Houston.

00:27:59.837 --> 00:28:00.038
Yes.

00:28:01.988 --> 00:28:02.988
Oh, that's insane.

00:28:03.127 --> 00:28:07.837
Because when I think about Scotland, I think about all these little ranchettes and stuff and whatever.

00:28:07.867 --> 00:28:10.258
And there is a lot of that, but Houston also just sprawls.

00:28:10.667 --> 00:28:12.317
Houston, you are in city.

00:28:12.587 --> 00:28:14.897
Like there's a lot of unbuilt stuff for a long ways in Houston too.

00:28:14.898 --> 00:28:15.557
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:28:15.607 --> 00:28:15.837
Huh.

00:28:15.857 --> 00:28:16.728
What a fascinating thing.

00:28:16.857 --> 00:28:17.347
Yeah.

00:28:17.722 --> 00:28:21.143
Well, I guess we won't play Scotland trivia with, with you though, John.

00:28:21.502 --> 00:28:22.692
You can play with me though.

00:28:22.732 --> 00:28:30.442
I genuinely have said this many, many times, Meredith knows more about Scotland and Scottish history than I do.

00:28:30.472 --> 00:28:34.722
And I grew up there like it's mental and it's not because I don't listen in school.

00:28:36.482 --> 00:28:36.813
Yeah.

00:28:37.292 --> 00:28:38.583
Well, the things you took for granted.

00:28:38.643 --> 00:28:39.613
She was researching.

00:28:39.663 --> 00:28:40.413
You're just used to it.

00:28:40.502 --> 00:28:40.748
So that's it.

00:28:40.748 --> 00:28:45.782
And I, and I actually, uh, met at the stud and I went to Jack's today.

00:28:45.782 --> 00:28:46.957
I bought myself a nice set of jeans.

00:28:46.957 --> 00:28:48.058
Oh, it's a nice place, isn't it?

00:28:48.058 --> 00:28:48.373
And, uh.

00:28:48.373 --> 00:28:50.772
It used to be literally like a military surplus store.

00:28:50.772 --> 00:28:51.452
Oh, really?

00:28:51.532 --> 00:28:51.673
Okay.

00:28:51.682 --> 00:28:56.053
Like, they had like that kind of stuff when it first opened and a little bit of other stuff.

00:28:56.053 --> 00:28:58.992
Now it's all like Patagonia and fanciest fishing rods.

00:28:59.853 --> 00:29:00.432
But it's a great story.

00:29:00.472 --> 00:29:02.583
Well, yeah, but I went and bought myself some nice new jeans.

00:29:02.633 --> 00:29:02.923
Okay.

00:29:02.952 --> 00:29:03.103
Is it those ones?

00:29:03.673 --> 00:29:04.252
No, it's not.

00:29:04.532 --> 00:29:05.663
Those ones look really nice too.

00:29:05.702 --> 00:29:06.653
Um, thank you.

00:29:06.752 --> 00:29:07.563
I will take that.

00:29:07.563 --> 00:29:08.712
I don't know where they're from, but here we are.

00:29:08.923 --> 00:29:09.883
Anyway, nice pair of Wranglers.

00:29:11.333 --> 00:29:11.722
I like it.

00:29:11.823 --> 00:29:34.708
However, I, uh, I actually had that very conversation with your dad today about, uh, Um, the fact that because I'm here in Colorado, my Instagram feed is all, you know, Colorado, but it keeps coming up and saying, you know, my morning commute and then I realized I live in Colorado and it just opens up into the mountains and I was like, do you know, it's one of the things that although.

00:29:35.272 --> 00:29:36.452
You know, I live in Scotland.

00:29:36.732 --> 00:29:45.702
The reason I still live there, like, as I say, I travel around all the time and I constantly get asked why I don't live in London or why I don't live in New York or why I don't live in LA.

00:29:46.212 --> 00:29:49.962
Um, and I'm like, cause do you want to see where I live?

00:29:49.963 --> 00:29:59.563
Do you want to see the beaches and the mountains and the hills and just, and yeah, it's cold and it's wet, but we wouldn't have the landscape we have if it wasn't.

00:29:59.752 --> 00:30:08.232
So it's, um, It's such, it is such a beautiful place to live, um, but also, I mean, as I said, so is Colorado, like, coming over the mountain.

00:30:08.232 --> 00:30:08.873
It's so different.

00:30:08.873 --> 00:30:10.173
Oh, it's so beautiful.

00:30:10.373 --> 00:30:15.833
Oh, we're just a desert, though, in comparison, you know, that gets fed by a few veins of water that come out of it.

00:30:15.923 --> 00:30:16.333
Yeah.

00:30:16.333 --> 00:30:16.883
Out of those mountains.

00:30:16.893 --> 00:30:20.232
Yeah, but you have a lot more sunshine, and that's true.

00:30:20.682 --> 00:30:22.583
So, Meredith, talk to me about Scotland.

00:30:23.067 --> 00:30:27.897
Like, from an American standpoint, because you've lived there, what, most of the last 10 years?

00:30:27.948 --> 00:30:30.407
Uh, this will be my 16th.

00:30:30.407 --> 00:30:30.438
16 years.

00:30:30.439 --> 00:30:30.518
Dang.

00:30:30.518 --> 00:30:32.968
Yeah, 16 years this year.

00:30:32.998 --> 00:30:33.397
Yeah.

00:30:33.428 --> 00:30:36.303
So, I mean, are you, do you have A green card?

00:30:36.313 --> 00:30:37.403
Do you have citizenship?

00:30:37.413 --> 00:30:39.042
I actually, I have a passport.

00:30:39.462 --> 00:30:40.313
Yes, I have citizenship.

00:30:40.314 --> 00:30:43.123
You're dual citizen.

00:30:43.123 --> 00:30:45.762
Is that allowed because of family heritage in Scotland?

00:30:45.772 --> 00:30:46.653
Or because you went?

00:30:46.873 --> 00:30:48.303
Because I paid for it.

00:30:48.512 --> 00:30:49.833
I've done my time.

00:30:49.834 --> 00:30:53.143
I didn't know America allowed you to do dual citizenship.

00:30:53.482 --> 00:30:54.032
They do.

00:30:54.034 --> 00:30:54.613
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:54.613 --> 00:30:57.022
You can have dual citizenship with Great Britain.

00:30:57.053 --> 00:31:01.113
Um, but I have twin boys who are also dual citizens.

00:31:01.123 --> 00:31:02.452
So we kind of go back and forth.

00:31:02.453 --> 00:31:04.863
Um, so I really wanted to have citizenship.

00:31:04.923 --> 00:31:10.012
Um, and then I went through five different visas.

00:31:10.022 --> 00:31:15.472
I mean, I've, I've, I've done my time, but now I have the passport, so I don't have to ever do it again, which is great.

00:31:15.972 --> 00:31:17.712
Uh, Scotland's a great country.

00:31:17.722 --> 00:31:18.742
It's, it's beautiful.

00:31:18.742 --> 00:31:19.863
The people are great.

00:31:19.893 --> 00:31:23.948
Um, the, the food is, Questionable.

00:31:23.948 --> 00:31:25.117
Questionable.

00:31:25.407 --> 00:31:26.117
Uh, haggis, haggis.

00:31:26.118 --> 00:31:27.317
Is it just bad ingredients?

00:31:27.557 --> 00:31:28.807
I know, I was going to say.

00:31:28.807 --> 00:31:30.502
They just don't really have any good vegetables?

00:31:30.502 --> 00:31:31.776
No, we do have good vegetables.

00:31:31.776 --> 00:31:33.478
We do have good vegetables, to be fair.

00:31:33.647 --> 00:31:34.508
Just bad recipes?

00:31:34.518 --> 00:31:35.587
It's just variety.

00:31:35.587 --> 00:31:35.907
We were kidding.

00:31:36.268 --> 00:31:36.563
We were kidding.

00:31:36.563 --> 00:31:38.438
It's just like, there's not much of a variety.

00:31:38.438 --> 00:31:41.157
Do you like shepherd's pie or the bagers and mash?

00:31:41.667 --> 00:31:42.867
I mean, shepherd's pie.

00:31:42.868 --> 00:31:44.075
I love shepherd's pie.

00:31:44.075 --> 00:31:45.280
British kind of style.

00:31:45.280 --> 00:31:46.788
Yeah, both of them are.

00:31:46.788 --> 00:31:47.994
That's more like England.

00:31:47.994 --> 00:31:48.297
England.

00:31:48.297 --> 00:31:49.502
Yeah, it's definitely English.

00:31:50.373 --> 00:31:58.762
I want to hear from you more, especially like, talk to me about the dynamic among, like you said, there's not an immigration problem in Scotland and there is in England.

00:31:58.803 --> 00:32:00.603
Is it really just because it's too cold?

00:32:01.093 --> 00:32:01.702
Oh, I don't know.

00:32:01.702 --> 00:32:02.292
Or it's not really.

00:32:02.292 --> 00:32:02.633
Or it is.

00:32:02.643 --> 00:32:04.452
There actually is challenges there, too.

00:32:04.923 --> 00:32:07.522
Like, how much independence does Scotland have from Oh, man.

00:32:07.522 --> 00:32:09.673
That's a whole nother kettle of fish.

00:32:09.932 --> 00:32:10.182
Yeah.

00:32:10.202 --> 00:32:14.022
The independence movement in Scotland, well, I mean, it got a lot of traction.

00:32:14.022 --> 00:32:14.462
It did.

00:32:14.603 --> 00:32:15.353
About what?

00:32:15.363 --> 00:32:15.823
It failed.

00:32:15.893 --> 00:32:17.542
It failed again.

00:32:17.962 --> 00:32:19.333
Um, about six years ago?

00:32:19.373 --> 00:32:19.762
Yeah.

00:32:19.883 --> 00:32:26.343
About six years ago, there was So the Scots would like to Many Scots, at least, would like to be independent, but That is the conversation.

00:32:26.343 --> 00:32:27.022
I, I don't know.

00:32:27.022 --> 00:32:27.813
I mean, they didn't win.

00:32:28.282 --> 00:32:30.813
So there wasn't a popular vote, it just, it didn't win.

00:32:30.813 --> 00:32:34.163
Do you think the Brits are, by and large, happy about Brexit?

00:32:34.212 --> 00:32:36.972
Or do they think, shit, we fucked up there?

00:32:37.762 --> 00:32:38.532
You can answer that one.

00:32:38.712 --> 00:32:41.103
Oh, well, I personally am not.

00:32:41.413 --> 00:32:43.113
And only because You think it was a bad idea?

00:32:43.292 --> 00:32:45.153
Well, it's harder.

00:32:45.173 --> 00:32:49.133
Yes, it's harder from, well, from a visa point of view.

00:32:49.133 --> 00:32:49.573
Totally.

00:32:49.613 --> 00:32:53.587
Um, musicians Well, maybe just from an economic, uh, competition.

00:32:53.998 --> 00:32:59.347
Because you could kind of be the big swingin dick in the European Union, and now you're just a little wussy England.

00:32:59.377 --> 00:32:59.657
Yeah.

00:33:00.028 --> 00:33:01.728
No offense to the language.

00:33:01.729 --> 00:33:03.567
We don't live in England.

00:33:04.377 --> 00:33:05.218
Right, yeah, exactly.

00:33:05.218 --> 00:33:05.857
I can't get thrown in.

00:33:05.907 --> 00:33:07.238
I'm not gonna go visit anyway.

00:33:08.028 --> 00:33:16.103
But no, I think, you know, from Again, from my personal point and from friends points of views, things like that as musicians.

00:33:16.173 --> 00:33:17.053
It's just difficult.

00:33:17.123 --> 00:33:23.903
It makes things so much harder and costlier to travel and tour and all that stuff.

00:33:23.903 --> 00:33:24.843
So yeah.

00:33:25.968 --> 00:33:30.557
And there are, there are other implications, like, you know, import, export, all that stuff.

00:33:30.557 --> 00:33:30.847
Sure.

00:33:31.147 --> 00:33:31.228
Yeah.

00:33:31.268 --> 00:33:34.157
And so How much you gotta pay for your eggs, whatever.

00:33:34.417 --> 00:33:34.438
Yeah.

00:33:34.438 --> 00:33:41.938
Well, and that Whether it's eggs or your They've been good about that, and that's something that I've noticed between the states and the UK.

00:33:41.939 --> 00:33:46.917
The UK's been great about keeping, kind of, some cost of living items down, like food.

00:33:46.958 --> 00:33:47.077
Okay.

00:33:47.347 --> 00:33:51.268
So our, I mean, you can buy a loaf of bread for 85p, which is great.

00:33:51.347 --> 00:33:51.577
Yeah.

00:33:51.938 --> 00:33:52.167
Yeah, yeah.

00:33:52.198 --> 00:33:57.607
However Our utilities, like gas and electric is astronomical.

00:33:57.758 --> 00:34:01.448
I pay like$360 damn pounds a month.

00:34:01.508 --> 00:34:02.167
It stupid.

00:34:02.167 --> 00:34:06.157
And your dad was explaining to me about, do you just call it gas petrol?

00:34:06.607 --> 00:34:07.153
Like gas?

00:34:07.417 --> 00:34:08.318
Gas, gasoline.

00:34:08.467 --> 00:34:09.068
So talk.

00:34:09.277 --> 00:34:09.547
Oh, yeah.

00:34:09.577 --> 00:34:09.788
Okay.

00:34:09.788 --> 00:34:11.197
Felix talking about gas.

00:34:12.007 --> 00:34:17.617
We are petrol and diesel, but Uhhuh, he was like, here, user by the gallon and we By the liter.

00:34:17.623 --> 00:34:17.992
Oh yeah, by the liter.

00:34:17.998 --> 00:34:18.038
Yeah.

00:34:18.038 --> 00:34:18.487
Same price.

00:34:18.487 --> 00:34:19.538
So it's, yeah.

00:34:19.902 --> 00:34:24.713
So I'm like, Oh my God, you figure out how much we get four times as much almost for the same.

00:34:24.713 --> 00:34:29.362
So in some ways, you know, it swings and roundabouts, it's just, you know, whatever.

00:34:29.422 --> 00:34:31.213
We did have an increase though.

00:34:31.342 --> 00:34:32.503
Was it last year?

00:34:32.702 --> 00:34:35.472
Maybe this year, 45 percent tax.

00:34:35.813 --> 00:34:37.422
Oh, that was, was that last year?

00:34:37.523 --> 00:34:37.873
That was last year.

00:34:37.873 --> 00:34:38.632
On gas?

00:34:38.762 --> 00:34:39.682
No, in general.

00:34:39.684 --> 00:34:42.293
In general, 45 percent tax.

00:34:42.353 --> 00:34:43.382
So it's been increased.

00:34:43.583 --> 00:34:44.032
Oh damn.

00:34:44.112 --> 00:34:44.572
Uh huh.

00:34:44.612 --> 00:34:45.012
Yeah.

00:34:45.032 --> 00:34:47.463
And so I'm going, Colorado looks really good right now.

00:34:47.463 --> 00:34:48.262
Right or Wyoming?

00:34:48.302 --> 00:34:48.992
Yeah.

00:34:48.994 --> 00:34:49.021
Yeah.

00:34:49.021 --> 00:34:49.047
Yeah.

00:34:49.708 --> 00:34:58.717
One of the things I, I, I read a monthly blog, um, and after like, I guess it's been going on for like six, seven years now.

00:34:59.027 --> 00:35:06.438
And after, like, Germany shut down all its reactors and then, you know, all the climate stuff and this and that.

00:35:06.438 --> 00:35:12.318
And I, I wrote that, uh, Europe has cut its hands off, cut its own hands off to save itself from sinning.

00:35:13.588 --> 00:35:13.858
Wow.

00:35:13.858 --> 00:35:20.318
Like in its attempt to be climate aware and stuff, it's like, Oh, let's just ruin our manufacturing industry.

00:35:21.027 --> 00:35:27.378
Uh, sorry, BMW, Mercedes, uh, Siemens, um, all these other things.

00:35:27.378 --> 00:35:32.318
It's like, you're going to have to live with, you're going to have to try to compete with energy that costs four times as much now.

00:35:32.398 --> 00:35:32.878
Yeah.

00:35:32.947 --> 00:35:36.777
Well, and, and Aberdeen is, is our oil city in, in Scotland.

00:35:36.797 --> 00:35:37.597
Oh, you do have one.

00:35:37.927 --> 00:35:38.527
So that's good.

00:35:38.538 --> 00:35:38.597
Yeah.

00:35:38.748 --> 00:35:52.463
Well, but I mean, we also have a huge green initiative that's, That's, that's championed by the Scottish government, so it's Right, well, then there's policies that say, well, trees are sustainable, if you grow trees and burn them, that's sustainable energy.

00:35:52.472 --> 00:36:00.742
And you're like, well, yeah, it's a whole, it's a whole thing, like, like, like God turned the dinosaurs and some trees into oil for us.

00:36:00.742 --> 00:36:02.143
Like, we could just go straight to that.

00:36:02.172 --> 00:36:02.583
Yeah.

00:36:02.632 --> 00:36:04.273
Anyway, it's really interesting.

00:36:04.282 --> 00:36:06.492
And I'll kind of circle back.

00:36:06.782 --> 00:36:14.527
It's that So, in Ayrshire, where, where we live, um, Which is what, like an outer suburb from the big city?

00:36:14.568 --> 00:36:17.907
Well, it's about, it's 45 minutes south of Glasgow on the coast.

00:36:17.907 --> 00:36:20.217
So we live really close to, to the beach.

00:36:20.228 --> 00:36:21.137
Kind of the sweet spot.

00:36:21.157 --> 00:36:22.208
It is, it's gorgeous.

00:36:22.467 --> 00:36:23.108
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:36:23.108 --> 00:36:25.347
The choice city of Scotland, if you will.

00:36:25.427 --> 00:36:25.737
Ayr.

00:36:26.648 --> 00:36:35.672
Like we're the choice city of, uh, I don't know, I think Edinburgh would be, but, but, oh, no, Edinburgh is beautiful.

00:36:35.713 --> 00:36:36.952
Glasgow people are amazing.

00:36:38.302 --> 00:36:42.143
But my point is about climate change is that, it's okay.

00:36:42.632 --> 00:36:49.672
I know you, um, so where we stay in Errishire, it's not really a tourist destination.

00:36:49.682 --> 00:36:54.702
I mean, it can be, and a lot of places are, and I think that it should have more tourism to it.

00:36:56.268 --> 00:37:04.547
What I found amazing from living there is It's all of, not only all of the sites, but there is initiative happening within Dumfries House.

00:37:04.557 --> 00:37:06.617
And Dumfries House is owned by the King's Foundation.

00:37:07.208 --> 00:37:11.557
Um, and that's one of King Charles's residence in Scotland.

00:37:11.657 --> 00:37:11.987
Yeah.

00:37:12.458 --> 00:37:21.938
Um, but he is a, a huge advocate for climate, you know, eco friendly materials and, and building things that are Well, I kinda am too.

00:37:21.958 --> 00:37:23.547
Like, I like really good insulation.

00:37:23.617 --> 00:37:23.797
Yeah.

00:37:24.217 --> 00:37:24.507
Right?

00:37:24.717 --> 00:37:26.018
Well, especially when you live in Colorado.

00:37:26.027 --> 00:37:26.577
Walking.

00:37:26.579 --> 00:37:27.338
Yeah.

00:37:27.338 --> 00:37:28.518
Walking when you can.

00:37:28.902 --> 00:37:29.172
Yeah.

00:37:29.172 --> 00:37:29.833
Do that instead.

00:37:29.833 --> 00:37:34.902
Like, I'm definitely a limited use, but it's also utility.

00:37:34.932 --> 00:37:36.913
Well, and it's reducing the carbon footprint.

00:37:37.112 --> 00:37:37.222
Right.

00:37:37.222 --> 00:37:43.103
And, and I think Scotland's really good at that because we do grow, especially in Ayrshire, we do grow a lot of vegetables.

00:37:43.103 --> 00:37:44.273
There's a lot of farms.

00:37:44.273 --> 00:37:46.110
There are a lot of, I would say, ranches.

00:37:46.110 --> 00:37:47.889
You're not importing your vegetables from China.

00:37:47.889 --> 00:37:48.144
No.

00:37:48.144 --> 00:37:50.023
I mean, we, we do, but it's not.

00:37:50.387 --> 00:37:53.318
It's not as prolific as you would find in other areas.

00:37:53.648 --> 00:37:56.557
Um, and that's one of the champions of, of being in Ayrshire.

00:37:56.557 --> 00:37:58.137
I really find Ayrshire potatoes.

00:37:58.228 --> 00:37:59.838
Like, you know, you know where they come from.

00:37:59.838 --> 00:38:00.597
They come from the farm.

00:38:00.668 --> 00:38:00.958
Right.

00:38:00.958 --> 00:38:09.588
Well, that's one of the things I love about Northern Colorado is, well, just in general, like localizing economies, like we've got this whole movement towards globalization.

00:38:09.597 --> 00:38:17.458
And that's nice that I can get stuff off of Timu if I want to, uh, the quality might not be there, but there was a.

00:38:17.474 --> 00:38:25.063
40, 000 square foot warehouse that burned a Timu warehouse and 800 worth of inventory was destroyed.

00:38:25.063 --> 00:38:29.532
Oh, well, I mean, keeping costs down.

00:38:30.882 --> 00:38:33.163
So, anyway, where was I going with the prior statement?

00:38:33.163 --> 00:38:37.333
I left it off at, uh, You were talking about farms.

00:38:37.333 --> 00:38:39.413
I was talking about localizing the economy.

00:38:39.922 --> 00:38:44.532
Yeah, like within about 100 miles of here, we've got all these vegetables.

00:38:44.552 --> 00:38:45.742
We've got oil.

00:38:46.108 --> 00:38:57.157
We've got energy industry, we've got universities, we've got culture, we've got music, we've got a bunch of different, like we've got beef, and pork, and a ton of, uh, product.

00:38:57.217 --> 00:39:01.728
And so we have really everything we need within a hundred miles of here, by and large.

00:39:01.818 --> 00:39:02.197
Yeah.

00:39:02.257 --> 00:39:02.668
You know?

00:39:02.737 --> 00:39:03.387
Yeah, for sure.

00:39:03.427 --> 00:39:14.143
Um, and so that's a great way to be thoughtful about how far away do you have to get your stuff from, because when you get it from locals and those people, Get money yeah, and they can spend it at your business exactly.

00:39:14.213 --> 00:39:18.443
No and the same thing in Scotland And that's part of the strength of Scotland.

00:39:18.443 --> 00:39:33.262
I assume just in general is because it's Expensive to bring something over to that island so might as well try to figure out how to grow it or make it here Yeah, yeah, definitely the sustainability is the big initiative that has happened, but isn't that the right thing to do?

00:39:33.643 --> 00:39:35.543
Even without rules, does it say you have to do it?

00:39:35.672 --> 00:39:36.103
I don't know.

00:39:37.242 --> 00:39:38.652
Yeah, I would say so.

00:39:38.793 --> 00:39:45.762
Yeah, I think, I, yeah, I mean, I, I've Feels like you do more with awareness than you could with rules in that space.

00:39:47.322 --> 00:39:52.682
So, when I was a kid, and you probably wouldn't have had it in this country, but there was a show called Captain Planet.

00:39:53.262 --> 00:39:54.523
Oh, yeah, we had Captain Planet.

00:39:54.532 --> 00:39:55.273
No way, did you?

00:39:55.273 --> 00:39:56.327
Of course it is.

00:39:56.327 --> 00:39:57.644
I'm so happy about this.

00:39:57.644 --> 00:39:58.697
Captain Planet was American.

00:39:58.858 --> 00:39:59.277
Was he?

00:39:59.347 --> 00:39:59.568
Yeah.

00:39:59.987 --> 00:40:00.708
I don't remember this.

00:40:00.708 --> 00:40:01.228
I was tiny.

00:40:01.568 --> 00:40:09.637
Anyway, so I, um, so basically I loved that show and from a very young age I was, you know, a letter picker.

00:40:09.708 --> 00:40:14.467
I was, you know, I'd do all that stuff and then when recycling, I was recycling before recycling was a thing.

00:40:14.478 --> 00:40:14.858
Sure.

00:40:14.878 --> 00:40:20.447
Do you know, and it was because my mom and dad would always be like, oh, you better pick that up.

00:40:20.447 --> 00:40:21.818
Captain Planet's going to get you.

00:40:21.847 --> 00:40:22.197
Right.

00:40:22.347 --> 00:40:28.838
And, uh, And my mom and dad just like, my mom always tells stories about how my, my, my trousers would always be full of rubbish.

00:40:28.898 --> 00:40:33.378
She'd have to empty, you know, like all that sort of stuff and so that, I love it.

00:40:33.838 --> 00:40:37.407
That's sort of, um, it's sort of been a thing since I was a kid.

00:40:37.858 --> 00:40:45.157
I know, like I've got kids in the family and they grow up and, and at school they have like, you know, eco warriors and all these sort of things.

00:40:45.157 --> 00:40:51.288
And, and, and it's nice just to see that initiative continuing, um, because.

00:40:52.333 --> 00:40:56.833
It's hard, especially like, because I, not so much my parents, they're pretty good at it.

00:40:56.833 --> 00:40:59.163
My mum is like, which bin?

00:40:59.222 --> 00:41:00.893
Because we've got like 15 bins for stuff.

00:41:00.893 --> 00:41:02.072
We do.

00:41:02.072 --> 00:41:02.282
It's mental.

00:41:02.282 --> 00:41:04.603
Yeah, that's Oh, which recycling bin?

00:41:04.632 --> 00:41:15.373
Oh yeah, so it's like white, or cardboard, or glass, or We just put all of ours in the mixed recycling and then they send it to Indonesia where they burn it for energy.

00:41:15.373 --> 00:41:20.103
Good luck! Yeah, no, they've really gone deep to recycling.

00:41:21.057 --> 00:41:32.503
But in a way, it's nice because Hopefully it's being recycled properly and, you know, it's been done the right way, the right way, whatever that is.

00:41:32.572 --> 00:41:40.362
Um, and yeah, and it's just, it's all that awareness like there, there's also, you know, um, what do you call them when it's an allotment?

00:41:41.492 --> 00:41:54.387
Oh yeah, allotments, there's allotments in, in the local town, but even, you know, I grew up in a small village and, uh, there was things like that just out people's back doors, just, you know, they'd always have, Oh, sorry.

00:41:54.418 --> 00:41:58.507
It's a veg patch or a place where you would grow your own food.

00:41:58.637 --> 00:41:59.237
Oh, okay.

00:41:59.239 --> 00:41:59.768
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:42:00.318 --> 00:42:00.858
Community garden.

00:42:00.878 --> 00:42:01.748
Community garden.

00:42:01.847 --> 00:42:02.887
Yes, that's exactly what it is.

00:42:02.889 --> 00:42:03.438
Community garden.

00:42:03.628 --> 00:42:03.887
I love it.

00:42:03.958 --> 00:42:04.237
Yeah.

00:42:04.697 --> 00:42:12.577
And so that has also kind of played a part in sort of People being a bit more sustainable and having that.

00:42:12.579 --> 00:42:32.335
And, and, and it's a shame because I don't any of where we're from there, there have been a few shops pop up where it's, you know, like bring your own glass jars and we'll fill it with rice and they don't, sadly they don't last long because people just I don't know, it's just, it's either an inconvenience or a business model.

00:42:32.335 --> 00:42:38.507
We were programmed to just buy a box of laundry detergent, you know, and it's hard to break those habits, but useful.

00:42:38.708 --> 00:42:44.128
But actually, your mum's pretty good at like, I've loved, your mum like, cooks a lot of her own, makes her own bread.

00:42:44.498 --> 00:42:47.802
She, um, You know, makes a lot of run jams, stuff like that.

00:42:47.842 --> 00:42:52.773
And I just think all these little things, you know, I grew up on a ranch outside of Houston.

00:42:52.983 --> 00:42:55.932
Like we didn't, we, we lived out chickens by the way.

00:42:56.012 --> 00:42:56.913
We had chickens.

00:42:56.913 --> 00:42:57.902
I had chickens growing up.

00:42:57.922 --> 00:43:01.353
So I don't have a big enough garden for chickens, but I am an advocate for chickens.

00:43:01.393 --> 00:43:02.583
I love eggs.

00:43:02.722 --> 00:43:04.402
I'm a vegetarian, but I love eggs.

00:43:04.452 --> 00:43:09.922
Well, they'll turn your, and I'm just like, like you'll, they'll turn your like leftover salad that you wish you would've got back to.

00:43:10.418 --> 00:43:11.538
But it got a little yucky.

00:43:11.927 --> 00:43:12.768
They'll turn that into eggs.

00:43:13.307 --> 00:43:15.847
You don't have to put it in your trash and put it in the landfill.

00:43:15.847 --> 00:43:17.478
You don't have to put it down your garbage disposal.

00:43:17.498 --> 00:43:20.228
You can turn that garbage food into eggs.

00:43:20.527 --> 00:43:21.237
Like everything.

00:43:21.637 --> 00:43:22.038
I like it.

00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:26.367
In my opinion, that's one of my favorite.

00:43:27.032 --> 00:43:33.012
Like sustainability things is just having something that because I hate, you know, I didn't, I hated composting.

00:43:33.432 --> 00:43:36.523
I did it for a while before we got chickens, but that sucks.

00:43:36.523 --> 00:43:40.092
It's stinky and it's a pain in the ass and the avocado peelings never go away.

00:43:40.782 --> 00:43:42.492
Um, you can just swing that thing out.

00:43:42.713 --> 00:43:43.262
Oh, okay.

00:43:48.172 --> 00:43:53.782
So, so you'll find no argument from me and the fact that, uh, living with a unintentionally.

00:43:54.358 --> 00:43:57.648
Modest footprint is, is, is a positive for sure.

00:43:58.188 --> 00:44:12.958
Um, and there isn't a lot of, like, the globalization, the, the control unit that they're looking to fix the climate by is a, is a global control kind of a World Economic Forum kind of mechanism.

00:44:13.362 --> 00:44:30.472
But the actual function, the, the, like action is all local and the localization of the economy is actually would do more probably to fight climate change than would having carbon credits trading and.

00:44:31.103 --> 00:44:34.713
Cameras to make sure you don't leave your 15 minute zone and stuff like that.

00:44:34.713 --> 00:44:41.242
Well, you think about it, and a long time ago, and actually not that long ago, that's how we operated as a society.

00:44:41.293 --> 00:44:41.503
Sure.

00:44:41.512 --> 00:44:43.813
We were, we were all localized.

00:44:43.833 --> 00:44:44.253
Yeah, yeah.

00:44:44.293 --> 00:44:47.003
And so I think it's just going back to a natural order of things.

00:44:47.023 --> 00:44:47.043
Yeah.

00:44:47.043 --> 00:44:53.378
And one of, one of the And then the other hats that I wear, the other jobs that I do is I work at Sunrise Ranch in Loveland.

00:44:54.027 --> 00:44:58.318
And they are one of the oldest intentional communities in the United States.

00:44:58.358 --> 00:45:00.237
They were founded in 1945.

00:45:00.248 --> 00:45:01.318
They've been there.

00:45:01.318 --> 00:45:05.467
They've raised their own, you know, vegetables, to, they had chickens.

00:45:05.757 --> 00:45:07.438
They have their own beef still.

00:45:07.447 --> 00:45:07.967
It's grass fed.

00:45:07.969 --> 00:45:09.597
I've been a fan for years.

00:45:09.628 --> 00:45:18.342
Oh, then you know that, you know, that kind of, Mentality and living is so natural to, to who we are as a society.

00:45:18.342 --> 00:45:21.492
So it's like, well, we're just going back to, to how it should be.

00:45:21.543 --> 00:45:21.742
Yeah.

00:45:21.742 --> 00:45:22.052
Yeah.

00:45:22.213 --> 00:45:22.722
A hundred percent.

00:45:23.052 --> 00:45:23.452
Which is great.

00:45:23.572 --> 00:45:28.293
I want to talk more about Sunrise Ranch and, uh, the other things that you've dabbled.

00:45:28.293 --> 00:45:29.913
And we haven't even talked about Harp much.

00:45:29.992 --> 00:45:31.552
Oh, well, I'll talk about Harp.

00:45:31.552 --> 00:45:32.012
I'll talk about Sunrise.

00:45:32.052 --> 00:45:32.972
But I want to take a break.

00:45:33.447 --> 00:45:35.538
Uh, first, because my drink has been empty for a while.

00:45:35.717 --> 00:45:38.338
Oh, no! Kurt! I could probably use a break, too, so.

00:45:38.338 --> 00:46:29.579
Go for it! And we're back.

00:46:30.619 --> 00:46:43.224
Um, Meredith, you were just starting to talk before we took a break about your, uh Involvement with Sunrise Ranch, but also you, you do some business consultancy stuff, too, so you're not just King Charles Harpist.

00:46:43.273 --> 00:46:44.253
You've got other skills.

00:46:45.074 --> 00:46:46.903
I'm really not King Charles Harpist.

00:46:47.264 --> 00:46:48.423
I'm getting in so much trouble.

00:46:48.844 --> 00:46:54.364
Um, well, that is a good story that you can ask me about later, about not being King Charles Harpist.

00:46:54.793 --> 00:47:00.764
Um, but with Sunrise Ranch, I've, I started working for them in 2023.

00:47:00.773 --> 00:47:01.034
Oh, wow, okay.

00:47:01.043 --> 00:47:22.764
And it was one of these, I was at kind of a, um, I don't know, a turning point in my life, and I wanted to move back home, obviously that didn't happen, but I was looking for a job, and having grown up on a ranch, I was just like, oh, a ranch, oh, that sounds really fun, and very different from what I had been doing in my career as a harpist.

00:47:23.164 --> 00:47:31.753
But I had run businesses before my husband and I had a business and, um, I had multiple other things that I did in events.

00:47:31.753 --> 00:47:33.233
I ran a non profit.

00:47:33.233 --> 00:47:34.313
I saw there was some festival action.

00:47:34.333 --> 00:47:36.873
I did a festival, which was awesome.

00:47:36.873 --> 00:47:37.833
I really loved.

00:47:37.884 --> 00:47:38.893
Um, it was.

00:47:38.893 --> 00:47:40.494
It is.

00:47:40.503 --> 00:47:41.193
It's still going.

00:47:41.193 --> 00:47:43.204
I mean, I'm actually going to tell that story.

00:47:43.253 --> 00:47:52.204
So when I, Meredith and I met, sorry, and, uh, And I went round to practice for something, or just probably to have tea, I don't really know.

00:47:52.213 --> 00:47:53.094
Yeah, I think you were there for tea.

00:47:53.103 --> 00:47:54.344
Yeah, that's fine.

00:47:54.813 --> 00:48:05.853
And, uh, and I saw a coaster on the table for her, well, for the festival, which was called Tamfest.

00:48:05.853 --> 00:48:09.414
And I love Halloween and I thought, this is incredible.

00:48:09.423 --> 00:48:11.574
I can't believe someone has thought about.

00:48:12.248 --> 00:48:25.764
amalgamating tamfe or halloween with tam o'shanto which is uh oh yeah it's an old poem yes yeah yeah well done yeah i've read it before even it's hard it's a hard read yeah it's impressive And I thought it was great.

00:48:25.773 --> 00:48:27.273
I'm saying, Oh man, it's been amazing.

00:48:27.273 --> 00:48:28.063
And I went down last year.

00:48:28.063 --> 00:48:29.083
I read the English version.

00:48:29.423 --> 00:48:30.233
Yeah, you have to.

00:48:30.233 --> 00:48:30.753
I did too.

00:48:30.893 --> 00:48:31.563
Terrible behavior.

00:48:33.014 --> 00:48:34.384
You're the only one that could translate it.

00:48:34.423 --> 00:48:35.773
I, well, give me now.

00:48:36.164 --> 00:48:37.094
No, I, um.

00:48:37.094 --> 00:48:39.175
All right, we'll just finish the rest of the podcast.

00:48:39.175 --> 00:48:43.393
Oh yeah, it would be 25 minutes of Tam O'Shanter.

00:48:43.824 --> 00:48:44.373
But, um.

00:48:44.903 --> 00:48:50.884
Yeah, so I was, I was gushing about this, this, this festival and how much I loved it and how much it just, yeah, it just was great.

00:48:51.193 --> 00:48:52.184
And she's like, Oh yeah, I don't know.

00:48:52.184 --> 00:48:53.244
And I was like, Oh, fuck off.

00:48:53.244 --> 00:48:53.474
No, you don't.

00:48:53.474 --> 00:48:55.264
And she was like, yeah, yeah, I did.

00:48:55.264 --> 00:48:56.253
And I was like, Oh my God.

00:48:56.304 --> 00:48:59.304
And I was like, I don't know, shit.

00:48:59.313 --> 00:49:00.003
So incredible.

00:49:00.003 --> 00:49:03.784
You guys have grown to be friends or whatever through other channels and whatever.

00:49:04.014 --> 00:49:06.483
And years later you're like, you know, what was the best?

00:49:06.483 --> 00:49:09.594
Was this one festival we had with the Tamu and Shanti on Halloween?

00:49:10.103 --> 00:49:10.614
By the way.

00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:13.338
Yeah, by the way, that was all me! That was me.

00:49:13.708 --> 00:49:16.648
Well, it certainly wasn't all me, but, um, yeah, the Tama Shanter Festival was great.

00:49:17.318 --> 00:49:21.628
So, by the way, I've, um, I've been acquainted with Sunrise Ranch for a while.

00:49:21.628 --> 00:49:39.998
I've known some of the people out there, um, and even, cause I was a banker for 15 years, and so, even just through a few conversations and stuff, and I was doing math in my head, just trying to figure out what A proper sustainable business model looks like for an agricultural operation of that scale.

00:49:40.628 --> 00:49:44.778
You know, like just growing enough food for your people to eat is a pretty big Undertaken.

00:49:44.798 --> 00:49:45.838
When already.

00:49:45.918 --> 00:49:46.548
Yeah.

00:49:46.579 --> 00:50:00.369
You know, but then if you're also trying to make some revenue on the place and, you know, it's a, can you build a brand of, you know, locally sourced beef or chickens or some shit or, you know, it takes a little something, something to be different.

00:50:00.369 --> 00:50:05.099
And they've been, they've, I mean, COVID hit them really, really hard as it hit everybody.

00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:10.639
My food trailer served at the Arise Music Festival actually at Sunrise Ranch years ago.

00:50:10.688 --> 00:50:12.679
So you know, do you know Paul then?

00:50:12.898 --> 00:50:13.559
Paul Bassin.

00:50:13.619 --> 00:50:14.199
Mhmm.

00:50:14.338 --> 00:50:14.829
Probably not.

00:50:14.878 --> 00:50:15.108
Okay.

00:50:15.128 --> 00:50:16.179
Well, he is Mr.

00:50:16.179 --> 00:50:16.628
Arise.

00:50:16.688 --> 00:50:17.059
Okay.

00:50:17.168 --> 00:50:18.329
He put on the Arise Festival.

00:50:18.329 --> 00:50:20.018
So I probably did communicate with him at the time.

00:50:20.688 --> 00:50:21.068
Yeah.

00:50:21.409 --> 00:50:25.208
So Paul is the new events director at Sunrise Ranch.

00:50:25.458 --> 00:50:25.838
Oh, that's wild.

00:50:25.849 --> 00:50:27.918
So, so I work very closely with Paul.

00:50:28.039 --> 00:50:28.608
Yeah, welcome back.

00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:30.099
Yeah, exactly.

00:50:30.108 --> 00:50:32.438
Because Larry McConaughey was kind of Bye bye Arise.

00:50:32.478 --> 00:50:40.458
Well, Arise, yeah, it's, Arise is not coming back, but what is coming back, um, are major events.

00:50:40.498 --> 00:50:53.773
So yes, you know, Sunrise was known for its agricultural, um, aspects of, of it, mostly to serve the community, but it has since moved to Uh, events.

00:50:53.784 --> 00:50:56.563
It's a retreat center as well as an intentional community.

00:50:56.793 --> 00:51:00.793
So they, it has all of these different facets of, of an, of a business.

00:51:01.193 --> 00:51:15.503
Um, what's really exciting and it's a really exciting time to be at Sunrise right now is because they have a new, um, a new development that, that we've been talking about and that I've been brought in to consult on.

00:51:15.503 --> 00:51:19.233
And that's expanding the ranch and expanding how we do things.

00:51:19.324 --> 00:51:21.603
Like by acreage or by room rentals?

00:51:21.643 --> 00:51:29.628
Or Um, and it's like Sunrise 2.

00:51:29.628 --> 00:51:40.028
0, so we're calling it a dreamscape, but effectively it is, it's growing that, that idea of what society really Should be and has been.

00:51:40.369 --> 00:51:52.909
Because intentional communities are, you know, are clans or tribes or How society has been for thousands of years and we've gotten away from that By living in you know, these urban areas, right?

00:51:53.648 --> 00:51:54.599
Cities and things.

00:51:54.639 --> 00:51:54.849
Yeah.

00:51:54.849 --> 00:52:07.414
Yeah, I actually had a very kind of mmm, I wouldn't say a vision but an imagination at least of a of a commune type of thing that I might be involved with at some point in my future.

00:52:07.414 --> 00:52:09.393
It hasn't happened yet, you know, I lived in an old town.

00:52:09.753 --> 00:52:22.623
But like, like to be able to put the people together, which represent the pieces of a, you know, I'm a big fan of some of the old, uh, Ayn Rand and, you know, Fountainhead, Atlas Shrug kind of things.

00:52:22.653 --> 00:52:23.853
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:52:23.853 --> 00:52:26.193
Can you put a sustainable Yeah.

00:52:26.233 --> 00:52:27.264
Out of what?

00:52:27.313 --> 00:52:28.083
What's it take?

00:52:28.543 --> 00:52:30.204
Atlas Shrug is a really impressive book.

00:52:30.213 --> 00:52:31.253
It's a really big book.

00:52:31.583 --> 00:52:31.893
It is.

00:52:31.893 --> 00:52:32.483
Yeah.

00:52:32.483 --> 00:52:32.773
Yeah.

00:52:33.043 --> 00:52:34.213
It's impressive that you know it.

00:52:34.384 --> 00:52:36.514
Oh, I, yeah, I read that when I was like 14.

00:52:36.563 --> 00:52:36.884
Wow.

00:52:36.884 --> 00:52:38.753
Like, I was like into that kind of stuff at the time.

00:52:38.784 --> 00:52:39.224
Yeah.

00:52:39.284 --> 00:52:39.603
Yeah.

00:52:39.603 --> 00:52:44.284
And well, it's taking those ideas and those models and putting them to work.

00:52:44.384 --> 00:52:44.643
Yeah.

00:52:44.693 --> 00:52:48.284
And that's something that Sunrise has been doing for decades.

00:52:48.324 --> 00:52:48.764
Oh, yeah.

00:52:49.329 --> 00:52:55.688
Um, and I think, you know, now we are at the precipice of a new way of living, um, as a society.

00:52:55.688 --> 00:52:59.679
That's something that we've been kind of moving towards for quite some time.

00:53:00.219 --> 00:53:04.889
Um, and it's, it's now it's time to kind of regenerate that and look at it in a new way.

00:53:04.938 --> 00:53:15.418
Well, it feels like with the rise of not, not staycations necessarily, but, um, like intentional learning environments and just VRBOs.

00:53:15.418 --> 00:53:18.248
And I know, I know there's a lot of competition right now, but it seems like.

00:53:19.099 --> 00:53:23.289
inviting more kinds of people to come and take a sip.

00:53:23.668 --> 00:53:35.079
Like, cause I don't know if Sunrise Ranch was ever, it was like, it, it always had kind of a religious connotation, like there was kind of a services thing, and the community was kind of built around that, at least to some level.

00:53:35.409 --> 00:53:38.099
If you wanted to live there kind of thing and stuff, at least that's what it perceived.

00:53:38.179 --> 00:53:41.668
Yeah, it was religious, it was totally founded as a religious community.

00:53:41.699 --> 00:53:41.958
Yeah.

00:53:41.989 --> 00:53:43.838
Um, in 1945 by its founder.

00:53:44.329 --> 00:53:51.983
Um And has gone, undergone several iterations of something like that, but ultimately it's an intentional community.

00:53:51.983 --> 00:53:58.284
So it's, it's people that come together to have that way of life as, as a unit to work together.

00:53:58.293 --> 00:53:59.034
And does it remain that?

00:53:59.034 --> 00:54:02.884
Um, I, I think that it's moving back towards it.

00:54:02.934 --> 00:54:09.934
You know, that it has kind of undergone different iterations of leadership and has changed over in management and has, has.

00:54:09.998 --> 00:54:11.858
It's been in flux for quite some time.

00:54:11.869 --> 00:54:12.199
Right, right.

00:54:12.358 --> 00:54:16.438
But what's really exciting now is that they have a really solid trajectory.

00:54:16.648 --> 00:54:16.918
Okay.

00:54:16.998 --> 00:54:18.938
Um, and that's what I, I think, gets me most.

00:54:18.938 --> 00:54:20.659
We signed up for it to help figure that out.

00:54:20.668 --> 00:54:21.909
Yeah, absolutely.

00:54:21.938 --> 00:54:24.643
Because it's, again, it's going back to kind of the way that it was.

00:54:26.023 --> 00:54:28.333
And can you paint that picture some?

00:54:28.554 --> 00:54:34.103
Like, I'm sure it's, like, lots of little steps to make big progress, or is that allowed?

00:54:34.393 --> 00:54:42.454
I feel like I have the most controversial stories, because I'm, you know, not playing for King Charles, but have playing for King Charles, and now talking about things that I shouldn't be talking about.

00:54:42.454 --> 00:54:45.853
Well, I mean, um, Well, if you don't, shouldn't want to talk about it, then don't, you know.

00:54:46.393 --> 00:54:48.034
No, no, it's really exciting stuff.

00:54:48.083 --> 00:55:06.173
Um, so, You're talking about Old Town, Fort Collins, and Old Town, Fort Collins was actually, I guess, how do I say this, sketched out, drawn, designed by a man called Ed Goodman who is from Fort Collins, born and raised.

00:55:06.173 --> 00:55:24.028
He went off and lived in California for many, many years, worked for Disney, really Interesting, amazing imagination, great guy, and he was actually brought in for this project specifically, and using all of his knowledge, expertise, and brainpower to reimagine what Sunrise could be.

00:55:24.099 --> 00:55:25.398
Oh, is that right?

00:55:25.398 --> 00:55:25.679
Interesting.

00:55:25.869 --> 00:55:27.289
So it, it really is.

00:55:27.469 --> 00:55:32.219
It's his vision, um, coupled with what the community would like to bring.

00:55:32.248 --> 00:55:33.719
So you're talking about a real development here.

00:55:33.768 --> 00:55:35.099
A full blown development.

00:55:35.099 --> 00:55:39.798
Like a raising capital and like you're Yellowstoning this bitch.

00:55:39.838 --> 00:55:40.438
Yeah, we are.

00:55:40.438 --> 00:55:42.639
So Sunrise, it's big.

00:55:43.509 --> 00:55:45.548
It's a really big project.

00:55:45.639 --> 00:55:45.989
Yeah.

00:55:45.989 --> 00:55:47.409
And it's, it's really exciting.

00:55:47.409 --> 00:55:55.548
And, um, just to have Ed's brainpower backed with the community and the enthusiasm of, of Sunrise Ranch communities.

00:55:55.568 --> 00:55:56.659
I think your property.

00:55:56.884 --> 00:56:01.943
Neighbors with the other ranch there that's more famous, uh, Sylvandale, Sylvandale.

00:56:02.054 --> 00:56:03.233
Yeah, so that, they're up on the ridge.

00:56:03.233 --> 00:56:12.414
The lady that owns that was telling me how her parents and the Sunrise Ranch people were such close friends during those early years when they were both building their ranches up and stuff like that.

00:56:12.414 --> 00:56:12.994
Right, yeah.

00:56:13.043 --> 00:56:18.023
And just their resonance, um, is one of the things that she shared.

00:56:18.023 --> 00:56:22.043
Like even though that The Sunrise folks weren't Christians per se.

00:56:22.054 --> 00:56:22.643
Oh, no, they were.

00:56:22.684 --> 00:56:23.074
Oh, were they?

00:56:23.074 --> 00:56:23.934
Oh, yeah, totally.

00:56:23.934 --> 00:56:24.514
I didn't realize.

00:56:24.603 --> 00:56:25.193
Mm hmm.

00:56:25.193 --> 00:56:28.273
I thought it was kind of a, at least an off shooty kind of thing, but it is.

00:56:28.414 --> 00:56:31.094
Uh, well, at least they don't boo poo Jesus.

00:56:31.423 --> 00:56:33.514
Anyway, she felt like they were a little different, but they had.

00:56:33.838 --> 00:56:37.708
So many more similarities and that they were very much, uh, Total similarities.

00:56:37.708 --> 00:56:39.219
Kind of in the same vein.

00:56:39.588 --> 00:56:41.989
And I would have to think that Sylvandale's struggling too.

00:56:42.518 --> 00:56:43.298
I don't know.

00:56:43.298 --> 00:56:43.786
I'm sure it is.

00:56:43.786 --> 00:56:44.539
I don't know, I know.

00:56:44.588 --> 00:56:50.539
Like as long as you're blowing this shit up, why don't you buy that and save her and blow that up all the way down.

00:56:51.043 --> 00:56:53.483
I'll, I'll talk to their investors and see what happens.

00:56:53.643 --> 00:56:54.014
I don't know.

00:56:54.023 --> 00:56:58.884
I'm just saying, I'm not saying Sylvan Dale is struggling, but it doesn't seem like it's prospering either.

00:56:58.914 --> 00:56:59.494
Yeah.

00:56:59.503 --> 00:57:04.503
Neither through their base operations nor through dude ranchie things and stuff.

00:57:04.903 --> 00:57:07.893
Um, yeah, I think it's been hard for them since COVID too.

00:57:07.954 --> 00:57:09.873
It's, it's a hard, it's a hard time.

00:57:09.983 --> 00:57:12.563
Um, I mean, Sunrise Ranch is already enormous.

00:57:12.563 --> 00:57:16.884
It's 450 acres, so it's, it's a big, it's a big process.

00:57:16.884 --> 00:57:17.304
Oh, was it?

00:57:17.344 --> 00:57:18.494
Well, there you go.

00:57:19.034 --> 00:57:31.273
You have more space, um, but for Sunrise's development, what we're looking to do, like I said, is that there is already the main campus that has, it was basically built up in the 1970s, 1980s.

00:57:31.304 --> 00:57:32.233
That was the main development area.

00:57:32.653 --> 00:57:34.523
Functional rooms, some great sunlight.

00:57:34.563 --> 00:57:36.094
Really beautiful, um.

00:57:37.088 --> 00:57:38.869
And they also have the dome.

00:57:38.909 --> 00:57:44.898
So it's a Buckminster Fuller designed dome, um, for residence and for great acoustics.

00:57:44.898 --> 00:57:47.858
And so right now we're in the process of getting everything landmarked.

00:57:48.239 --> 00:57:51.918
So they have some beautiful history that needs to be preserved.

00:57:52.958 --> 00:58:02.119
And I'm really keen on seeing that project through so that when we move forward with the dreamscape development that, you know, we have that history.

00:58:02.128 --> 00:58:05.528
We're in the present looking at the future and moving forward with it.

00:58:06.393 --> 00:58:09.224
So, um, is there like a timeline?

00:58:09.224 --> 00:58:12.943
Like, when should, when would we expect to hear things about this in our community?

00:58:13.344 --> 00:58:14.103
It's imminent.

00:58:14.744 --> 00:58:18.454
So, yeah, we're looking to go full fledged forward this year.

00:58:18.833 --> 00:58:25.123
And, and what's, so the, the, the dome becomes more of like a venue?

00:58:25.514 --> 00:58:26.423
It's always been a venue.

00:58:26.664 --> 00:58:27.563
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58:27.563 --> 00:58:28.554
405 seats.

00:58:28.784 --> 00:58:29.483
Oh, is it that big?

00:58:29.574 --> 00:58:31.034
Yeah, it's a good venue.

00:58:31.094 --> 00:58:31.423
Alright.

00:58:31.463 --> 00:58:33.563
Um, the historical landmark.

00:58:33.963 --> 00:58:35.514
stamp on it will help a lot.

00:58:36.173 --> 00:58:42.764
Um, there are renovations that need to be done to bring it back up to code and to make it safe and open again to the public.

00:58:42.764 --> 00:58:44.253
But we're, we're in process of that.

00:58:44.474 --> 00:58:45.403
So, yeah.

00:58:45.483 --> 00:58:48.454
Well that could be a high functioning space just in itself.

00:58:48.483 --> 00:58:48.914
Totally.

00:58:48.974 --> 00:58:54.434
I mean honestly like there's bands out there that could, that could fill a 400 seat.

00:58:55.083 --> 00:58:58.443
Place, but they, you know, the Aggie doesn't trust them.

00:58:58.554 --> 00:58:59.023
Yeah, or whatever.

00:58:59.023 --> 00:59:00.384
They don't have a place to play.

00:59:00.403 --> 00:59:01.684
Like, this is it.

00:59:01.684 --> 00:59:01.873
Yeah.

00:59:01.873 --> 00:59:02.373
Yeah, yeah.

00:59:02.423 --> 00:59:03.684
Yeah, yeah.

00:59:03.684 --> 00:59:08.684
And probably it's like, will you make food for them and stuff too?

00:59:09.043 --> 00:59:11.204
Like, is it full service operation?

00:59:11.204 --> 00:59:13.094
Sunrise Ranch is known for their food.

00:59:13.094 --> 00:59:13.514
I know.

00:59:13.534 --> 00:59:17.293
We were there over the weekend and it was Well, I mean, they were former chefs.

00:59:17.994 --> 00:59:23.914
Uh, go on to be famous restaurant chefs here locally or vice versa, you know, hire people and they always have great.

00:59:24.393 --> 00:59:25.193
Yeah, they're brilliant.

00:59:25.204 --> 00:59:27.373
So that's, that's a big part of our community.

00:59:27.393 --> 00:59:27.793
Okay.

00:59:27.974 --> 00:59:28.233
Yeah.

00:59:28.284 --> 00:59:30.463
Other, other major things that you can.

00:59:30.929 --> 00:59:33.068
Like get in trouble over telling us no.

00:59:33.338 --> 00:59:34.938
I haven't signed any NDAs yet.

00:59:34.938 --> 00:59:45.378
So I mean, I think we're okay But no, I mean a that whole project is we've been planning it for about a year and a half Oh, well, okay moment.

00:59:45.378 --> 00:59:59.434
And so we're just like I said at the precipice of moving full steam ahead and it is So the one of the reasons I like Sunrise Ranch so much is because I'm a motorcyclist and so You drive by there all the time.

00:59:59.653 --> 01:00:00.873
Way too fast, yeah.

01:00:00.903 --> 01:00:04.134
No, it's one of the best roads to go fast on over there.

01:00:04.134 --> 01:00:04.574
That's a beauty.

01:00:04.753 --> 01:00:08.623
Yeah, so anyway, that whole Eden Valley stretch is just awesome.

01:00:08.744 --> 01:00:09.264
Yeah.

01:00:09.403 --> 01:00:14.014
So, you're a festival creator, and let's talk about harp.

01:00:14.389 --> 01:00:15.849
Yeah, let's talk about harp.

01:00:15.849 --> 01:00:21.168
I mean, that's ultimately how, um, you were introduced to me as the, whatever harp is for King's harp.

01:00:21.188 --> 01:00:22.789
I know, master harpist.

01:00:22.789 --> 01:00:25.728
So talk about, let's talk about your harp career just a little bit.

01:00:25.778 --> 01:00:28.869
And is that, like, how you earn the most of your income now?

01:00:29.559 --> 01:00:35.199
Um, most of it now is business consulting, but I mean, I've, I've had a, such a big career as a Harpist.

01:00:35.469 --> 01:00:38.398
Um, that that's what you're most famous for.

01:00:38.409 --> 01:00:38.739
Yeah.

01:00:38.898 --> 01:00:39.079
Yeah.

01:00:39.079 --> 01:00:39.338
Yeah.

01:00:39.389 --> 01:00:40.298
Absolutely.

01:00:40.298 --> 01:00:40.768
Absolutely.

01:00:40.768 --> 01:00:42.889
That's how I'm introduced to the American Harpist.

01:00:42.909 --> 01:00:45.378
Jay often introduces me as, is that right?

01:00:45.378 --> 01:00:45.809
Yes.

01:00:45.869 --> 01:00:47.009
American Harpist.

01:00:47.748 --> 01:00:49.168
Or the American Harpist in Scotland.

01:00:49.509 --> 01:00:49.768
Yeah.

01:00:49.768 --> 01:00:50.378
Oh, totally.

01:00:50.378 --> 01:00:50.759
I met.

01:00:50.929 --> 01:00:51.179
Yeah.

01:00:51.179 --> 01:00:51.869
Pretty much.

01:00:51.869 --> 01:00:52.048
Yeah.

01:00:52.458 --> 01:00:52.708
You are.

01:00:52.748 --> 01:00:54.208
The list is you.

01:00:54.338 --> 01:00:54.628
Yeah.

01:00:54.659 --> 01:00:55.449
That is, that is.

01:00:55.648 --> 01:00:56.813
So, uh, like.

01:00:57.153 --> 01:01:05.344
Talk to me about the development of that path, like, uh, were you like a piano girl that then was like, Oh, I want to harp instead mom and she's like, oh, come on.

01:01:05.353 --> 01:01:09.364
We already have your Yeah, it was very much along those lines.

01:01:09.443 --> 01:01:20.543
Um, I, I spent a lot of time, um, when I was really little at my great grandma's and she had this beautiful painting in her, I think it was in her guest bedroom or something.

01:01:20.934 --> 01:01:25.784
And it was of a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress in a castle playing harp.

01:01:26.324 --> 01:01:28.333
And I thought, that's what I want to do.

01:01:28.454 --> 01:01:29.063
I want that.

01:01:29.253 --> 01:01:30.773
And I actually, I think I wanted the dress.

01:01:31.224 --> 01:01:31.403
Right.

01:01:31.434 --> 01:01:32.143
More than anything.

01:01:32.143 --> 01:01:32.983
You're like seven or something.

01:01:32.994 --> 01:01:34.603
I was totally little.

01:01:34.614 --> 01:01:35.414
I was very, very little.

01:01:35.423 --> 01:01:36.094
Princess era.

01:01:36.423 --> 01:01:39.494
And, um, I was like, I want the dress and I want to live in the castle.

01:01:39.974 --> 01:01:40.864
Princess era.

01:01:42.123 --> 01:01:43.063
I know what you're going to say.

01:01:43.063 --> 01:01:57.903
Well, in America, in America, like the three to four is the beginning and then up to seven to eight, kind of, when every girl wants a princess party for her birthday every year and as many princess things as they can get in between.

01:01:57.914 --> 01:01:57.934
Yeah.

01:01:58.284 --> 01:01:58.603
Meredith?

01:01:58.889 --> 01:02:01.813
He's 39, will be 40 soon.

01:02:01.813 --> 01:02:04.588
He outed me! So you are older.

01:02:04.898 --> 01:02:05.989
And she is still a princess.

01:02:05.989 --> 01:02:06.568
Yes, he reminds me.

01:02:07.329 --> 01:02:07.929
I am still a princess.

01:02:08.398 --> 01:02:08.699
Still a princess.

01:02:08.798 --> 01:02:09.259
I have a loud voice.

01:02:09.259 --> 01:02:13.728
In fact, I think your 40th birthday should be princess themed at, yes.

01:02:13.929 --> 01:02:14.318
Okay.

01:02:14.369 --> 01:02:15.358
I am gonna organize this.

01:02:17.798 --> 01:02:19.458
Oh yeah, your 40th, for sure.

01:02:19.958 --> 01:02:20.858
When is your birthday?

01:02:20.898 --> 01:02:21.599
Oh no, you've gone away.

01:02:22.773 --> 01:02:24.083
But I'm still going to have a massive party.

01:02:24.083 --> 01:02:27.713
I've actually rented out a huge estate house.

01:02:27.773 --> 01:02:28.264
Oh, wow.

01:02:28.304 --> 01:02:28.744
Already.

01:02:28.824 --> 01:02:29.213
I know.

01:02:29.603 --> 01:02:29.853
I'm insane.

01:02:29.853 --> 01:02:30.443
In Scotland?

01:02:30.503 --> 01:02:31.153
In Scotland.

01:02:31.153 --> 01:02:31.494
Okay.

01:02:31.523 --> 01:02:31.813
Yep.

01:02:31.983 --> 01:02:32.653
I dig it.

01:02:32.653 --> 01:02:33.014
I dig it.

01:02:33.074 --> 01:02:34.594
Yeah, it sleeps 16 people.

01:02:34.954 --> 01:02:37.844
A bunch of us turned 50 this past year, including myself.

01:02:37.844 --> 01:02:39.494
Oh, I like that.

01:02:39.494 --> 01:02:40.264
I in St.

01:02:40.264 --> 01:02:40.653
Lucia.

01:02:41.034 --> 01:02:43.324
A couple of us went down there with our family.

01:02:43.364 --> 01:02:43.724
Amazing.

01:02:43.873 --> 01:02:43.983
St.

01:02:43.983 --> 01:02:44.733
Lucia's beautiful.

01:02:45.099 --> 01:02:47.009
Oh, it was really cool.

01:02:47.498 --> 01:02:49.298
Um, a lot warmer than Scotland.

01:02:49.599 --> 01:02:51.358
Yes, yes, definitely.

01:02:51.748 --> 01:02:52.309
An October.

01:02:52.369 --> 01:02:53.748
Do you know that the that St.

01:02:53.748 --> 01:02:57.989
Lucia has been controlled by the British and the French seven times each?

01:02:58.228 --> 01:02:58.918
Really?

01:02:58.998 --> 01:02:59.559
Yes.

01:02:59.728 --> 01:03:01.429
Like in like back and forth.

01:03:01.599 --> 01:03:02.958
They fought over it back and forth.

01:03:03.079 --> 01:03:09.653
And so the the local language is a is a Pigeon language, a mix of British and French.

01:03:09.704 --> 01:03:14.403
Wow! But you can't understand it because it's almost as bad as Scottish to understand on the pigeon side.

01:03:14.414 --> 01:03:14.923
Excuse me.

01:03:17.554 --> 01:03:17.773
Excuse me.

01:03:17.784 --> 01:03:18.713
Do I need to translate?

01:03:18.713 --> 01:03:25.474
So, so you had this, your grandma's picture inspired you and then like.

01:03:25.603 --> 01:03:28.983
Oh yeah, so I wanted that, I wanted the dress.

01:03:28.983 --> 01:03:31.443
Middle school, high school, you were like the harp girl?

01:03:31.483 --> 01:03:32.664
I was totally the harp girl.

01:03:33.083 --> 01:03:35.014
Yeah, I started playing when I was 10.

01:03:35.014 --> 01:03:38.653
And, um, went to university for it in New Orleans.

01:03:39.043 --> 01:03:44.273
Um, and played professionally since really, I mean I played my first wedding when I was 15.

01:03:44.393 --> 01:03:44.824
Yeah, yeah.

01:03:44.903 --> 01:03:45.793
And then that was it.

01:03:45.833 --> 01:03:50.403
Like, I didn't do the babysitting thing, you know how, uh, teenagers have odd jobs.

01:03:50.403 --> 01:03:50.443
Yeah, yeah.

01:03:50.443 --> 01:03:52.291
Or, you know, when you're younger you can play this.

01:03:52.291 --> 01:03:53.824
You just made 500 bucks once a month at a show.

01:03:53.824 --> 01:03:54.583
I played weddings.

01:03:55.543 --> 01:03:57.264
And that was always my job.

01:03:57.934 --> 01:03:59.353
I was never a very good babysitter.

01:04:01.434 --> 01:04:13.208
I'm sure that was actually my, my, uh, My nephew, my wife's oldest nephew, um, has been lead chair on the flute for Colorado Christian University.

01:04:13.648 --> 01:04:13.728
Okay.

01:04:13.778 --> 01:04:20.449
And, and has been like state ranked, kind of like the lead flute, and he was a piano guy and then he changed to flute and now we go down there.

01:04:20.503 --> 01:04:22.123
for his Christmas concerts and stuff.

01:04:22.543 --> 01:04:29.963
And he, he goes down to Arizona with the lead of the music college to go shake donors down for money.

01:04:29.963 --> 01:04:35.563
And yeah, so he's a little bit on the edge of the experience you had, although probably a lot easier to get.

01:04:35.764 --> 01:04:38.164
Weddings with a harp than it is with a flute.

01:04:38.568 --> 01:04:39.873
I, I play a lot of weddings.

01:04:39.878 --> 01:04:40.009
Yeah.

01:04:40.608 --> 01:04:41.568
120.

01:04:41.568 --> 01:04:42.168
You still year?

01:04:42.244 --> 01:04:42.664
A year?

01:04:42.664 --> 01:04:43.083
Yeah.

01:04:43.083 --> 01:04:43.474
Still?

01:04:43.534 --> 01:04:43.923
Yeah.

01:04:43.923 --> 01:04:46.443
Well, last year it was, I think it was a little less than that.

01:04:46.443 --> 01:04:47.284
I think it was about 90.

01:04:47.753 --> 01:04:49.014
Um, but that's a lot.

01:04:49.074 --> 01:04:49.853
It is a lot.

01:04:49.853 --> 01:04:51.293
But, but that's almost a third of the day.

01:04:51.623 --> 01:04:53.364
But I guess it's only a few hours you go.

01:04:53.364 --> 01:04:55.014
It's only a few hours and it's usually on the weekend.

01:04:55.184 --> 01:04:55.523
Right.

01:04:55.534 --> 01:04:57.634
So it's like Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

01:04:57.664 --> 01:04:59.063
Those are my, my busy times.

01:04:59.094 --> 01:05:04.994
And so the rest of the week I'll, I'll do, you know, work for sunrise and, and business consulting.

01:05:04.994 --> 01:05:07.943
You think, yeah, event, event consulting is another, okay.

01:05:08.284 --> 01:05:08.653
Interesting.

01:05:08.684 --> 01:05:09.804
Another thing that I do.

01:05:10.063 --> 01:05:13.833
And what's your, like, why do you have a special talent in the space?

01:05:13.873 --> 01:05:21.563
Like are you quick processor, just marketing, understanding, like it seems like you've been like trapped.

01:05:21.994 --> 01:05:27.923
Learning how to play the harp good and, and being King Charles's moving furniture piece and stuff like that.

01:05:27.923 --> 01:05:29.043
That was one of the highlights.

01:05:29.043 --> 01:05:35.554
It would seem like your focus would be hard to build kind of that diverse skill set that oftentimes business consulting needs.

01:05:35.623 --> 01:05:36.893
I, I like the challenge.

01:05:36.903 --> 01:05:37.184
Yeah, yeah.

01:05:37.184 --> 01:05:42.684
You know, I really like, I like having the challenge and I also, uh, I like being busy and I get bored very easily.

01:05:42.813 --> 01:05:43.063
Fair enough.

01:05:43.143 --> 01:05:47.003
As Jerry knows, cause he's been voluntold to too many things in our time.

01:05:47.003 --> 01:05:50.193
Well, you just keep doing what she tells you to do and you'll be just fine.

01:05:50.204 --> 01:05:50.523
Yeah.

01:05:50.784 --> 01:05:53.594
It's fine, that's how I got to Colorado, so I'll keep doing it.

01:05:53.594 --> 01:05:59.034
I mean, I got him, I got this Scotsman in a kilt up a mountain and for a video.

01:05:59.164 --> 01:05:59.623
I like it.

01:06:00.713 --> 01:06:03.014
And it was fun, we did have a good time.

01:06:03.063 --> 01:06:04.244
I'm gonna do a quick time check.

01:06:04.304 --> 01:06:11.474
Oh, I was actually, I found a picture I was gonna show you guys, because I was the emcee of a movie premiere this weekend.

01:06:11.623 --> 01:06:13.143
Oh, sweet! On Run.

01:06:13.344 --> 01:06:16.244
Wild, a documentary about the Wild West Relay.

01:06:16.483 --> 01:06:16.844
Cool.

01:06:16.873 --> 01:06:19.713
Which is a running race from Port Collins to Steamboat Springs.

01:06:19.903 --> 01:06:21.853
Oh my gosh, that's a long way.

01:06:21.943 --> 01:06:28.873
And I wore my, my running gear on the bottom and my checkered flag jacket on top.

01:06:28.884 --> 01:06:29.353
That's hilarious.

01:06:29.853 --> 01:06:31.094
Look at that.

01:06:31.724 --> 01:06:35.523
Ava, I'll get you that picture so you can weave that into the, into the show here.

01:06:35.833 --> 01:06:36.664
That is a costume.

01:06:36.673 --> 01:06:42.134
It was uh, yeah we had like 220 people in the theater and the movie was really good.

01:06:42.244 --> 01:06:42.423
Nice.

01:06:43.789 --> 01:06:46.728
We don't really know what we're doing, but it's cool and it's fun.

01:06:46.829 --> 01:06:48.179
I mean, none of us really know what we're doing.

01:06:48.318 --> 01:06:48.659
Right.

01:06:48.719 --> 01:06:50.179
No, but we always have fun.

01:06:50.659 --> 01:06:51.248
That's our rule.

01:06:51.259 --> 01:06:51.789
That's the rules.

01:06:52.139 --> 01:06:52.259
True.

01:06:53.119 --> 01:07:07.938
Um, I guess if you're talking to a business putting on an event, um, since you're an event consultant especially, kind of, but what, uh, what are some of the don't be dumb, don't I'll do this for sure.

01:07:08.858 --> 01:07:09.568
Um.

01:07:10.028 --> 01:07:14.429
I always go for the creative authenticity hooks.

01:07:14.559 --> 01:07:16.119
So be real and authentic.

01:07:16.438 --> 01:07:16.969
Absolutely.

01:07:17.009 --> 01:07:21.039
Anytime you're making an event because that's what people will respond to.

01:07:21.438 --> 01:07:22.628
Um, that and details.

01:07:22.739 --> 01:07:23.768
I'm big on details.

01:07:23.789 --> 01:07:29.958
That and like, like his talking about that poem plus Halloween was like this amazing thing.

01:07:29.969 --> 01:07:35.489
And somehow you, like, you were early in Scotland even probably at the time, relatively.

01:07:36.159 --> 01:07:36.648
I guess so.

01:07:36.648 --> 01:07:37.259
Yeah.

01:07:37.259 --> 01:07:38.039
So the first one.

01:07:38.768 --> 01:07:39.969
Fascinated by this poem?

01:07:39.969 --> 01:07:41.289
Like, what was the why of that?

01:07:41.398 --> 01:07:44.739
Yeah, so 2015 was the first Tam O'Shanter Festival.

01:07:44.748 --> 01:07:46.018
So the first Tam Fest.

01:07:46.119 --> 01:07:53.309
Um, it was one of those things that, for me, loving history and being in the space that I was.

01:07:53.673 --> 01:07:54.364
It was natural.

01:07:54.364 --> 01:07:55.733
I was like, I love Halloween.

01:07:55.753 --> 01:07:59.344
Like this, and this story is the best Halloween story that I've ever read.

01:07:59.724 --> 01:08:01.974
And we're not doing anything with it.

01:08:01.994 --> 01:08:04.983
And it takes place in air where, where we live.

01:08:05.423 --> 01:08:09.164
And so it was, it was tying up all of those, again, authenticity.

01:08:09.304 --> 01:08:11.213
Was Halloween a thing in Scotland?

01:08:11.349 --> 01:08:12.539
I mean, it is a thing.

01:08:12.539 --> 01:08:12.989
Not really.

01:08:12.998 --> 01:08:13.648
It's bigger now.

01:08:13.679 --> 01:08:15.949
It's certainly bigger now than it was.

01:08:16.708 --> 01:08:18.179
Because the world has gotten globalized more.

01:08:18.248 --> 01:08:18.738
Totally.

01:08:18.738 --> 01:08:19.158
In some ways.

01:08:19.158 --> 01:08:19.309
Yeah.

01:08:19.309 --> 01:08:22.819
Everybody sees TikTok of your cool Halloween costume.

01:08:22.819 --> 01:08:23.248
Yeah, I love Halloween.

01:08:23.698 --> 01:08:27.969
We would always go, we called it guising, but we'd always go guising.

01:08:27.969 --> 01:08:28.519
Guising.

01:08:28.519 --> 01:08:29.088
Disguise.

01:08:29.378 --> 01:08:29.948
Halloween.

01:08:30.109 --> 01:08:33.429
Um, you know, even, even since I was a kid.

01:08:33.439 --> 01:08:36.979
So it's, we, we, we would always do that trick or treating almost.

01:08:36.998 --> 01:08:37.179
Yeah.

01:08:37.179 --> 01:08:37.529
Okay.

01:08:37.588 --> 01:08:49.088
Um, but the Kind of, as you say, globalization or commercialization of Halloween has gotten bigger because of, you know, things like Amazon and sure, you can get whatever you want.

01:08:49.118 --> 01:08:52.859
Yeah, big, massive inflatable.

01:08:53.649 --> 01:09:01.269
So it's just, yeah, it's, it's, um, I think a lot of people at home would say it's been Americanized as such, because obviously you guys go back here.

01:09:01.349 --> 01:09:10.173
We do a lot of holidays and, uh, And I think just because it's easier for us to get things in Scotland, you know, they now do that.

01:09:10.224 --> 01:09:17.774
Well, and what I love is that really that kind of festival is Scottish, you know, having Halloween is all Hallow's Eve.

01:09:17.783 --> 01:09:18.804
That is British.

01:09:18.804 --> 01:09:19.673
That's from the British Isles.

01:09:20.493 --> 01:09:23.123
So for me, I was going, you guys should like do more.

01:09:23.804 --> 01:09:25.064
Yeah, this totally fits.

01:09:25.064 --> 01:09:31.833
I mean, I, I always say that it's amazing that it took an American to come here and do all of this stuff.

01:09:31.873 --> 01:09:34.894
Like we're just so annoyingly laid back.

01:09:35.484 --> 01:09:55.814
Um, but it's also like, you know, when I went to, I went to New York for the first time last year for a, uh, uh, a festival called tartan week and uh, and on the It takes place in April, because it's all about the declaration of Arbroath, which is kind of like Scottish independence, almost.

01:09:55.814 --> 01:09:56.003
Kind of.

01:09:57.113 --> 01:09:58.144
It's like a constitution.

01:09:58.184 --> 01:09:58.463
Yeah.

01:09:58.524 --> 01:09:58.753
Okay.

01:09:58.764 --> 01:09:59.404
And so.

01:09:59.873 --> 01:10:00.444
That's very cool.

01:10:00.564 --> 01:10:10.984
Um, but it was really funny because my friend that took me over there, he plays a bagpipes, and his name's Craig Weir, and he, uh, he actually said, you know, I live not too far away from Arbroath.

01:10:11.533 --> 01:10:12.514
And we're in New York.

01:10:12.533 --> 01:10:14.904
We're currently doing a parade down 6th Avenue.

01:10:15.753 --> 01:10:17.634
Do you know what's happening in Arbroath?

01:10:17.993 --> 01:10:18.713
Nothing.

01:10:19.573 --> 01:10:23.234
And it's just mental because it's like why?

01:10:23.654 --> 01:10:25.043
It baffles me.

01:10:25.104 --> 01:10:28.713
It's part of the Scottish mentality of like, don't Don't shine too bright.

01:10:28.963 --> 01:10:29.194
Yeah.

01:10:29.194 --> 01:10:29.373
Yeah.

01:10:29.543 --> 01:10:30.463
Don't go too big.

01:10:30.474 --> 01:10:31.904
You know, keep humble.

01:10:31.904 --> 01:10:32.613
Stay, stay me.

01:10:33.363 --> 01:10:35.993
And of course I'm like, no, like this is amazing.

01:10:36.213 --> 01:10:37.134
Shout this from the rooftops.

01:10:37.783 --> 01:10:37.953
Yeah.

01:10:37.953 --> 01:10:41.493
We have Tam O'Shinter and everyone's like, man, I'm used to it.

01:10:41.493 --> 01:10:43.304
And I'm thinking this is such a great story.

01:10:43.304 --> 01:10:45.033
Like let's have a parade through the high street.

01:10:45.384 --> 01:10:48.423
And then obviously something like me goes, that is absolutely fucking amazing.

01:10:48.484 --> 01:10:48.804
Right.

01:10:48.894 --> 01:10:49.844
So, right.

01:10:49.884 --> 01:10:50.993
Cause you thought it was.

01:10:51.149 --> 01:10:54.069
Uh, flamboyant and wonderful and beautiful, right?

01:10:54.158 --> 01:10:55.918
Like it's like this big thing.

01:10:55.918 --> 01:11:03.469
And it's all those things that I wish sometimes Scottish people could be or Scottish culture could have.

01:11:03.509 --> 01:11:07.748
I mean, we have a lot, but sometimes, you know, it's not that we don't have anything.

01:11:07.798 --> 01:11:08.038
We do.

01:11:08.038 --> 01:11:08.118
Yeah.

01:11:08.118 --> 01:11:08.359
Yeah.

01:11:08.359 --> 01:11:08.979
But.

01:11:09.868 --> 01:11:18.609
Well, it's probably a lot like Finland and like North Dakota, where you kind of grow up with the mentality that you just kind of suck compared to other people in the world.

01:11:18.969 --> 01:11:24.269
No, that is part of it, because why would our people live here if they didn't suck?

01:11:24.298 --> 01:11:27.279
Because this place is kind of cold and miserable.

01:11:27.969 --> 01:11:52.048
I mean, it's probably less so in Scotland, but So, I'm going to tell a joke from my late high school years, I think, but Because Minnesota is You know, it's got Minneapolis, and it's a lot more kind of progressive in general and stuff, and then North Dakota is right next door, and North Dakota's one seventh the population, right, and there's barely anybody that wanted to be there, you know?

01:11:52.128 --> 01:11:52.509
Anyway.

01:11:53.038 --> 01:12:07.533
But they would say that, uh Get a bucket of crawfish from Minnesota and one from North Dakota and you don't have to put a cover on the one from North Dakota because as soon as one gets close to climbing out, the other ones will just grab it and pull it back down.

01:12:07.564 --> 01:12:08.003
Yeah.

01:12:08.344 --> 01:12:11.804
Um, because of that kind of mentality that, you know, you don't deserve to be out of this bucket.

01:12:12.024 --> 01:12:12.654
Wow.

01:12:13.144 --> 01:12:19.627
That's a little bit like what you're describing and a little bit what I've heard from, from Finland too, from our exchange student from Finland.

01:12:19.627 --> 01:12:23.279
And then I, you know, I was, had to be at college for like a year before I realized it.

01:12:23.788 --> 01:12:28.609
Oh shit, I'm just as smart as these fuckers from Minnesota, you know, or whatever it was.

01:12:28.609 --> 01:12:39.248
And I was kind of that expressive, you know, there's a reason I got a podcast and I came from North Dakota because I wanted to tell stories and be interesting, you know, see interesting things, meet interesting people.

01:12:39.529 --> 01:12:48.469
And as it's, it's, it's difficult because as you say, like, you know, one scene that I remember, uh, so obviously I went onto the TV show and, and when I won it.

01:12:48.918 --> 01:12:51.359
A lot of people would be like, don't you get too big for your boots now?

01:12:51.698 --> 01:12:52.048
Right.

01:12:52.059 --> 01:12:53.769
And I'm like, whoa, give me a shot.

01:12:53.859 --> 01:12:54.788
Just give me a chance.

01:12:54.819 --> 01:12:55.368
Right.

01:12:55.378 --> 01:12:59.009
Just, you know, and it can, I try to get three gigs that pay, right?

01:12:59.009 --> 01:13:00.219
Is that going to be okay?

01:13:00.509 --> 01:13:01.029
You know?

01:13:01.359 --> 01:13:01.469
Yeah.

01:13:01.519 --> 01:13:01.788
Yeah.

01:13:01.788 --> 01:13:02.019
Yeah.

01:13:02.298 --> 01:13:03.338
Same mentality.

01:13:03.569 --> 01:13:03.908
Yeah.

01:13:04.088 --> 01:13:07.189
And it's hard because, you know, I love my country.

01:13:07.198 --> 01:13:08.179
I absolutely adore it.

01:13:08.229 --> 01:13:18.599
And as I said earlier, you know, I haven't moved away because of that, because my heart will always belong to Scotland and, but at times it's just really difficult because you meet people at Meredith who do.

01:13:19.274 --> 01:13:24.734
So much and she shines so bright and she's so good at everything she does and it's just amazing.

01:13:25.884 --> 01:13:30.225
And then you're like, Oh man, give me a piece of that, give me a piece of that.

01:13:30.225 --> 01:13:31.404
That's why you hang out with me.

01:13:31.404 --> 01:13:33.384
That's why you're alive.

01:13:33.384 --> 01:13:35.083
It's not because we both have ADHD.

01:13:35.123 --> 01:13:36.264
It's nothing to do with that.

01:13:36.404 --> 01:13:40.264
In America we have this thing that's called absence makes the heart grow fonder.

01:13:40.724 --> 01:13:45.033
Also, basically when you come here, I don't speak to you for a couple of years and then I'll come and visit you.

01:13:45.904 --> 01:13:50.514
Well, what I was thinking is maybe you should leave Scotland behind for a year and do like a world tour.

01:13:50.524 --> 01:13:50.913
Oh, right, fair do.

01:13:50.913 --> 01:13:51.913
So yeah, I like that idea.

01:13:51.913 --> 01:13:54.594
And then you'll come back to Scotland just appreciating it that much more.

01:13:54.594 --> 01:13:55.680
Yeah, I would agree.

01:13:55.680 --> 01:13:56.135
World tour.

01:13:56.135 --> 01:13:59.551
If anybody's listening and wants to put me on one of those, that'd be great.

01:13:59.551 --> 01:14:00.463
I've got a harpist.

01:14:03.694 --> 01:14:06.413
We're gonna have to, uh, start working our way towards something.

01:14:06.423 --> 01:14:09.014
No, we're not done yet, but we're gonna have to start working our way there.

01:14:09.543 --> 01:14:10.993
I'm glad you're having fun, actually.

01:14:11.453 --> 01:14:12.283
Yeah, we always have fun.

01:14:12.413 --> 01:14:13.404
We always have a good time.

01:14:13.434 --> 01:14:29.623
Um, I want to go, uh, in the time capsule to you at Seven years old and you also at seven years old and just kind of get an idea of as you were turning into a little person yourself, like what was your, like, did you have siblings?

01:14:29.623 --> 01:14:31.024
What were your parents up to?

01:14:31.344 --> 01:14:32.594
Were you a smart ass?

01:14:32.594 --> 01:14:34.453
Were you a singing singer already?

01:14:35.064 --> 01:14:35.764
All those things.

01:14:35.764 --> 01:14:37.904
And then I'll shift the same question.

01:14:38.194 --> 01:14:39.323
Well, okay.

01:14:39.384 --> 01:14:41.003
Uh, I'm trying to remember.

01:14:41.003 --> 01:14:41.804
I have siblings.

01:14:41.804 --> 01:14:42.224
Yes.

01:14:42.564 --> 01:14:42.814
Okay.

01:14:42.863 --> 01:14:43.573
You can be five.

01:14:43.573 --> 01:14:44.583
You can be seven, whatever.

01:14:45.194 --> 01:14:46.724
Good memory on that pace.

01:14:46.844 --> 01:14:48.043
Um, seven.

01:14:48.644 --> 01:14:56.618
God, I would have been Justin, maybe like primary, we do, we do different school systems, but primary three and seven.

01:14:56.628 --> 01:14:59.029
So, I was quite a quiet wee boy.

01:14:59.189 --> 01:15:00.588
I think I was quite, you know.

01:15:00.639 --> 01:15:01.109
You were pretty small.

01:15:01.469 --> 01:15:02.009
Yeah, oh yeah.

01:15:02.009 --> 01:15:03.229
I was very small too.

01:15:03.229 --> 01:15:06.328
I was five foot one at the end of my sophomore year of high school.

01:15:06.359 --> 01:15:07.908
I was a, I was a small guy.

01:15:07.918 --> 01:15:08.479
Really little.

01:15:08.639 --> 01:15:11.618
With uh, Potentially a mullet still at that point.

01:15:11.628 --> 01:15:12.939
My mom and dad did that to me.

01:15:12.939 --> 01:15:13.349
All right.

01:15:13.448 --> 01:15:13.908
All right.

01:15:14.368 --> 01:15:16.658
Um, I had a mullet too, but I was popular.

01:15:16.748 --> 01:15:16.918
Yeah.

01:15:17.498 --> 01:15:20.229
Well, I mean, it was, it was kind of popular back in the day as well.

01:15:20.229 --> 01:15:22.158
And my dad was an old rocker who had a mullet.

01:15:22.269 --> 01:15:25.269
Um, and so it was just one of those things.

01:15:25.328 --> 01:15:26.809
And what did he settle into?

01:15:27.609 --> 01:15:31.229
Uh, I assumed it was, was he a musician your whole growing up?

01:15:31.319 --> 01:15:31.658
Yeah.

01:15:31.658 --> 01:15:32.259
Oh, is that right?

01:15:32.259 --> 01:15:32.649
Okay.

01:15:32.668 --> 01:15:32.948
Yeah.

01:15:32.948 --> 01:15:33.719
So my, my dad.

01:15:33.719 --> 01:15:34.139
That's cool.

01:15:34.139 --> 01:15:35.578
That's quite a different experience too.

01:15:35.939 --> 01:15:37.849
So, you know, I kind of grew up with that.

01:15:37.849 --> 01:15:37.918
Yeah.

01:15:37.979 --> 01:15:39.009
And, and although.

01:15:39.838 --> 01:15:47.668
I, I was singing from a very young age because as I say, my dad's a singer, but also my, my Nana and Papa, his mum and dad were also singers.

01:15:47.668 --> 01:15:48.238
Oh, wow.

01:15:48.298 --> 01:15:56.158
So they used to have this really lovely, like, tape recorder that had a microphone attached to it.

01:15:56.158 --> 01:16:02.309
And we used to just sing nursery rhymes with, you know, and it was always, you know, the cousins and, and, and things like that.

01:16:02.309 --> 01:16:08.689
And we'd always just go up and we'd get this little thing out, sing lots of different, uh, nursery rhymes into this tape recorder.

01:16:08.748 --> 01:16:12.668
And that was sort of where it all kind of started.

01:16:12.668 --> 01:16:26.304
And then, you know, as I got older, I think it just sort of progressed, you know, and as, as I was saying earlier, you know, you kind of stop things for a while because you don't, you don't want to be seen or too much attention.

01:16:27.134 --> 01:16:28.283
But I mean, it's seven years old.

01:16:28.283 --> 01:16:29.134
Can't be striving too much.

01:16:29.144 --> 01:16:30.113
No, no.

01:16:30.363 --> 01:16:30.953
Seven.

01:16:31.024 --> 01:16:31.623
Oh God.

01:16:31.623 --> 01:16:32.024
I was just.

01:16:32.783 --> 01:16:33.384
I was into.

01:16:33.884 --> 01:16:34.524
Captain Planet.

01:16:35.724 --> 01:16:38.644
And lots of, uh, and lots of other stuff.

01:16:38.694 --> 01:16:40.793
And, uh, it's called a callback in the comedy world.

01:16:40.793 --> 01:16:42.854
Were you early in the sibling?

01:16:43.203 --> 01:16:48.363
I was, I was, so I, we come from a bit of a blended family.

01:16:48.493 --> 01:16:53.154
Um, my, my dad was married before we met my mom and my mom was married before she met my dad.

01:16:53.154 --> 01:16:58.503
So I have four older siblings, uh, three of which were my dad's, one of which was my mom's.

01:16:58.913 --> 01:17:00.073
Um, and.

01:17:00.384 --> 01:17:08.154
Then I would have, at seven, had a younger sister as well, uh, Diane, and um, I was technically in the household.

01:17:08.163 --> 01:17:09.104
So that's a pretty big crew.

01:17:09.623 --> 01:17:09.953
Yes.

01:17:09.974 --> 01:17:12.234
Was that big for Scotland?

01:17:12.783 --> 01:17:15.283
Yeah, yeah, when you get, yeah.

01:17:15.333 --> 01:17:17.073
It's pretty normal to have big families, isn't it?

01:17:17.474 --> 01:17:21.644
Are the Scots They kept the Catholics out, pretty much, right?

01:17:21.644 --> 01:17:23.228
It's mostly Protestants.

01:17:23.228 --> 01:17:24.904
Catholics versus Protestants.

01:17:24.904 --> 01:17:26.684
It's still a lovely conversation for another day.

01:17:26.684 --> 01:17:28.404
We could spend two hours on that.

01:17:28.404 --> 01:17:29.317
Oh, we could.

01:17:29.317 --> 01:17:29.621
Easily.

01:17:29.621 --> 01:17:36.934
But yeah, I, so, so, my, my older siblings on my dad's side, they lived with their mum, and they came at the weekends.

01:17:37.173 --> 01:17:40.953
And, uh, my older brother and younger sister lived in our house.

01:17:40.953 --> 01:17:43.144
So, I was the middle child, basically.

01:17:43.283 --> 01:17:44.604
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:17:45.194 --> 01:17:52.389
And, uh, So, I obviously, you know, didn't like being ignored, so I was like, I'm gonna go on a fucking TV show and I'm gonna show you all and you're gonna look at me.

01:17:52.979 --> 01:17:57.038
Um, no, I, um, but no, at seven, I was a quiet kid.

01:17:57.099 --> 01:18:06.658
I had, you know, a best friend who, who was just seven doors down the road and we were kind of inseparable, um, you know, me and Ryan and, and, uh, and yeah, just.

01:18:07.094 --> 01:18:11.118
Yeah, just a normal kid played down the, the woods and you know, in the village, things like that.

01:18:11.118 --> 01:18:11.838
In the, in the village.

01:18:11.844 --> 01:18:12.434
In the village.

01:18:12.434 --> 01:18:15.644
And, you know, and that's to take it back to, you know, sunrise Ranch.

01:18:15.644 --> 01:18:15.958
You know, I.

01:18:17.604 --> 01:18:35.819
Um, I said to Meredith the other day, you know, I love that community feel because at home we have a saying, you know, it takes a village to raise a child and uh, and it really does because you know, I was, I was always at other people's homes like we have another saying, you know, you'd get a jam piece at anybody's door.

01:18:36.149 --> 01:18:36.359
Hmm.

01:18:36.418 --> 01:18:39.149
Um, and I was that kid, it's like a piece of toes with some jam.

01:18:39.179 --> 01:18:41.849
'cause your dad was off doing music gigs and different things.

01:18:41.849 --> 01:18:42.029
Lot Yeah.

01:18:42.029 --> 01:18:42.328
Mean stuff.

01:18:43.259 --> 01:18:45.958
He gigged at the weekend and, and he worked through the week.

01:18:46.048 --> 01:18:46.259
Oh, okay.

01:18:46.288 --> 01:18:51.628
Um, and, you know, and my mom was always, you know, and because obviously they had three kids at home, it was like shift work.

01:18:51.628 --> 01:18:53.969
So one would be in the morning and one would be overnight.

01:18:53.998 --> 01:18:54.974
And it would, yeah.

01:18:54.974 --> 01:18:58.859
And then we'd go my granny and grandpa's or we'd go down the street to anybody's house.

01:18:59.158 --> 01:19:01.408
Um, I, I, I grew up in a village of about a hundred people.

01:19:01.439 --> 01:19:01.588
Yeah.

01:19:01.679 --> 01:19:02.849
And like when you got.

01:19:03.194 --> 01:19:10.354
To be five, you've got a bicycle and a pass, basically, you know, good luck, don't die.

01:19:10.543 --> 01:19:10.873
Yeah.

01:19:10.873 --> 01:19:11.094
Yeah.

01:19:11.444 --> 01:19:12.304
And that's exactly the same.

01:19:12.363 --> 01:19:20.634
And even at a young age, you know, it was just such a nice place to grow up just because everybody knew who I was and everybody looked out for you.

01:19:21.828 --> 01:19:22.649
Yeah, it was just nice.

01:19:22.689 --> 01:19:42.298
And that sense of community, it takes, you know, it's why places like Sunranches, you know, a commune living or, you know, a community where you just, yeah, where you just all coexist and, and, well, and hopefully probably you saw a lot of the same kind of notion at the Rotary Club the other day.

01:19:42.939 --> 01:19:57.838
Yeah, like it's pretty cool, even though we're only together for that hour every week, you know, they have other engagements and stuff, but those people love each other a lot, you know, and they're from a very diverse backgrounds and senses and all that stuff, and they still love each other.

01:19:58.288 --> 01:19:59.509
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

01:19:59.509 --> 01:20:04.479
I mean, so to answer your question, my, my upbringing actually was, was similar, but different.

01:20:04.538 --> 01:20:05.979
I mean, I grew up on a ranch outside of Philadelphia.

01:20:06.354 --> 01:20:07.014
Outside of Houston.

01:20:07.014 --> 01:20:07.734
Outside of Houston.

01:20:07.854 --> 01:20:08.003
Okay.

01:20:08.003 --> 01:20:08.423
Yeah.

01:20:08.423 --> 01:20:10.644
And, um, and a and what was the circumstances?

01:20:10.644 --> 01:20:14.305
Like a, a real working ranch, like you're It was okay.

01:20:14.305 --> 01:20:17.243
It was, it was actually my great great, not a ranch with oil, oil ranch with oil wells.

01:20:17.333 --> 01:20:20.274
It was a ranch with oil wells, That's why you were able to get a harp.

01:20:20.304 --> 01:20:21.863
Yeah, exactly right.

01:20:22.373 --> 01:20:24.774
Um, it was actually my great grandfather's ranch.

01:20:24.774 --> 01:20:24.908
That's cool.

01:20:25.009 --> 01:20:25.854
It was very cool.

01:20:25.854 --> 01:20:28.613
And, um, and he had umpteen anchors.

01:20:28.613 --> 01:20:32.184
And after he died, my great grandma sold off the plots.

01:20:32.189 --> 01:20:32.198
Mm.

01:20:32.823 --> 01:20:34.904
And it became this makeshift neighborhood.

01:20:34.904 --> 01:20:47.243
So by the time I was born, we had loads of houses and kids and so we were, we sat on five acres and we could see, you know, the nearest house was 10 acres away because everybody had acreage.

01:20:47.243 --> 01:20:54.024
It was, it was brilliant and we had like girl gangs and we would terrorize the neighborhood and go karts.

01:20:54.024 --> 01:20:55.314
It's all young families pretty much.

01:20:55.323 --> 01:20:55.934
Exactly.

01:20:55.934 --> 01:20:56.654
And you were in a gang?

01:20:57.304 --> 01:20:57.934
Girl King.

01:20:58.654 --> 01:21:00.213
It was girl power era.

01:21:00.634 --> 01:21:04.923
Um, you know, they had, we had, we had chickens.

01:21:04.934 --> 01:21:08.014
So my mom raised chickens and we had our own vegetables.

01:21:08.054 --> 01:21:11.654
And then my neighbor had horses and raised their own vegetables.

01:21:11.654 --> 01:21:13.854
And another one had a trout.

01:21:14.064 --> 01:21:14.844
Pond and.

01:21:15.384 --> 01:21:21.684
So we had, I had the most incredible upbringing and then my dad taught me to shoot when I was, I don't know, eight.

01:21:21.814 --> 01:21:25.514
He would take me out and we'd go all the way down, you know, to the very end of the cul de sac.

01:21:26.394 --> 01:21:28.434
Yeah, exactly.

01:21:28.434 --> 01:21:33.094
And we'd save the gallons of milk for weeks and then dad would take me out.

01:21:33.314 --> 01:21:35.162
Do you feel a little bit of water too?

01:21:35.162 --> 01:21:35.573
Oh, absolutely.

01:21:35.573 --> 01:21:37.661
Well, you only explode when you do that.

01:21:37.661 --> 01:21:38.140
Yes, exactly.

01:21:38.140 --> 01:21:43.944
So, I learned how to shoot from a very young age and play piano and, you know, uh, live free.

01:21:44.064 --> 01:21:47.684
And what did your dad do for, like, income and employ?

01:21:47.694 --> 01:21:49.634
Yes, my dad is an optometrist.

01:21:49.663 --> 01:21:50.554
Oh, that's right.

01:21:50.654 --> 01:21:51.234
I actually met him.

01:21:51.533 --> 01:21:52.024
Yes.

01:21:52.524 --> 01:21:52.833
I remember now.

01:21:53.064 --> 01:21:54.384
Yeah, he was there.

01:21:54.384 --> 01:21:54.793
He was there.

01:21:54.804 --> 01:21:56.064
So you had a professional career.

01:21:56.634 --> 01:21:56.684
He did.

01:21:56.823 --> 01:21:57.224
He did.

01:21:57.224 --> 01:21:58.003
And so did my mom.

01:21:58.003 --> 01:22:06.974
So my mom was, um, um, she worked in, um, psychiatric hospitals and she was a therapist and, uh, she did that for a really, really long time.

01:22:07.404 --> 01:22:08.354
It was not very easy.

01:22:08.354 --> 01:22:09.623
So she retired very young.

01:22:10.594 --> 01:22:12.613
And, um, and help my dad with his work.

01:22:12.634 --> 01:22:13.974
And then other siblings too?

01:22:14.293 --> 01:22:15.163
No, it's just me.

01:22:15.163 --> 01:22:16.805
It's just me.

01:22:16.805 --> 01:22:19.333
I also got a harp.

01:22:19.753 --> 01:22:20.163
Princess.

01:22:20.413 --> 01:22:27.764
I was like, yeah, this, you know, gun toting thing is great, but I really want to live in a castle and play harp.

01:22:28.649 --> 01:22:34.979
Well, I think, I mean, I mean, frankly, every man kind of wants a princess that can shoot.

01:22:35.439 --> 01:22:36.069
Well, there you go.

01:22:36.538 --> 01:22:38.439
I am that, I am that woman.

01:22:41.349 --> 01:22:49.609
So, um, let's uh, let's do quick, we're going to do the quick hitters because we always talk about faith, family, politics.

01:22:49.689 --> 01:22:50.328
Okay.

01:22:50.399 --> 01:22:54.134
And we already talked about Catholics and Protestants in Scotland and stuff.

01:22:54.134 --> 01:22:59.323
So we've got some ground set here if you want, but do you have a preference on where we start?

01:22:59.663 --> 01:22:59.974
No.

01:23:00.194 --> 01:23:00.543
All right.

01:23:00.694 --> 01:23:01.104
I don't know.

01:23:01.184 --> 01:23:01.793
Open book.

01:23:01.894 --> 01:23:02.613
Let's talk faith.

01:23:03.413 --> 01:23:03.774
Okay.

01:23:03.814 --> 01:23:49.948
Yeah Texas is like the home of the Baptist.

01:23:49.948 --> 01:23:50.179
Yeah.

01:23:50.509 --> 01:23:51.128
Oh, yes.

01:23:51.238 --> 01:23:52.219
Yeah devout.

01:23:52.238 --> 01:23:53.208
Yeah, my great grandmother.

01:23:53.219 --> 01:23:55.708
I would go to church with her She was a devout Baptist.

01:23:55.729 --> 01:23:56.059
Okay.

01:23:56.429 --> 01:24:03.219
Um, I was I wasn't really less so in your race Anything so my parents were old hippies.

01:24:03.538 --> 01:24:08.048
So very spiritually based, but also very open to all religions.

01:24:08.448 --> 01:24:12.469
So when I was a kid, I learned about Hindu and I learned about everything.

01:24:12.469 --> 01:24:16.109
I mean, I always had this joke that my, my godparents were Jewish.

01:24:16.149 --> 01:24:17.908
My grandmother was Baptist.

01:24:18.099 --> 01:24:21.469
I went to Catholic school and my best friend was Muslim.

01:24:21.708 --> 01:24:22.969
And that's all true.

01:24:22.988 --> 01:24:26.859
Um, and it is, it's, it's very, very diverse.

01:24:26.923 --> 01:24:28.713
growing up.

01:24:29.094 --> 01:24:32.793
Um, which I think is, is the best way to remain that for you.

01:24:32.814 --> 01:24:36.974
Have you, I think it has, um, I've been going, I went to Catholic school, personal faith.

01:24:36.974 --> 01:24:41.988
Now that you, I could say I, I'm, I am a regular person.

01:24:42.798 --> 01:24:43.578
Power of prayer.

01:24:43.578 --> 01:24:50.059
Like I, I, I love, um, my, my prayer, um, especially when I, when I need it most, it's there.

01:24:50.173 --> 01:24:50.463
Yeah.

01:24:50.469 --> 01:24:50.569
Yeah.

01:24:50.628 --> 01:24:55.158
Um, but I, I would say meditation is really where my mind goes most of the time.

01:24:55.158 --> 01:24:55.219
Yeah.

01:24:55.384 --> 01:24:55.583
Yeah.

01:24:55.788 --> 01:24:59.658
Um, and that's been very, very powerful for me.

01:25:00.819 --> 01:25:02.679
Is there a, a creator being.

01:25:03.043 --> 01:25:05.274
In your understanding of the metaphysical?

01:25:05.283 --> 01:25:05.654
Oh, for sure.

01:25:05.654 --> 01:25:05.963
For sure.

01:25:05.963 --> 01:25:06.243
Yeah.

01:25:06.304 --> 01:25:11.663
I mean, that's across science and Whether his name is Yahweh or Jesus or Buddha or It's all the same thing.

01:25:11.783 --> 01:25:14.423
The universe or, you know, I think Yeah, kind of universality.

01:25:14.474 --> 01:25:17.743
You don't think they're different as much as they are the same in some respects?

01:25:18.024 --> 01:25:18.583
Exactly.

01:25:18.974 --> 01:25:19.243
Fair.

01:25:19.333 --> 01:25:19.564
Yeah.

01:25:19.663 --> 01:25:20.134
Alright.

01:25:20.753 --> 01:25:22.904
Jai, would you like to take on the same topic?

01:25:22.984 --> 01:25:23.554
Uh, yeah.

01:25:23.634 --> 01:25:24.083
Yeah, sure.

01:25:24.163 --> 01:25:27.363
Um, so I Almost similar.

01:25:27.923 --> 01:25:32.184
Uh, I I grew up and I was christened, uh, Protestant.

01:25:32.434 --> 01:25:32.713
Okay.

01:25:32.753 --> 01:25:35.974
However, my mom, I hope my mom doesn't list us.

01:25:35.974 --> 01:25:36.814
Just Protestant?

01:25:37.043 --> 01:25:40.423
Like, do they have, they don't have the divisions like we do here in America?

01:25:40.434 --> 01:25:40.774
Oh, they do.

01:25:41.394 --> 01:25:43.073
Like the Methodists and the Baptists and all that?

01:25:43.394 --> 01:25:44.333
Not as diverse.

01:25:44.344 --> 01:25:44.743
Yes.

01:25:44.833 --> 01:25:45.024
Not as diverse.

01:25:45.024 --> 01:25:48.493
There's probably Church of England and then those that said that's a bunch of bullshit.

01:25:48.533 --> 01:25:49.295
It's the Church of Scotland.

01:25:49.295 --> 01:25:49.963
But we're also Protestants?

01:25:49.963 --> 01:25:50.203
Yeah.

01:25:50.203 --> 01:25:50.524
Okay.

01:25:50.524 --> 01:25:51.243
Church of, yeah.

01:25:51.333 --> 01:25:51.684
Okay.

01:25:51.684 --> 01:25:54.314
So it's, uh, it would be Church of Scotland.

01:25:54.863 --> 01:25:55.684
Yeah, I think.

01:25:55.904 --> 01:26:00.014
Um, but it would be, I would be Christian, uh, by instead of Catholic.

01:26:00.094 --> 01:26:02.774
Like we still agree that Martin Luther was right.

01:26:04.064 --> 01:26:07.184
Mostly he, he and a lot of others.

01:26:07.253 --> 01:26:07.644
Right.

01:26:07.753 --> 01:26:09.083
Um, okay.

01:26:09.173 --> 01:26:21.453
But, um, but yeah, I, so my, that was from my mom's point of view and I think, this sounds really bad towards my mum, but it's not, it was sort of the, the thing that people done.

01:26:21.613 --> 01:26:21.904
Right.

01:26:21.953 --> 01:26:29.444
Um, it wasn't, she did, yeah, she did go to, to church when we were kids, uh, and then fell away from it as she's, she's gotten older.

01:26:29.884 --> 01:26:33.293
My dad grew up, uh, quite similarly to Meredith.

01:26:33.333 --> 01:26:37.854
His parents, uh, allowed them to grow up and choose their own faith.

01:26:37.944 --> 01:26:40.913
Um, and one of my aunts is Catholic.

01:26:41.173 --> 01:26:42.844
The other one is, uh, Christian.

01:26:44.224 --> 01:27:05.684
But, well, my dad and my uncle are nothing, technically, so they didn't really, and I'm sort of, if I'd been left to my own devices, I think I'd have been the same, like I, same as your father, yes, yes, sorry, yeah, and I think because, and it's not, I believe, and you know, spirit, universe, that sort of thing.

01:27:06.073 --> 01:27:08.484
Um, obviously there is, there is something.

01:27:08.493 --> 01:27:10.213
Something spun it all up, it seems.

01:27:10.274 --> 01:27:13.604
But, do I have a specific faith?

01:27:13.623 --> 01:27:14.054
No.

01:27:14.113 --> 01:27:14.724
Not really.

01:27:15.123 --> 01:27:23.993
Um, and I have, like, you know, I have, um, high school for us, but it would be secondary.

01:27:23.993 --> 01:27:26.003
We did do religious education.

01:27:26.974 --> 01:27:42.628
And I, um, You know, I found myself drawn to many different faiths and, and, and I loved listening, like hearing about different, the way people, different people, uh, would Kind of approach those hard challenges, if you will.

01:27:42.628 --> 01:27:48.899
Yes, and do, uh, and, and how they deal, dealt with life struggles and all that sort of thing.

01:27:48.899 --> 01:27:58.064
So, I wouldn't say, I don't specifically go to, Sort of prayer, but yes, meditation would be something that I would go to.

01:27:58.694 --> 01:28:03.469
Um, you know, and finding just the stillness and the quiet within myself rather than Yeah.

01:28:03.474 --> 01:28:03.703
Yeah.

01:28:03.884 --> 01:28:04.333
Outwardly.

01:28:04.543 --> 01:28:05.833
Uh, yeah.

01:28:05.923 --> 01:28:15.434
Well, I think that's frankly very biblical because there's like a still small voice that's commonly mentioned, you know, you just, oh, it totally, it's prayer or meditation, I believe we're the same thing.

01:28:15.439 --> 01:28:15.668
Yeah.

01:28:15.673 --> 01:28:15.764
Yeah.

01:28:15.764 --> 01:28:18.253
So like, if you do it right, it's you, you are there.

01:28:18.344 --> 01:28:18.703
Yeah.

01:28:18.703 --> 01:28:19.029
Well, and.

01:28:20.743 --> 01:28:24.503
Depending on the faith background you're talking about, what's the, uh, manifestation?

01:28:24.913 --> 01:28:25.184
Oh yeah.

01:28:25.184 --> 01:28:32.634
Uh, there's some people that think their manifestation powers are a little bit outside the box of what really could be or whatever.

01:28:32.713 --> 01:28:40.533
It seems a little bit like wishiness, but I do think that, you know, prayer moves, whatever that force is that happens.

01:28:40.913 --> 01:28:44.224
Um, Oh, I had a thought there.

01:28:44.224 --> 01:28:45.904
I was going to ask you, Jai.

01:28:45.963 --> 01:28:46.673
Oh, it was.

01:28:47.759 --> 01:28:56.838
We're just going to octopus that out because I can't quite grab onto it, and I didn't want to interrupt you, so, um, Uh, let's talk about family just a little bit more.

01:28:57.088 --> 01:28:57.998
Let's stay on you, Jai.

01:28:58.099 --> 01:29:04.559
Uh, so, was your dad like a a median level star of sorts?

01:29:04.559 --> 01:29:08.099
Like, was he a common name in across Scotland kind of thing in the music career?

01:29:08.099 --> 01:29:16.759
Or was it more of a I mean, we, we couldn't go anywhere without someone knowing who my dad was, but it wasn't sort of like celebrity as such.

01:29:16.759 --> 01:29:21.408
It was just, he played in a lot of places and he played for a long, long time.

01:29:21.418 --> 01:29:21.779
Yeah.

01:29:22.328 --> 01:29:30.113
And he has, you know, For all he does, he has a good reputation, you know, like my dad is a, is a good musician.

01:29:30.123 --> 01:29:41.993
He works hard, you know, he, for instance, like we'll, you know, even now he's in his late 60s and he will get for four and a half hours straight.

01:29:42.524 --> 01:29:51.292
Whereas young men who do this gig, like that, that kind of job will be like, Oh, I'm going to take an hour and then a 15 minute break and then another hour and then a 15 minute break.

01:29:51.292 --> 01:29:52.529
So it's like, man up.

01:29:55.118 --> 01:30:04.149
But my, no, he, he's, he's, he's an incredible man, but he never made more than like a middle class income, probably or upper middle class, maybe a few years.

01:30:04.198 --> 01:30:04.529
Yeah.

01:30:04.868 --> 01:30:09.234
I mean, he's always had a day job as I would call it.

01:30:10.194 --> 01:30:16.953
However, I mean, I always tell like he gets more than I do, he's always on the call.

01:30:16.953 --> 01:30:17.583
He's always out.

01:30:17.613 --> 01:30:17.833
Right.

01:30:17.833 --> 01:30:18.493
Cause he loves it.

01:30:18.543 --> 01:30:18.844
Yeah.

01:30:18.993 --> 01:30:21.814
Uh, Jill and I went to, do you know who Steve Miller band is?

01:30:21.814 --> 01:30:22.310
Yes.

01:30:22.310 --> 01:30:23.304
I do.

01:30:23.304 --> 01:30:32.234
So we went to Steve Miller band at the Budweiser event center this last year and he's, 79 or 81.

01:30:32.234 --> 01:30:32.354
Wow.

01:30:32.354 --> 01:30:35.423
And that fucking guy loved to play music.

01:30:35.583 --> 01:30:40.474
Like there is nothing he would rather do than go out there and be on the road 130 days a year.

01:30:40.474 --> 01:30:40.654
Yeah.

01:30:40.974 --> 01:30:42.524
Well, that's, I always say that to people.

01:30:42.524 --> 01:30:43.644
I genuinely.

01:30:44.219 --> 01:30:47.099
Can't see a day where I don't do what I do.

01:30:47.099 --> 01:30:47.738
Yeah.

01:30:47.738 --> 01:30:48.198
I love it.

01:30:48.479 --> 01:30:50.729
And it's, it's a blessing and a curse.

01:30:51.569 --> 01:30:52.149
I think.

01:30:52.389 --> 01:30:57.719
Like I look at people like Meredith and she's like, she does so much things and I'm like, I don't want to do anything else.

01:30:59.628 --> 01:31:00.298
I'm alright.

01:31:00.378 --> 01:31:01.524
I'll just focus on this.

01:31:02.054 --> 01:31:08.613
There's a, uh, there's a band here in town you guys should check out, uh, if not this time, next time around, but it's called The Brothers Fountain.

01:31:08.993 --> 01:31:20.173
Actually, my lead in song for the podcast is, is their original music, but they've got a song recently that's kind of like, It doesn't really matter if I'm playing in my garage or playing at Red Rocks.

01:31:20.498 --> 01:31:22.578
10 years from now, I'm going to be playing.

01:31:23.429 --> 01:31:25.019
And that's not going to change.

01:31:25.109 --> 01:31:34.288
Uh, you know, hopefully it's Red Rocks, because then we can quit doing so much other shit to try to stay alive in our mortgages.

01:31:35.038 --> 01:31:39.788
But, uh, um, family, that's where we kind of went.

01:31:39.899 --> 01:31:42.668
Oh no, we kind of started with you on family, but I think that's sufficient.

01:31:42.668 --> 01:31:44.048
Probably we kind of finished up Faith.

01:31:44.389 --> 01:31:46.609
So you've talked a fair bit about your family already.

01:31:46.609 --> 01:31:52.889
You're an only child, but you want to give some special kudos to Grandma's, mom's, whatever.

01:31:52.918 --> 01:31:54.738
Anybody that's been really significant for you?

01:31:54.819 --> 01:31:56.708
Yeah, I mean, I would say my kids.

01:31:57.498 --> 01:31:57.689
Your kids, of course.

01:31:57.689 --> 01:31:57.788
Duh.

01:31:57.788 --> 01:31:59.248
My kids, yeah.

01:31:59.248 --> 01:32:00.269
Oh shit, I forgot, Kyla.

01:32:00.319 --> 01:32:01.519
We haven't talked about that much.

01:32:01.519 --> 01:32:01.838
That's okay.

01:32:01.838 --> 01:32:03.149
I have twin boys.

01:32:03.149 --> 01:32:04.038
They are 11.

01:32:04.279 --> 01:32:04.628
Okay.

01:32:04.628 --> 01:32:05.559
They're gonna be 12 this year.

01:32:05.729 --> 01:32:06.229
Yes.

01:32:06.288 --> 01:32:08.769
And, I mean Do you want to talk about your ex husband?

01:32:08.798 --> 01:32:09.378
No.

01:32:09.479 --> 01:32:09.859
Okay.

01:32:09.969 --> 01:32:10.458
Just kidding.

01:32:10.458 --> 01:32:13.088
I asked a question nobody else answered.

01:32:13.849 --> 01:32:15.498
Um, I do have a question though.

01:32:15.809 --> 01:32:22.969
Actually, I forgot to warn you, so this is going to be spontaneous, but we ask people for a one word description of their children.

01:32:24.179 --> 01:32:26.969
Most of the time, would you be willing to do that of your two boys?

01:32:27.279 --> 01:32:28.179
Is it the same word?

01:32:29.809 --> 01:32:32.269
Are they identical twins or fraternal twins?

01:32:32.279 --> 01:32:33.149
They're fraternal.

01:32:33.179 --> 01:32:35.128
He's got his words already figured out.

01:32:35.128 --> 01:32:36.798
He knows my boys very well.

01:32:36.798 --> 01:32:38.488
Well, I'll come back to you, Ja, you can share those.

01:32:38.498 --> 01:32:48.279
Yeah, I would say rambunctious, I think is Do you have a different word for each of them, though, if you were going to try to describe them to, uh They are very different.

01:32:48.559 --> 01:32:50.798
Um, I have one that is very studious.

01:32:50.908 --> 01:32:51.498
Studious.

01:32:51.519 --> 01:32:51.548
Okay.

01:32:51.559 --> 01:32:55.059
Yeah, so Alexander has wanted to be a doctor since he was about two.

01:32:55.179 --> 01:32:55.658
Oh, wow.

01:32:55.769 --> 01:32:58.189
And he had actually a doctor's name picked out.

01:32:58.198 --> 01:32:59.908
Like, like you would have a stage name.

01:33:00.458 --> 01:33:02.328
He has a doctor name, and he is Dr.

01:33:02.328 --> 01:33:03.519
Kilmarnock.

01:33:03.519 --> 01:33:05.389
And Kilmarnock is actually the town where he was born.

01:33:05.838 --> 01:33:07.873
Um, so he wants to be a Dr.

01:33:07.873 --> 01:33:09.463
Kilmarnock, which is hilarious to me.

01:33:09.913 --> 01:33:17.304
Um, but he's dedicated that that is his path and still to this day, he's sounds like he's full of perseverance potential.

01:33:17.583 --> 01:33:18.783
He definitely is.

01:33:19.533 --> 01:33:20.314
I don't know where to get.

01:33:20.913 --> 01:33:21.644
I have no idea.

01:33:21.684 --> 01:33:22.113
Yeah.

01:33:22.173 --> 01:33:24.984
Um, and then there's William.

01:33:26.059 --> 01:33:26.819
William's my favorite.

01:33:26.889 --> 01:33:28.109
William is Jai's favorite.

01:33:28.109 --> 01:33:32.599
And likewise, um, well, I don't think Alexander would be offended.

01:33:33.769 --> 01:33:34.809
I like Alexander too.

01:33:34.819 --> 01:33:35.189
He's fine.

01:33:35.229 --> 01:33:36.988
Alexander loves you too.

01:33:37.469 --> 01:33:39.368
Um, William's just more like me.

01:33:39.378 --> 01:33:41.548
William is rambunctious.

01:33:41.588 --> 01:33:43.679
William is, is the actor.

01:33:43.689 --> 01:33:44.889
He is the comedian.

01:33:44.889 --> 01:33:46.798
He is constantly trying to make you laugh.

01:33:47.588 --> 01:33:48.519
Very high energy.

01:33:48.969 --> 01:33:49.588
Alexander is too.

01:33:50.623 --> 01:33:54.213
Um, but yeah, they're, they're just, they're very different kids.

01:33:54.213 --> 01:33:55.503
They're, they're wonderful.

01:33:55.514 --> 01:33:56.264
And I'm very lucky.

01:33:56.264 --> 01:33:56.673
What's his name?

01:33:56.844 --> 01:33:57.564
No, no.

01:33:57.613 --> 01:33:58.264
They're fraternal.

01:33:58.354 --> 01:33:59.253
They are very different.

01:33:59.293 --> 01:33:59.663
I gotcha.

01:33:59.734 --> 01:34:00.173
Yeah.

01:34:00.173 --> 01:34:00.713
They're very different.

01:34:00.934 --> 01:34:02.743
Until you give them a set of nerf guns.

01:34:03.309 --> 01:34:06.269
And then they're pretty much the same and then they will shoot you in the face.

01:34:06.479 --> 01:34:06.769
Yes.

01:34:08.899 --> 01:34:17.279
The hardest, the hardest part about being a twin mom is when they team up because then they're like twin power unite, you know, and it's, it's double trouble and it really is.

01:34:17.618 --> 01:34:19.559
It's just, yeah, it is.

01:34:19.559 --> 01:34:20.019
It's great.

01:34:20.328 --> 01:34:21.168
I love being a mom.

01:34:23.043 --> 01:34:32.203
What do you hope for them and their, kind of, next chapters, like, would you want them to have a more normal existence, or should they go have weird harp things?

01:34:32.213 --> 01:34:33.094
What's, what's normal?

01:34:33.094 --> 01:34:33.363
Like, normal?

01:34:33.363 --> 01:34:35.283
I guess there isn't really a normal thing, is there?

01:34:35.404 --> 01:34:50.314
No, I, I, I hope that they have a very fulfilling adventurous life like that's that is the life that I've I have tried to build for myself and experience as much as possible yeah and I want that for them I do definitely want that for them.

01:34:50.573 --> 01:34:51.993
Um, politics.

01:34:53.694 --> 01:34:54.583
You can have this one.

01:34:54.594 --> 01:34:59.024
We're uh, well I would be curious, I'm gonna start with you actually go back.

01:34:59.873 --> 01:35:07.243
What, what do like I'm sure I would suspect I'm gonna put a theory out there that.

01:35:07.918 --> 01:35:12.988
The average Scotsman's opinion of Donald Trump has changed quite a bit over the last 10 years.

01:35:14.248 --> 01:35:14.689
Am I wrong?

01:35:14.689 --> 01:35:14.969
Or right?

01:35:15.668 --> 01:35:17.719
I don't think it's changed at all, but I don't know.

01:35:18.429 --> 01:35:23.529
To be fair, 10 years ago, I didn't really have an opinion about Donald Trump.

01:35:23.529 --> 01:35:25.059
I think that would be fair.

01:35:26.729 --> 01:35:27.578
And then he became president.

01:35:29.884 --> 01:35:30.623
Well, it'll be what?

01:35:31.073 --> 01:35:31.984
No, does it work out?

01:35:31.984 --> 01:35:32.984
Well, it'll be 10.

01:35:33.083 --> 01:35:37.184
Well, he was 4, Biden was 4, so it was like 8 years ago plus.

01:35:37.184 --> 01:35:39.033
Um, yeah.

01:35:39.213 --> 01:35:42.154
I mean, I've obviously got to be careful because I'm here for another week.

01:35:43.043 --> 01:35:44.304
I don't think he'll deport you yet.

01:35:44.953 --> 01:35:45.363
No.

01:35:46.634 --> 01:35:47.904
We're getting on a plane on Monday.

01:35:47.963 --> 01:35:50.823
So it isn't a positive then and it still isn't now?

01:35:50.823 --> 01:35:54.734
I, I don't, right, so I don't live in America.

01:35:55.009 --> 01:35:55.399
Sure.

01:35:55.788 --> 01:36:01.948
So I don't know the impacts of How we got so fucked up that we had to choose between Biden and Trump.

01:36:02.828 --> 01:36:03.548
There's not much choice.

01:36:03.779 --> 01:36:04.748
Or Hillary, yeah.

01:36:04.899 --> 01:36:14.479
Um, however, I just, I think, you I hate to say that I shouldn't comment because I'm not from here.

01:36:14.849 --> 01:36:18.538
Because, obviously, the outreach, that sort of, power, yes.

01:36:18.538 --> 01:36:19.559
It matters, frankly.

01:36:20.208 --> 01:36:25.588
The sort of control that leaders have, it echoes worldwide, nowadays.

01:36:25.628 --> 01:36:26.969
Because of, because of everything.

01:36:27.819 --> 01:36:34.918
Um, but, uh, it depends because it, some issues, he'll be great for.

01:36:35.338 --> 01:36:37.158
Other issues, not so much.

01:36:37.158 --> 01:36:39.359
So it's, it just depends where you are.

01:36:41.599 --> 01:36:42.198
Priorities?

01:36:43.128 --> 01:36:44.128
Yeah, kind of.

01:36:44.328 --> 01:36:45.769
But yeah, yeah.

01:36:46.198 --> 01:36:57.889
What, what you focus on, it depends what you're focusing on, because I would say that there are a lot of things that I've seen in the last week or so that have upset me because of people that I care about.

01:36:58.519 --> 01:37:04.429
However, there are going to be a lot of things that will benefit people, other people that I care about.

01:37:04.859 --> 01:37:06.229
So it just depends.

01:37:06.309 --> 01:37:09.059
I mean, that's kind of the thing about being a decider, right?

01:37:09.069 --> 01:37:11.094
Like there's going to be Hard choices.

01:37:11.094 --> 01:37:11.283
Yeah.

01:37:11.283 --> 01:37:15.423
And you're never, you're never gonna please everybody.

01:37:15.423 --> 01:37:22.423
And yeah, I just, I, yeah, as a human being, I don't know him.

01:37:23.844 --> 01:37:27.173
So yeah, however, it's just that way.

01:37:27.913 --> 01:37:29.503
Would I, would I be his mate?

01:37:29.503 --> 01:37:30.404
Would I go for a drink with him?

01:37:30.444 --> 01:37:31.323
Probably not.

01:37:32.434 --> 01:37:34.434
But yeah, so it's kind of where I'm at.

01:37:34.434 --> 01:37:46.719
I, uh, actually I did speech in high school just a little bit and one of my Um, favorites was Bill Cosby who was very popular at the time because he was, and I still quote him because I'm a fucking libertarian.

01:37:46.719 --> 01:37:47.288
I'm going to quote him.

01:37:47.429 --> 01:37:48.128
It's funny shit.

01:37:48.189 --> 01:37:48.939
It doesn't matter.

01:37:48.948 --> 01:37:50.969
You know, he might have raped people or whatever.

01:37:50.969 --> 01:37:54.149
It doesn't make this line any less bad or any less good.

01:37:54.569 --> 01:37:57.838
Um, but it's, uh, I don't know this.

01:37:57.889 --> 01:38:04.918
I don't know the secret to success, but I know that secret to failure is to try to please everybody.

01:38:05.083 --> 01:38:06.673
Hmm.

01:38:06.953 --> 01:38:07.673
Yes, so anyway.

01:38:07.724 --> 01:38:07.953
Ooh.

01:38:07.963 --> 01:38:09.731
That was one of my lines that I used to have.

01:38:09.731 --> 01:38:10.264
It's really deep.

01:38:10.264 --> 01:38:14.163
But it's, but it speaks to the challenge of being the decider, being the president, right?

01:38:14.543 --> 01:38:21.873
Like Alma in my office is Hispanic descent, and she was talking about, you know, I don't, what's this ICE thing gonna happen?

01:38:21.884 --> 01:38:31.573
Like, it's great if it's criminal and stuff, but I know quite a few people that are not here on papers right now that are a little nervous about what's going to happen, you know?

01:38:31.573 --> 01:38:32.713
Oh, so that's real, you know.

01:38:33.323 --> 01:38:33.573
Stuff.

01:38:33.573 --> 01:38:41.394
And if you're listening, whatever, you know, Trump or any of your lackeys, she's not going to give up any names about where to find those people.

01:38:41.583 --> 01:38:41.894
No.

01:38:42.234 --> 01:38:42.814
No, I'm teasing.

01:38:42.814 --> 01:38:44.894
But, but I mean, it's a real concern, right?

01:38:44.894 --> 01:38:45.054
Yeah.

01:38:45.264 --> 01:38:52.073
And I was trying to be sensitive, like, I'm pretty sure they're just focused on the people with a lot of arrests and stuff like that.

01:38:52.743 --> 01:39:00.484
And, like, I can't say, I guarantee you that people that you love aren't going to potentially get caught in this too.

01:39:00.484 --> 01:39:00.684
Deported.

01:39:00.684 --> 01:39:00.774
Yeah.

01:39:01.024 --> 01:39:01.854
Yeah, exactly.

01:39:01.854 --> 01:39:01.934
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:39:01.934 --> 01:39:03.014
And I can't see.

01:39:03.363 --> 01:39:18.123
Necessarily even that it's not the right thing to do because like they did break the law like with their first act to get here and a lot of other people like waited a long time to get their papers, you know, including her parents, for example.

01:39:18.134 --> 01:39:18.663
Well, for sure.

01:39:18.673 --> 01:39:20.134
I've, I've been on the other side of that.

01:39:20.194 --> 01:39:20.634
Right.

01:39:20.684 --> 01:39:21.684
I've already had to apply.

01:39:21.734 --> 01:39:23.043
How many years did you have to wait?

01:39:23.264 --> 01:39:25.224
Oh, uh, ten?

01:39:25.529 --> 01:39:25.908
Right.

01:39:25.939 --> 01:39:27.498
10, 12, 12 years.

01:39:27.498 --> 01:39:30.298
So they at least shouldn't have a fast track in my opinion.

01:39:30.298 --> 01:39:34.198
I'm a justice warrior, I feel like, you know, and so anyway, that's just one.

01:39:34.953 --> 01:39:39.694
Um, small example of, of one topic where you're like, huh, where is, it's really interesting.

01:39:39.694 --> 01:39:40.234
Where's it going to go?

01:39:40.264 --> 01:39:41.323
I think it's fascinating.

01:39:41.444 --> 01:39:43.043
It's, it's a really fascinating topic.

01:39:43.043 --> 01:40:02.587
Um, well, I mean, I've, I've, I've, I've played for Trump, so yeah, I know I've, I've told you well in the rotary speech, um, Trump Turnberry and Ayrshire is a really interesting place and Turnberry is in Scotland, so yes, yeah, it's, it's about 20 minutes south of, of Ayr.

01:40:02.587 --> 01:40:03.684
So you're kind of the standard.

01:40:04.059 --> 01:40:06.309
Harp player for any world leader that Scotland.

01:40:06.309 --> 01:40:09.338
Yeah, that's just, that's, I think that's a better title for me, don't you?

01:40:11.668 --> 01:40:14.338
harp to royalty and to, you know, world leaders.

01:40:14.639 --> 01:40:17.158
Um, it, it Cher's amazing.

01:40:17.219 --> 01:40:17.519
Just kidding.

01:40:18.149 --> 01:40:18.359
I'm teasing.

01:40:19.319 --> 01:40:25.019
Um, king Charles is, you know, one direction and, you know, president Trump is the other direction and it's like.

01:40:25.554 --> 01:40:27.144
They're only 20 minutes.

01:40:27.514 --> 01:40:28.213
Oh, totally.

01:40:28.213 --> 01:40:29.413
They're very controversial.

01:40:29.724 --> 01:40:30.743
And I've played for both of them.

01:40:31.083 --> 01:40:36.963
And, um, and I, I said this to the Rotary, uh, as well, both wildly unpopular in their own respects.

01:40:37.104 --> 01:40:37.333
Yeah.

01:40:37.413 --> 01:40:40.533
And I remember the first time I was asked to play for Trump.

01:40:40.583 --> 01:40:44.654
I really had to think about it because he's not popular in Scotland at all.

01:40:45.073 --> 01:40:52.144
When he came over, I was thinking this could be bad for, for my, my reputation and for my career.

01:40:52.588 --> 01:40:55.519
Or not, like it was a really big question for me.

01:40:55.588 --> 01:40:57.689
Uh, I reached out to some of my colleagues.

01:40:57.689 --> 01:41:01.979
I reached out to former teachers of mine and I said, what would you do in this situation?

01:41:02.448 --> 01:41:04.338
And I got some really good advice.

01:41:04.378 --> 01:41:06.748
I am one of my harp teachers, Ian.

01:41:06.779 --> 01:41:09.368
He he's played for the Royal family for many years.

01:41:09.378 --> 01:41:12.759
He played for the Pope, like he's paid, he's played for, he was fine.

01:41:13.078 --> 01:41:17.429
So he said to me, it's, it's a job and.

01:41:18.448 --> 01:41:22.729
hotels, which of course Trump owns, um, Trump Turnberry.

01:41:23.399 --> 01:41:26.588
He said hotels go through different iterations of owners.

01:41:27.059 --> 01:41:27.578
All the time.

01:41:27.618 --> 01:41:27.948
Right.

01:41:28.378 --> 01:41:32.248
And from his own experience, he was going, this is, this is a job.

01:41:32.279 --> 01:41:36.469
And the job is, is potentially a lot bigger than the owner.

01:41:36.859 --> 01:41:39.538
And this is something that you should consider doing.

01:41:39.889 --> 01:41:41.618
And I did, and it was, it was great.

01:41:41.628 --> 01:41:44.378
And, um, can I be like super noisy?

01:41:44.729 --> 01:41:45.618
No, not noisy.

01:41:45.939 --> 01:41:45.979
Noisy.

01:41:46.548 --> 01:41:47.738
You could be super noisy.

01:41:47.738 --> 01:41:49.359
Uh, yeah.

01:41:49.359 --> 01:41:52.519
I want to hear the, no, but like, Mm hmm.

01:41:52.708 --> 01:42:03.719
Like, when you do a three hour harp gig in the ballroom at some Trump event at the castle, like, is that worth a thousand dollars?

01:42:03.719 --> 01:42:05.279
Is it worth five thousand dollars?

01:42:05.279 --> 01:42:11.453
Is it worth 20, 000 like I have no idea Right, is it worth 300 bucks?

01:42:11.474 --> 01:42:17.774
You know, I have like I have no idea like what your dollar per hour is Yeah, working for these fancy pants people.

01:42:17.823 --> 01:42:18.783
Yeah in particular.

01:42:18.783 --> 01:42:20.953
I'm sure there's some hens It depends.

01:42:20.953 --> 01:42:27.884
I mean I was hired by Dior to play for them for five nights and that was that was a That was a pretty penny.

01:42:28.064 --> 01:42:28.314
Yeah.

01:42:28.314 --> 01:42:28.554
Yeah.

01:42:28.573 --> 01:42:29.774
That was a really good gig.

01:42:29.823 --> 01:42:36.604
Um, alternatively I'll play gigs for 200 quid for, for weddings and Scotland, weddings in Scotland.

01:42:36.634 --> 01:42:37.493
Uh, all the way up.

01:42:37.533 --> 01:42:40.274
I mean the most, it is like a pound or yes.

01:42:40.304 --> 01:42:40.913
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:42:40.993 --> 01:42:41.344
Okay.

01:42:41.394 --> 01:42:44.054
The biggest gig that I ever did, I didn't want to do.

01:42:44.373 --> 01:42:47.703
And I actually, I quoted for it a stupid amount.

01:42:47.703 --> 01:42:49.594
I was like, uh, I don't really want to do it.

01:42:49.594 --> 01:42:53.064
It was, it was a big wedding in the middle of winter.

01:42:53.104 --> 01:42:54.644
I was like, not interested.

01:42:54.844 --> 01:42:57.123
And a friend of mine said, just quote for it.

01:42:57.123 --> 01:42:58.694
Just be, just stupid money.

01:42:58.703 --> 01:43:02.354
And I was like, okay, for the day, 2, 500.

01:43:02.354 --> 01:43:02.654
Okay.

01:43:02.993 --> 01:43:04.524
And, because I really didn't want to do it.

01:43:04.524 --> 01:43:05.474
And they said, yeah, that's fine.

01:43:05.493 --> 01:43:06.404
I was like, shit.

01:43:07.413 --> 01:43:09.173
I could have asked for more.

01:43:09.173 --> 01:43:10.184
And I have to do it now.

01:43:10.583 --> 01:43:11.113
Ah, you know.

01:43:11.493 --> 01:43:14.323
Um, so it does, it just depends on the circumstances.

01:43:14.333 --> 01:43:27.484
That's a really interesting, like, that's probably one of the more fascinating things about being a musician, especially a niche musician, is, like, the price is kind of what makes sense for you and makes sense for me.

01:43:27.833 --> 01:43:28.134
Yep.

01:43:28.234 --> 01:43:28.594
Mm.

01:43:28.844 --> 01:43:30.043
And what their budget is.

01:43:30.083 --> 01:43:31.221
Right, right, right, right.

01:43:31.221 --> 01:43:31.876
And who it's for.

01:43:31.876 --> 01:43:37.904
If it's 400 people in front of Trump and, you know, and Elon Musk is paying the tab.

01:43:38.304 --> 01:43:41.253
Well, then it's ten grand, you know, or whatever.

01:43:41.253 --> 01:43:42.953
It doesn't really matter what the price is.

01:43:42.953 --> 01:43:53.203
If you want me, then this is But then there's other, like your cousin's wedding, you know, ten miles away, or even not your cousin, but your, your cousin's friend's cousin.

01:43:53.283 --> 01:43:53.554
Yeah.

01:43:53.859 --> 01:44:04.649
Because Scotland is small, and you're like, yeah, 200 quid, 300 quid, you know, compared to a lot of people, like lawyers, it's like, it's a buck 15 hour, right?

01:44:04.708 --> 01:44:08.198
Or business consultants, even to some extent, you're kind of got that timer on there.

01:44:08.229 --> 01:44:09.708
Well, how much time is this going to take?

01:44:09.708 --> 01:44:10.609
How much should I pay?

01:44:10.779 --> 01:44:11.429
Yeah, for sure.

01:44:11.469 --> 01:44:14.828
But in music, it's kind of like, uh, I don't know what you got.

01:44:15.099 --> 01:44:15.359
Yeah.

01:44:15.368 --> 01:44:16.417
Like let's hear about it.

01:44:16.417 --> 01:44:17.588
Let's talk about what makes it.

01:44:17.849 --> 01:44:18.609
It's probably the same for you.

01:44:19.298 --> 01:44:19.729
It's exactly the same.

01:44:19.729 --> 01:44:21.378
I mean, I've done exactly the same myself.

01:44:21.378 --> 01:44:26.088
I've, I've looked at a gig, thought, God, I don't want to do this, quoted silly money and they've agreed.

01:44:26.099 --> 01:44:27.248
And I've went, oh shit.

01:44:27.819 --> 01:44:28.038
Right.

01:44:28.328 --> 01:44:29.708
And then it's, it's that way.

01:44:29.708 --> 01:44:30.639
It's like, you know.

01:44:31.479 --> 01:44:41.798
And, and again, it's the old, you know, adage of like, you're not just paying for someone to turn up at your gig and do the gig on that day, you're paying for the years of experience that that person has.

01:44:41.798 --> 01:44:43.878
The hours of practice.

01:44:44.439 --> 01:44:45.469
And it's, you know.

01:44:45.769 --> 01:44:46.078
Rehearsal.

01:44:46.658 --> 01:44:48.069
For, for, for us.

01:44:48.128 --> 01:44:51.038
I mean, you know, Meredith's been playing since she was a child.

01:44:51.128 --> 01:44:54.309
I've been singing since I was a child, so we practiced for a long time.

01:44:54.309 --> 01:44:54.368
Yeah.

01:44:54.543 --> 01:44:54.743
Yeah.

01:44:54.908 --> 01:44:55.359
Do you know what I mean?

01:44:55.359 --> 01:45:05.208
We know what we're doing and it, and it sometimes, you know, as you, you were saying, you know, you think it takes you a long time to get to the point of realization that actually I'm really good at what I do.

01:45:05.238 --> 01:45:05.479
Sure.

01:45:05.509 --> 01:45:05.748
You know?

01:45:05.779 --> 01:45:06.078
Yeah.

01:45:06.078 --> 01:45:06.079
Yeah.

01:45:06.378 --> 01:45:09.243
Like stepping into your brilliance in a way kind of, and it's.

01:45:09.944 --> 01:45:12.484
Well, we study longer than most other professions.

01:45:12.503 --> 01:45:12.783
Sure.

01:45:12.783 --> 01:45:15.934
Musicians, like, like Jay was saying, we start as children.

01:45:15.984 --> 01:45:16.304
Right.

01:45:16.583 --> 01:45:28.613
And if you were here, you know, next winter visiting again in Colorado, and I had a local Uh, think tank social for 45 business owners and I was willing to give you 200 bucks, maybe you'd do it.

01:45:28.963 --> 01:45:34.106
Um, so it's totally dishonoring, but 200 bucks and another swag bag.

01:45:34.106 --> 01:45:35.679
And a plane ticket.

01:45:35.679 --> 01:45:37.644
Oh, and a plane ticket.

01:45:37.644 --> 01:45:37.753
Yeah.

01:45:37.753 --> 01:45:38.314
I need to get you.

01:45:38.314 --> 01:45:39.573
You'd have to already be here.

01:45:39.833 --> 01:45:40.514
You don't have much time.

01:45:42.948 --> 01:45:43.998
You'd have to already be here.

01:45:43.998 --> 01:45:45.033
We'll see if we can work something out.

01:45:45.033 --> 01:45:47.842
We can get somebody else to play for the plane ticket.

01:45:47.842 --> 01:45:48.609
It'd be fun.

01:45:48.609 --> 01:45:51.673
If I could double book you, we could figure it out, maybe.

01:45:51.673 --> 01:45:52.668
A mini tour around Colorado.

01:45:52.679 --> 01:45:53.939
Yeah, I was gonna say, a mini tour.

01:45:54.029 --> 01:46:02.238
So, um, I guess, uh, while we're still kind of on politics, we can get off of Trump, but just get into, like, world politics.

01:46:02.238 --> 01:46:05.194
Like, we're, like, Got a lot of intense stuff.

01:46:05.234 --> 01:46:10.604
Like, any thoughts on where we go from here?

01:46:10.604 --> 01:46:12.003
What do the next two years look like?

01:46:12.003 --> 01:46:13.274
Any, any guesses?

01:46:14.154 --> 01:46:15.003
We're all going to die.

01:46:15.054 --> 01:46:15.663
No, don't say that.

01:46:15.663 --> 01:46:17.503
I mean, we could if World War 3 starts.

01:46:17.503 --> 01:46:18.564
Oh God, don't say that.

01:46:18.594 --> 01:46:19.253
I mean, yeah.

01:46:20.774 --> 01:46:24.493
I was kind of kidding, but then I realized, actually, I might not be joking.

01:46:24.564 --> 01:46:25.793
I don't think we're heading that way.

01:46:25.863 --> 01:46:25.894
Geez.

01:46:25.894 --> 01:46:34.078
But, um, I mean, I, I hope that we are heading for Better days.

01:46:34.109 --> 01:46:41.809
And I know that might be naive, but it's, the thing is people are more aware of what's going on.

01:46:42.259 --> 01:46:42.349
Mm-hmm.

01:46:42.349 --> 01:46:49.429
And I think with social media, are I say, I say they're more aware are we just being fed however that's a good question.

01:46:49.429 --> 01:46:52.878
I mean, and that's the thing like, we'll, never like my.

01:46:54.319 --> 01:46:56.868
My, my dad's a massive conspiracy theorist.

01:46:56.944 --> 01:46:57.378
Yeah, yeah.

01:46:57.469 --> 01:47:08.918
You know, he talks about loads of things and I, I, I listen to him and I'm like, I don't disagree with what you're saying, but you're literally ruining your own life and your own time here on this planet by riling yourself up.

01:47:08.979 --> 01:47:09.578
Right.

01:47:09.668 --> 01:47:10.719
Being consumed by that.

01:47:10.748 --> 01:47:11.048
Yeah.

01:47:11.078 --> 01:47:11.769
Yeah.

01:47:11.769 --> 01:47:12.514
And it's, it's easily done.

01:47:12.623 --> 01:47:17.588
It's, and I understand it because he cares and he wants, you know, but at the same time.

01:47:18.519 --> 01:47:41.519
I will, I will, uh, take this stuff in, but I don't always let it affect me because, because how much change, how much change can I, can I do and I, and I'm not, you know, I am one of many and I know that, you know, if we all band together and all that, you know, like unions and things like that, like I totally understand how all that works.

01:47:43.038 --> 01:47:50.798
Yeah, I've been in organizations before where in consulted in organizations before, but It was that mentality.

01:47:50.798 --> 01:47:54.078
It's like, well, I can't affect the bigger picture and I know that I can.

01:47:54.498 --> 01:47:57.029
Um, it's just impossible.

01:47:57.059 --> 01:48:06.519
But when you band together, you can go, well, I can only affect what, what I do and what my actions are and what the actions of those around me and can have impact there.

01:48:06.738 --> 01:48:08.889
Then I'm making a difference for, for the bigger whole.

01:48:09.288 --> 01:48:12.408
Um, but in terms of the, the big picture, I don't, I don't know.

01:48:12.439 --> 01:48:15.029
I mean, I think that this is a really interesting time to be alive.

01:48:15.029 --> 01:48:19.128
Like we're right in the precipice, probably, hopefully of the Russia Ukraine war ending.

01:48:19.548 --> 01:48:20.219
I think so.

01:48:20.298 --> 01:48:26.118
You know, to me, it's like obvious that there has to be a deal that Ukraine doesn't get to be in NATO.

01:48:27.048 --> 01:48:34.248
Uh, just part of the rules, you know, uh, that's just, uh, Ukraine's going to lose a little territory over there, the Russian speaking part.

01:48:34.309 --> 01:48:34.738
And.

01:48:36.259 --> 01:48:39.099
Otherwise, uh, things can kind of go back to where they were.

01:48:39.229 --> 01:48:39.788
please stop.

01:48:39.798 --> 01:48:41.929
Exactly, and you agree not to invade anymore.

01:48:42.488 --> 01:48:42.868
Oh, exactly.

01:48:43.009 --> 01:48:45.408
And, you know, I don't know what the stick is for that, necessarily.

01:48:45.408 --> 01:48:47.488
But, I mean, to me that's the obvious.

01:48:47.529 --> 01:48:50.448
Well, that was the obvious conclusion two years ago.

01:48:50.529 --> 01:48:51.019
Mm hmm.

01:48:51.623 --> 01:48:53.423
Um, Well, maybe now we have a chance.

01:48:53.474 --> 01:48:57.814
Well, yeah, now that we've killed another couple hundred thousand people, uh, you know, What will it take?

01:48:57.823 --> 01:48:59.894
We can go back to the same deal we had two years ago.

01:49:00.484 --> 01:49:02.014
Uh, anyway.

01:49:02.673 --> 01:49:05.264
Uh, I got nothing else for you right now.

01:49:05.264 --> 01:49:07.043
Let's do the loco experiences.

01:49:07.113 --> 01:49:07.373
Oh.

01:49:07.753 --> 01:49:13.844
Yeah, this is, uh, the craziest experience of your lifetime that you're willing to share with our listeners.

01:49:13.854 --> 01:49:14.213
Oh, wow.

01:49:14.404 --> 01:49:17.764
Presumably individual experiences.

01:49:17.993 --> 01:49:19.094
Craziest experience.

01:49:19.094 --> 01:49:20.724
I heard you punched Simon Crowell.

01:49:21.543 --> 01:49:24.173
I mean, you got your second name wrong, so I can answer that with a yes.

01:49:24.173 --> 01:49:24.564
No, I'm joking.

01:49:24.564 --> 01:49:28.944
Um, I did, no.

01:49:28.944 --> 01:49:30.694
Um, no.

01:49:30.694 --> 01:49:35.003
I, um, God, my craziest experience, I've had quite a lot to be honest.

01:49:35.134 --> 01:49:36.076
You've had a lot of crazy experiences.

01:49:36.076 --> 01:49:37.724
Like near death experiences?

01:49:37.724 --> 01:49:38.583
Or crazy?

01:49:38.583 --> 01:49:39.064
Well, I have died.

01:49:39.064 --> 01:49:39.524
I've died.

01:49:39.564 --> 01:49:40.113
You died?

01:49:40.113 --> 01:49:42.613
Yeah, I died as a baby, so I don't remember.

01:49:42.613 --> 01:49:43.283
Oh, okay.

01:49:43.333 --> 01:49:48.354
Um, I was literally born, and then I, uh, my lungs collapsed, stopped breathing, and I was dead.

01:49:48.484 --> 01:49:48.814
I was dead.

01:49:49.418 --> 01:49:52.198
And then somebody went, and I was, yep, and somebody brought me back.

01:49:52.378 --> 01:49:53.599
No shit, that's cool.

01:49:54.529 --> 01:49:55.408
So yeah, that's what I've done.

01:49:55.408 --> 01:49:59.288
You started out with a I wonder how much more normal you would be if that event hadn't occurred.

01:50:00.229 --> 01:50:00.809
I'm just kidding.

01:50:00.998 --> 01:50:02.639
You probably wouldn't have had those big, big lungs.

01:50:02.689 --> 01:50:03.418
I was gonna say.

01:50:03.429 --> 01:50:08.234
It was those, it was those big over inflated lungs from the CPR that hooked you up with that juice.

01:50:08.234 --> 01:50:09.809
I mean, what is, what is normal?

01:50:10.038 --> 01:50:12.538
I don't even like, I don't even, you know what?

01:50:12.588 --> 01:50:15.408
I spent a lot of my life trying to be normal.

01:50:15.429 --> 01:50:15.939
And you know what?

01:50:15.969 --> 01:50:18.078
See, when I accepted the fact that I wasn't fucking normal.

01:50:18.609 --> 01:50:19.208
Life got better.

01:50:19.208 --> 01:50:20.109
There's wisdom in that.

01:50:20.288 --> 01:50:23.259
Um, and yeah, God, crazy stuff.

01:50:23.319 --> 01:50:23.738
Geez.

01:50:23.738 --> 01:50:25.929
I've done, I have done so much.

01:50:26.469 --> 01:50:31.569
Um, I, I keep coming back.

01:50:31.569 --> 01:50:31.793
How about winning?

01:50:31.798 --> 01:50:32.529
Winning the talent show?

01:50:32.559 --> 01:50:34.118
Well, hey, I mean, ugh, everybody knows that.

01:50:34.899 --> 01:50:37.179
Do you know what one of the most.

01:50:37.649 --> 01:51:02.203
Liberating things, and it was a bit crazy, and I, cause I keep going back to it, you asked me straight away, and it was the first thought I had, so I'm going to go, I went to Australia in uh, 2010, my, one of my best friends moved over there, this was while you were still like a broke unknown dude, yes, I actually, I like it, severely broke, Well, I had the chance, well, that's the thing.

01:51:02.203 --> 01:51:06.423
So I was also broke when I was there because I just used all of my wages.

01:51:07.154 --> 01:51:08.774
But I had the chance to go over.

01:51:08.833 --> 01:51:11.423
My friend was like, we have time, I have space.

01:51:11.963 --> 01:51:14.774
And I thought, I'm never going to get this chance, ever.

01:51:15.274 --> 01:51:23.134
Um, so I went over and we, uh, we ended up, she paid for flights for the, there was three of us at the time, well four of us, including, uh, Katya.

01:51:23.134 --> 01:51:24.644
So you were like a gigolo at the time?

01:51:24.804 --> 01:51:25.623
Oh, yes I was.

01:51:26.024 --> 01:51:26.243
No.

01:51:26.243 --> 01:51:26.668
Still is.

01:51:26.668 --> 01:51:27.095
Still is.

01:51:27.095 --> 01:51:29.220
You'd have come to Australia with them, I don't know.

01:51:29.220 --> 01:51:32.724
No, she didn't pay for my My ticket to get there.

01:51:32.724 --> 01:51:35.934
When I got there, uh, she was in a pretty decent position.

01:51:35.934 --> 01:51:36.793
She had a good job.

01:51:37.134 --> 01:51:52.854
Um, so she paid for, uh, myself and, and my two friends that went over to go to Sydney and we hired a camper van and we went down the coast, uh, back to Melbourne, but, uh, And actually I've just realized that we could have been killed by sharks.

01:51:53.113 --> 01:51:54.434
But anyway, it's fine.

01:51:55.344 --> 01:52:00.354
We, uh, we, we ended up at night time, going onto the beach, having a drink and going skinny dipping.

01:52:00.804 --> 01:52:06.043
And it was just one of those moments where the sky was clear, the moon was out, the stars were out.

01:52:06.594 --> 01:52:08.274
It was just such a magical moment.

01:52:09.453 --> 01:52:11.969
And, uh, And yeah, I was naked in the water.

01:52:12.368 --> 01:52:17.559
So that was kind of, but it was one of those things where, do you know what, it was just liberating.

01:52:17.628 --> 01:52:19.838
I remember my first time being naked in the water.

01:52:19.838 --> 01:52:22.198
It was a hot springs for me here in Colorado.

01:52:22.198 --> 01:52:23.609
I had went to a hot spring.

01:52:24.338 --> 01:52:24.878
I did not.

01:52:24.889 --> 01:52:26.359
And I definitely came out with a vagina.

01:52:26.838 --> 01:52:33.859
It's different than being in a bathtub, like being in a public place and being butt ass naked.

01:52:34.088 --> 01:52:34.899
There's something to it.

01:52:34.988 --> 01:52:37.359
And, uh, and I've, I've done it several times since.

01:52:37.779 --> 01:52:38.259
Perfect.

01:52:38.363 --> 01:52:40.963
speak great, but very liberating.

01:52:42.399 --> 01:52:42.998
It's wonderful.

01:52:42.998 --> 01:52:43.923
Meredith, you're done.

01:52:44.184 --> 01:52:46.238
My, I don't know, I dunno what the accent's about.

01:52:46.479 --> 01:52:47.469
The other one I know.

01:52:47.469 --> 01:52:51.908
Well, you know, it's, you I don't know.

01:52:51.908 --> 01:52:52.659
I, I'm trying to think.

01:52:52.663 --> 01:52:53.003
You figured.

01:52:54.019 --> 01:52:59.939
Gassed from being the King's Harpist for like talking about being the King's Harpist.

01:52:59.948 --> 01:53:02.509
Yeah, that was probably the craziest story.

01:53:03.198 --> 01:53:07.738
Can you, uh, like, because I was at the Rotary Club we talked about, can you kind of recap it a little bit?

01:53:07.868 --> 01:53:09.189
Yeah, I can talk about that.

01:53:09.229 --> 01:53:15.948
Um, in 2018 I had released, or it was in process of releasing, my debut album.

01:53:16.019 --> 01:53:20.109
Um, when walls speak and that was, it took me three years to write.

01:53:20.109 --> 01:53:25.679
It was dedicated to Dumfries house, which was King Charles's Scottish residence, personal residence.

01:53:26.229 --> 01:53:33.038
And I put my heart and soul into this project because it had given me so much like Dumfries house was amazing for, for me as, as a Harpist.

01:53:34.668 --> 01:53:43.668
Um, as a result, the Dumfries House PR team said, we will help you promote it and, you know, we'll give you the space and the culture.

01:53:43.729 --> 01:53:52.418
I wondered culturally if it was like a little bit like, Ooh, are you trying to use your position here with Dumfries House to like, No, I don't think so.

01:53:52.979 --> 01:53:54.158
They certainly didn't.

01:53:54.158 --> 01:53:54.979
That wasn't a problem.

01:53:54.979 --> 01:53:55.609
No.

01:53:55.859 --> 01:53:55.948
No.

01:53:55.948 --> 01:53:57.639
Because it was a very sincere thing.

01:53:57.639 --> 01:53:58.349
They wanted to be.

01:53:58.488 --> 01:53:58.588
Yeah.

01:53:58.588 --> 01:53:58.969
It was.

01:53:59.189 --> 01:53:59.279
Yeah.

01:53:59.279 --> 01:54:00.769
It was honoring from your perspective.

01:54:01.038 --> 01:54:02.708
Well, that's what, that was the intention.

01:54:02.719 --> 01:54:02.748
Right.

01:54:02.748 --> 01:54:03.349
That's right.

01:54:03.389 --> 01:54:11.309
And so the team that I worked with were brilliant and they wrote a press release for me and sent it out across the UK.

01:54:11.309 --> 01:54:28.948
I mean, I was in loads of papers, um, before, before the album release and it went out to the Daily Mail and the Daily Mail took the, the press release and they basically ripped it up and they, they called me and said, Hey, we'd like an interview.

01:54:28.948 --> 01:54:30.769
And I said, well, I can't talk about.

01:54:31.479 --> 01:54:33.529
playing for His Majesty.

01:54:33.529 --> 01:54:34.359
I, I can't.

01:54:34.729 --> 01:54:37.048
Um, but you know, read the press release and off you go.

01:54:37.048 --> 01:54:49.219
And, and they basically ripped it up and wrote their own story and I ended up being in Eden confidential, which is It's the Scandal, um, section of Daily Mail.

01:54:49.719 --> 01:54:50.469
Okay, gotcha.

01:54:50.878 --> 01:55:02.479
And, um, in Eden Confidential, it basically ripped me a new one and said, oh, well, she, you know, Meredith McCrindle, and it fabricated a lot of, or it twisted a lot of the facts of reality.

01:55:02.479 --> 01:55:07.025
This American harpist that's been rumored to have spent one on one time with King Charles.

01:55:07.025 --> 01:55:08.029
With King Charles.

01:55:08.048 --> 01:55:09.798
It was really Was it really like that?

01:55:09.838 --> 01:55:10.708
Like, scandalous?

01:55:10.708 --> 01:55:11.298
You can read it.

01:55:11.298 --> 01:55:12.118
It's still online.

01:55:12.158 --> 01:55:12.823
Oh, Yeah.

01:55:12.823 --> 01:55:18.594
And the title, the title of the article was Megan Markle, not the only American to captivate.

01:55:19.184 --> 01:55:19.373
Oh, damn.

01:55:19.524 --> 01:55:20.033
Prince Charles.

01:55:20.083 --> 01:55:20.543
Oh, damn.

01:55:20.694 --> 01:55:26.554
And, uh, then it went on to, to say, you know, he spotted me at, uh, during my time at St.

01:55:26.554 --> 01:55:27.173
Andrews.

01:55:27.194 --> 01:55:27.367
Oh, gosh.

01:55:27.367 --> 01:55:28.884
Where Prince William was.

01:55:28.884 --> 01:55:29.453
Oh, gosh.

01:55:29.493 --> 01:55:32.854
And, and now he hand selected me to be his resident harpist at Dumfries House.

01:55:32.863 --> 01:55:34.524
It was all, it was all fabricated.

01:55:34.533 --> 01:55:34.923
Right.

01:55:34.963 --> 01:55:36.434
I've never even met him, really.

01:55:36.453 --> 01:55:36.564
Like.

01:55:36.764 --> 01:55:38.243
No, I, I never, I hadn't seen him.

01:55:38.354 --> 01:55:42.373
I've seen him across the room, like it wasn't an actual thing.

01:55:42.764 --> 01:55:53.734
Um, I was a member of staff effectively, but they took it and they made their own story and the ending line of the article was how long before, um, Prince Charles, who played.

01:55:54.184 --> 01:56:10.724
Cello at Gordonstoun asks Meredith for a duet in incredible innuendos, and I'm just going, you could read the article one of two ways, either I won the lottery because now I am like this amazing resident Harpist, or I'm having an affair with Prince Charles.

01:56:11.224 --> 01:56:16.713
And um, the, this, the organization that Dumfries House.

01:56:18.679 --> 01:56:20.618
chose to, chose the latter.

01:56:20.679 --> 01:56:22.139
They severed their, uh, contract with you.

01:56:22.149 --> 01:56:27.878
So they pulled me in the office and they said, Meredith, you gave this interview, and I said, I didn't, I swear, that was not me.

01:56:27.878 --> 01:56:36.509
I turned it down, um, they pulled me in, and they said, we can no longer have you play For like, it doesn't matter if it's bullshit or not.

01:56:36.509 --> 01:56:36.779
Yeah.

01:56:36.779 --> 01:56:38.219
And, and I said, honestly, it wasn't me.

01:56:38.219 --> 01:56:43.288
And they said, we know a lot of people here have been daily mailed, and that was the term that they used.

01:56:43.439 --> 01:56:43.529
Oh wow.

01:56:43.769 --> 01:56:44.038
Interesting.

01:56:44.038 --> 01:56:49.708
Um, and then there was a five year window where I did not play for, for Wow.

01:56:49.708 --> 01:56:50.338
His highness.

01:56:51.024 --> 01:56:51.953
Israel Highness at the time.

01:56:52.373 --> 01:56:59.533
Um, and then in 2023, I was redeemed and I was totally brought back and it was the best.

01:56:59.783 --> 01:57:02.154
It was actually the day that my divorce was finalized.

01:57:03.203 --> 01:57:06.814
I was in court and it was finalized because you were freed up for hanging out.

01:57:07.014 --> 01:57:10.404
I know now now it's all, it's all, it's all fine anymore.

01:57:10.423 --> 01:57:12.194
So, um, I need to write that out.

01:57:14.054 --> 01:57:15.703
we're probably gonna pick up this podcast right here.

01:57:15.703 --> 01:57:16.304
That would be great.

01:57:16.304 --> 01:57:17.234
It'll make us all.

01:57:17.533 --> 01:57:26.173
Um, and, and I went, I knew I was leaving court to meet King Charles, and I thought that was the only thing that kept me going because that was my redemption.

01:57:26.203 --> 01:57:26.264
Wow.

01:57:26.264 --> 01:57:30.613
Like, I knew that I was the only person in that courtroom going to meet his majesty.

01:57:30.613 --> 01:57:30.764
Right.

01:57:31.333 --> 01:57:35.144
So, and I, and I did, and I practiced my curtsy and, and he was lovely.

01:57:35.144 --> 01:57:38.953
He asked me if I, if I played a proper harp, and I was like, yes.

01:57:38.969 --> 01:57:40.658
I do.

01:57:40.698 --> 01:57:42.019
Yeah, I've actually played for you.

01:57:42.198 --> 01:57:44.248
It's been a few years, you know, since that incident.

01:57:44.259 --> 01:57:47.094
But, uh, you know, it was great.

01:57:47.094 --> 01:57:51.559
Well, you guys have a show for Off the Hook Hearts here, uh, this week on the 30th.

01:57:51.559 --> 01:57:56.208
It'll be too late by the time anybody hears this to see the show, but I would encourage you to check out Off the Hook.

01:57:56.448 --> 01:57:57.338
Definitely.

01:57:57.338 --> 01:57:57.859
Definitely.

01:57:57.859 --> 01:57:58.088
Great initiative.

01:57:58.088 --> 01:58:02.519
And, uh, as far as like, if people want to check you guys out, do they just check out your names and Google you, I guess?

01:58:02.878 --> 01:58:11.448
Yeah, we have a YouTube Stuff, we have YouTube stuff, and we have a beautiful, we have a beautiful music video, all of me.

01:58:11.479 --> 01:58:12.368
Yeah, well check that out too.

01:58:12.729 --> 01:58:13.599
Check out some of his covers.

01:58:13.948 --> 01:58:15.229
Yeah, please do.

01:58:15.319 --> 01:58:16.288
Thanks guys for being here.

01:58:16.389 --> 01:58:17.298
Thank you so much Kurt.

01:58:17.298 --> 01:58:17.679
Bye for now.

01:58:17.979 --> 01:58:18.238
Bye.