#261 - Carla Marie and Anthony on Getting Fired From Radio + Damon Whiteside CEO of the Academy of Country Music on Having Artists Perform Hits + No. 1 Songs Dirtier Than WAP….

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Speaker 1: Welcome to episode to sixty one where this one's fine. A couple of friends of mine that were fired from the radio job. And this is a music podcast, and I just want to talk about that, like how they find out. It's a very insider thing. But I think if you're listening to this podcast, you kind of an insider anyway. You probably wonder how radio works. And their names are Carla, Marie and Anthony, and they were fired from their job in Seattle, and they were kind of taking on an off air, on an off air, on an off air, but um yeah, and I think I was just bringing them in to ask about the firing, but it turned into a whole conversation about their career in radio, which I liked. Didn't you think it's good? I thought it was good. I would listening. She'll tell us, but I thought it was good. Um, so it's a little behind the scenes and how radio works. Also, we'll talk to Damon Whiteside, the president of the a c m S, because the a c m s are Wednesday, And then Eddie will be by and we'll do the number one songs that were dirtier than whop, which means wet blank blank, but there are songs that you may not even know they were that dirty. We'll do that here too. So I picked five songs that are new music that I've been most interested in. I gotta say none of these am I excited just have, but this week is like the five songs I'm most interested in. Um. Number five is of Monsters and Men. They're kind of hit and messed with me. But when they hit, they hit hard like I love them. Sometimes they're a little weird. Of Monsters and Men. They released a new track called Visitor. Okay, I may like that one. Joe Carey from Stranger Things. You know which kid he is, uh, Steve Kid with the hair, Yeah, the curly haircit Yeah. He has a funky new song out called keep Your Head Up as his musical alter ego d j O. The World's Gun Pretty cool, huh. I like it, kind of the justin timber Lake falsetto type thing going to them. That's number four. Number three. Reba released her new album Rumor Has It, which originally came out September, features Fancy, but here's a brand new version of Fancy. It is a dance remix, she said. Dan and Shay released an acoustic version of their song I Should Probably go to Bed, I should probably go to bed? How should proudly in off my phone? And Ingrid Andrews put out a cover of Dua lipas don't stop now here you Go, don't show up, don't come out, don't stop caring? Yeah, um, other things coming out. Riley Green has an EP out called if it Wasn't for Trucks. Florida Georgia Line has a song called long Live looking at Things that didn't make the list but also or mentionable. Kelsey Ballerini released her new album Ballerini, which is the same as kelsey Her other record Just I Think Just Acoustic. Mickey Guidan has an EP called Bridges. Marilyn Manson has a new album I'll called We're Chaos. Young Boy Never Broke Again has a new album called Top Flaming Lips have American Head and I Think That's it. I want to see here quick musing news. Dolly Parton Land's first Christian airplane number one. Here you go enjoy this. Dolly tops the chart with our collaboration with Zach Williams. There was Jesus for Congratulations to Dolly. Jada Marcus has advice on how not to suck in country music? Uh. Number one, you should always be true to yourself. You follow trends to everybody also doing you won't have your own identity whenever thing sucks, and so your music will suck. Is that or advices don't be afraid to collaborate with someone outside of your comfort zone. I can't agree with that. Billboards song of the Summer is the Baby rock Star. Number two is the Weekend Blinding Lights. Number three was What's Popping from Jack Harlow feature in the Baby Megan the Eastagion feature Beyonce Savage at four and then a number five St John Roses. The home Invader Eminem confronted earlier this year, told him that he was there to kill him. Anyways, you get this man should be beat. At the time, it was reported he wanted a meeting with the rapper, but now it wasn't friendly. Do you see that story, Mike? Yeah? What'd you take from it? I mean that's crazy because when I first heard about it was like, Oh, I just wanted to meet you and like hang out with you, And now it's like, now I was there too order you. And then Beastie Boys announced career spanning compilation album Feast Boy Music is out October best of compilation. UM the BC Boy yea, I probaly already have all this stuff anyway, Um, all right, enjoy that. I think you liked this podcast. It's a it's a little inside what they call inside baseball with the radio guys here, but UM check it out. A C M. S Eddie comes on and talking about there's some funny songs that you don't even know we're probably dirty, that are really dirty. All right, enjoy? Uh see you guys all right in studio now with Carla, Marie and Anthony. Who were you guys were on in Seattle and for four and a half years and now you're not. Yeah, that's the story which is interesting to me. And I don't know how much you guys are willing to talk about that situation. Are you openly? You don't care? Um that you guys have been so open on social media about it. Where you guys got the acts and radio in a city that you're not really from and now it's like do you keep my do you keep living in Seattle? Yeah? I think a lot of people have asked that, and I think one of the things that we made a point to do when we moved to Seattle because we're both originally from New Jersey. Um, we made it a point to make Seattle our home when we got there. So it's kind of weird now because I do love the city, but I also know that my options probably don't live in Seattle anymore. So it's like this weird breakup thing going on, like who keep the kind of thing? You know? Where, Even though I love being there, I know that the future probably is never We're going to kind of stay there until we figure out what the future does hold, So that's gonna be home until there's a different home. Yeah, I mean, I own my house there. I haven't even lived there a whole year, so it doesn't make sense for me to move and then have to move again because I don't wuldn't even know where I had moved out other than in with my parents. And it also, as much as I love Seattle and I love my life there, it doesn't make sense for me to live there when my entire family is on the opposite side of the country, like the literal, very single one of them. And like Anthony said, opportunity wise, I don't know what would be in Seattle, so right now, yes, it's home. Maybe that changes, but to jump ship right away, to have to jump ship again doesn't make sense. I hate moving. So let's go back and talk about you guys. Is kind of origin because you both intern for Elvis or inn it was part time kind of you never you never interned. I never interned. I started as a promotions assistant um for the Street Team for one or three point five KT, which was like kind of a dance station at the time when I worked there. So I was the person putting up tense doing all that stuff, and then I transitioned to become Elvis's personal assistant. You were Elvis's assistant. He was the first and worst first assistant and it wasn't even an iHeart job at the time. It wasn't even a real radio job. He made me out of his pocket. Basically. That's why Anthony's worst Anthony, because he was considered his name on the air was worst assistant in the world. That's why it's worst Anthony. I know. I so there was a there was a reservation that was messed up, and I don't know, there was a couple that this happened when it was. But our production guy, Ronnie, as he found out the story made like on the fly, made this piece of audio that was like worst assistant in the world before I came into the studio, and it just stuck. So as I was making Instagram and Twitter handles, I was like, let's go with it. Was originally worst Assistant, and then as I started doing other radio stuff with other radio shows in New York, I said, I'm gonna keep the worst part my actual name, so worst Anthony. You know, it's funny. The assistant thing too, is I've used that position as just a holder for some folks because I wanted them to have a job until I could get them a real job. Mike, were you ever my sisterant Okay, so, and I think I told Mike, You're not gonna do this very long. But and it wasn't really a radio assistant, but it was like a life assistant. And so Mike Morgan number one was also my assistant for a while. I have a great assistant now who has no interest in being in radio. So it's fantastic. But you so you started his how much and then not much? Not much? But you know what, I will say this so I remember interviewing for the job. I originally interviewed with, um, what's his position now, Chief programming Officer Tom Pullman. He needed an assistant at the time interviewed with him, he already had someone else in mind, so he suggested me to Elvis, and I still remember after doing the interview and going into Elvis's office, he offered me a number, and right away, because that was part time at the time, so that number that he offered me was like the biggest number I'd ever seen in my life. Uh, not that much, but keep in mind I was making seven dollars an hour as a part timer, so he offered me a full time job, and there were some zeros that I had never seen before. So right away I was and I remember, looking back now, he was like, are you sure that's all you want? Because I think what he did was he had a number, He had a number that was probably higher than he was willing to go to. But I was so excited for the job, I just said, yeah, absolutely, How are you supposed to know when you're exactly when I was offered my first morning show job, I was, you know, I was doing nights in Austin I'd been offered to go to Seattle at the time and do a night show there. I was twenty two maybe, and I was like, I went and told my boss. I wasn't even a contract in Austin, and I was like, hey, you know, I don't know if this is working out for me. Here. The station wasn't the toilet. We had a syndicated morning show that wasn't what didn't have any traction, and so they were thinking about flipping the station. I was like, it's not working. I think I'm gonna go do nights in Seattle, bigger market than Austin, and just give me. And I felt good about this day. It was like I think it was Kiss FM and Seattle at the time, which it would have been Pop would have been to for I wasn't top for you yet, yeah yeah. And so he was like, okay, well, what else would you want? And I said, just throwing it out there, I said, well, lesson one day, I'm gonna do mornings. I'm gonna be a massive morning shows And he was like, Okay, you're a little too young for that now, and I was like, I get it, but but I'm gonna do it one day. So I was like, don't be the guy that did never give me the shot that I'm gonna look back on and be like, you never gave me, so just left. He didn't offer me anything. I came in and they offered me fifty hours and if I was making that basically doing nights like like eight, doing nighttime radio, and your offer, yeah, I'll take it, you know what. I was like, you know what, you know the same thing. But I didn't have anybody that I must work with. I knew no better. I think they were, and I said I'll take it. They were like, well, like, I'll sign the contract right now. I don't even And that's what I did. I think I actually ran at some point. I remember cutting off that meeting because I was like away, Like that's how nervous I was. Again, I did it, just walked away. And because when you're broke and someone throws you alive line, you grabbed that freaking thing. That's what I did and hold on tight. But I learned a lot from that. I'm glad the whole experience has absolutely I learned so much from Elvis, and then I became his video guy and kind of became kind of this Jack of all trades, producer thing. Hey, every yell at you a couple of times. Not not that that though, considering how much I messed up in the beginning, he did. He did very right by me. So would you go to his place? Like you go to his house? What's the parent He well, he'll he'll talk about this. He had a couple of places, um, one that he has since sold. But that thing was crazy. Damn. But I don't think you ever lived in that house, which is insane, but not like not like, Oh, I have so many houses, I can't live in one. I think his life changed a little bit after he bought the house, so he decided not to move in. Damn, that's the goal, Yeah, to have houses. You know what even go to? Did you sign an India to work as almost his assistant? I don't know if I signed anything. I started working. I think I just started working for which was the best thing that ever happened to me. So, but he has a place in New Mexico, to you go there? I haven't, although he has offered it. He said, Hey, if you ever end up in New Mexico, you can stay there. So you're you're with Elvis and you you're now as the video guy. Did you have video skills before then or did you just kind of started, hey, listen, raise your hand and go, I'll do it and then figure it out. I agree completely, So you're you're a video guy. When do you two meet? When I got hired, I would say it was so I had interned prior at the station doing different things in New York. Yeah, and then in the digital department when we didn't have a digital department, like I was the intern doing all the photos, like I took pictures of the jay Z interviews. Didn't he something as an intern because we didn't have what we have now. We don't have a hub. We didn't have a hub like we do, which is crazy. So that got me in the door because I was the only person in the building with an SLR camera, so I was around all the time. And then I got hired to answer the phones for Elvis, and that's when Anthony and I actually met. But yeah, same thing, ten dollars an hour. I made sixteen grand my first year in radio, and I lived with my parents to be able to do all of it. But commuting into New York City, I was spending like five a month to get to work. How were you getting to work? I would drive, but parking was like three sixty. Then the easy past was like a hundred and seventy a month. I couldn't like by the way, parking was three hundred and sixty dollars, which is cheap people. This is what people don't understand. How people now six hundred dollars in that same for a spot. That's like what ten ft long? Six hundred dollars a month in downtown Manhattan to park your car unbelievable and student loans. So what are your parents And I'll start with you, calumny, what do your parents think about you deciding to get into a field with no real future, no stability, no money, Like, what in the world are they telling you? My dad told me not to take the job, and my mom was like, that's so cool, Like you've always wanted to do this since you were a kid. Do it. But he was like ten dollars an hour and just went through college to do that. You were making that waitressing. He was like, don't do it. And that sucked, you know, hearing that from your dad, like, don't take this job. Opportunity that I saw is like oh, once in a lifetime opportunity. And I obviously didn't listen Anthony you. So my parents were supportive, but my dad always would throw these little, uh, these little comments like, hey, I've got a friend who works in pharmaceutical sales. You can make more money doing this or um. And I definitely thought about it at one point. So he would always because he knew how little I made, because when I was taking the train from my parents house to go to downtown Manhattan, I mean there were times where I couldn't even pay for the train, so my dad would buy like that train ticket that day. Um. I actually got arrested once because I couldn't pay the train ticket and I got a whole long story to jump and get on the train basically, And later on I found out six years later, there was a warrant out for my arrest for a ticket that I didn't pay when I was supposed to pay for the ticket. But told me, I bility the kid in here. I'm a train thief, train robber. So they were supportive. They definitely didn't get it at first, especially my parents are both immigrants. They both I don't think understood these stability or lack thereof um, but they were supportive, so I can't say they never told me not to do it. They probably wished I did something else, but they never told me not to. My mom had no interest in me doing radio, not that she knew any better, but we were broke our whole life, and then she was like, you're just gonna go be broke again. And luckily I was a smart kid. And she was like, why would you Why would you waste this? Why don't you go be a doctor? What did you do? Is? I wish he wanted to do anything that I could use my god given ability to read, comprehend, and um communicate about because I was good at that. I could study and know and I nailed a c T. I mean gave it to me. I could spend time with it and get it and then regurgitated in a way that made me feel and sound smart. And she was like, why don't you do something with that? It's true, though, and I absolutely and I now I could see if I had a kid that was doing that, I would be like, never, don't get anything creative. But once that creative thing is in you, you have to somehow fill that cup, at least for a while or you're always gonna be left just craving that that that feeling of of of using your mind to make something. Well, let me ask you this, Bobby, when, because we've talked about this in the podcast at Time's Carlin Marie and I. When did the radio bug bite for you? When did you realize this is exactly what I want to do? And I don't know if I could do anything else. Well, two parts. When I was five years old and I was in kindergarten, they asked me what I wanted to be and said, I want to be on the radio, and I want to be a stand up comedian. That was it. And I was like and so but and I don't ever remember not knowing exactly what I wanted to do. And when I was a girl is fifth grade, ninth grade, and I was like, how do you idiots? I know what you want to be when you go up. I want to be on the freaking radio. And whenever I was eleven, twelve, thirteen years old, I would call the radio station every night and get on the air. They put me on the air. I was Bobby the Barbarian. I would introduce songs during the high five at nine every night, every week night I was on. Who was the DJ that was on the air, well a couple of flying Brian was wanted them, um, and he was the one mostly that would let me on. But when I was twelve, they had a contest you could write like an essay, and I won and I got to go up in Christmas Eve. I was twelve and I got to host the show with and I already knew. But it was then that I was like, Okay, even if I'm broke forever, and I was twelve, what do you know about being I already knew I was broken. I knew if even if I'm staying the same forever, if I'm doing what I love to do. I went, if I can buy groceries and pay for a mortgage, even if it's not a big fancy one, I win because I'm doing what makes me happy. And in the end, we only pursue general happiness. And I knew I was gonna get it just by doing that. Now, there was a lot of stuff I didn't know. Again, that's twelve, right, um. But then like I knew and I finished, you know, I beg for a job at seventeen and was playing right d c ds and all that. But um, yeah, that that was when the bug got me. But again not about me YouTube. We have best ability to YouTube. Are both. Now you're an intern and you are what when you meet I was when I met her. I was still loved, was his assistant. I hadn't done video stuff yet. Yeah, and Anthony had really long hair. I did, yeah, down to my shoulders. Was scared. So Carla Murray had no friends at the radio studio zero and I, because I had my time at promotions, I had this group of this network of friends, so we would go out to lunch all the time. And I started inviting carl thea Mura out to lunch with us because she would just sit at her little owne oup desk by herself after everyone left, because we were probably the people that stayed the latest because of our response, and we were on the same age so and everyone for the most part was older. So Anthony and invite me places. But I also couldn't afford to go out to lunch in New York City, even if it was just the deli, So sometimes I'd have to be like no, or I'll just come and get a soda. And I would start hanging out with Anthony and all of his friends at the station. But other than that, I would sit there by myself. So how in the world did you guys decided to do something together professionally? It was on. It was four years in it. It was four years into knowing each other. So you were an intern for four years. No, no, no, I had been working there at that time. When Anthony was invited me to lunch, he wouldn't invite an intern too lunch. I think I did never because one of my friends had a crush on Carla Marine Well, I would start inviting Carla Mariott to launch also to see if this is news to me. So in fourteen, um, we there were a bunch of people on the show. Everyone had their own thing except really the two of us, whether it was getting to do different appearances for the station or not necessarily podcast No one really had podcasts at the point, but everyone had a different role in the show. And the two of us were like, man, like, it's so hard to get on the air here because there's sixteen people on this show. We're never gonna grow if we can't do this. So Anthony was like, why don't we do a podcast. We were we were traveling to an event that we both had to go film att Um was it, Windermere was the mountain? Windom Windore is the real the real state come Window Mountain. And on the way back we were listening to other podcasts, we said, why don't we do this? And we sat down at a full meeting, like we had a meeting essentially to each other, and said, all right, this is what our kind of schedule is gonna look like. We'll do it on Fridays. We'll call it my Day Friday. We're not going to curse on the podcast because we want to pretend this is real radio. And we'll have topics and we'll email each other. And we did this whole thing and launched it on April eleven, and they're just, I mean, our hobbies at the time. We're going out, partying, drinking with our friends, like that was what we did. And now it's so funny, like when we still do our podcast, we're like we used to talk about going out and partying and being hungover, and now it's like it's still bizarre. So you guys are doing the podcast, when does that turn into someone or you guys knocking on the door and going hey, knuck aheads, let us do this on the radio somewhere. You know. It actually sooner than we thought in terms of theations that people had where they say, hey, there's this city. Um, they don't know what they're doing next for their morning show, they might have an interest in you. And that happened a couple of times, no real conversations, and then one day, it was right around Christmas, in a year and a half into doing a podcast, we didn't know what we were doing, and obviously everyone had Elvis's blessing before they would ever come to us, like they had to go to Elvis first to make sure I'm going to reach out to Carlo Marie Anthony for this opportunity. Was that okay? But the first real opportunity was Seattle, and we had a bunch of conversations, but I couldn't talk about it because no one knew what was going on in Seattle. No one knew that these two strangers were going to fly out here and take over the station that didn't exist. When we were having these conversations, and for the two of us, it was like, why not take this opportunity to actually do something, so your first ever freaking show was in Seattle and a big old market. You didn't cut your teeth and Paduca or me hunt Springs, Arkansas. You went from a podcast to hosting Mornings in Seattle, podcast in New York, no less, you know, a podcast anywhere, okay, but we were like that. It was kind of hard for us. Though it will sound like spoiled rats, but for me to be like, I'm in market number one? Why am I going to go to a different market? Like that was in the Granted I was like number twelve on the show, but I was like, I'm in market number one? Why would I leave here? And I had to I had to finally tell myself, You're never going to grow out of this role if you don't, if you don't try, it's all so. I mean with with Elvis, and I would probably I would put you in the same conversation. You guys, you've done so well for so long that there is I don't know if I call it the bubble, but there are things that really successful shows get to do that to get to the local level, and newer shows like carlon Mee that we don't get some of the same support. And I think that was the scariest thing for us was knowing how much support Elvis got from the company and knowing that it was going to be different in Seattle. But it wasn't a national morning, so we didn't deserve that yet, So which was my point, and not that you didn't deserve it, but Elvis and I don't know a lot of his early hit because he was on a hundred when I was maybe ten, I'm not sure, so I don't remember. But for me, there was a lot of the small local thing when I got no support. Actually, I'm glad that happened, because when I finally got the support one, I was grateful and too I knew how to use it. So you're going in but again Seattle, you're gonna get a good amount of support. Yeah, it's that's that's just nuts. But you're right, you're leaving a station in New York going to work. But that's such a big gig to what station. It was originally Cube ninety three. They had flipped it the day we got there. They flipped it to power, so it was going to be this new top forty pop station. They pivoted a couple other stations in Seattle, to maneuver everything, and we were the first voices ever on that brand new station, which that was one of the coolest things for us, regardless of anything else going on, moving from our friends and family. Being able to launch a brand new station, not just a brand new show, was so cool. And that's an experience that like, we'll never get again, probably well, no, hopefully not. Looking back, I often have it's a mix of imposter syndrome but also a dose a reality of I don't think we deserve to be there. I don't, especially now more than ever, after everything we've been through in the four and a half years, we had no business hosting. I had no business get in my morning, I just said the same thing to you guys, right we all that feeling happens with almost everybody. Because I just said this out loud. I didn't deserve that job, just like you felt like you didn't deserve that job. But again you said, you raise your hands, say yep, I love it. You go take it. You guys crap in your pants. First day, Oh my god, Oh yeah, I like I remember laying on the floor after the first show was over, just being physically exhausted because I was so nervous, like the whole time. I've listened back to the audio before. I don't know where it is now, but I can hear that my throat is like close because I was so nervous. He's telling one of those throat singers on. So why I'm gonna go to the bones of it? Although why Carla Marie and Anthony in that order, because there had to be a conversation. It was. It was, and actually I hated that, not because I wanted my name first, Altho it would have been nice, And I hated that it was Carla Marie and Anthony and the A N A N sounds back to back. I didn't like that. Um, but the podcast was My Day Friday with Anthony and Carla Murray, the logo and everything, because Anthony's friend made our logo, so his name was first. But when we were having the conversations about our show, um, they brought it up to us and they were like, well, we would just call it like that. We think we want to call it the Carla Marine and Anthony Show. Is that okay? I was like, yes, did you raise your hand it on and go, hey, what about it? I did a little bit and here's where I do. And we give each other a lot of crap all the time. Um, but I will say this, no one would have looked at me in the light they did had it not been for Carla Marie letting me kind of ride her coattails for a little bit. Now we're a great team together. That were very short coat short coat tails were still a coattails nonetheless, And yes, we worked together really well. We have kind of this divide and conquer mentality that we do. She's good at certain things, I'm good at certain things. But Carla Maurie was kind of the star, the rising star of Elvis the Show for a while, and I was the assistant slash video producer, and I got the attention that I got because we teamed up. So I I never really had an actual problem with putting her name first because I knew that I only had that opportunity and people, I mean, the only reason someone looked at my real or my tape, if you will, is because they were looking at Carly Marie's first, and they happen to see some stuff that I did and said, hey, why don't you send me a video too? So, I mean, we could give each other a crap a lot. But at the end of the day, I know that I owed a lot of my opportunity to Carla Maurie. So it wasn't really a big deal for me to say, you know what, put your name first, you're the star of the show. Well, now Anthony said, whatever we do next? Well it also failed. Yeah, the car one to one. Now now you gotta flip a go. Well, the Carlin Marine Anthony show failed. Whatever, So the next one with Carla Marie and friends. So and before you got this job in Seattle, go back one step. Were there jobs that you were up for but didn't get Um? I know there was one job in Philly for me that there were pretty serious got it over you. Um they ended up not just they just didn't do it. It was gonna be this new role that they were going to build. Um, it was going to be. Actually it kind of exists now with Steven. Yeah, at Q one or two in Philly, it would be the board op for Elvis's show, but you would also pop in on the air occasionally. It would have been if you're familiar with Elvis show, kind of what Froggy does for South Florida. I would have been doing that kind of for Philadelphia and that didn't work out. They just didn't do it, thankfully. And was there anything that you two together were up for when you said these conversations were happening, No, I mean there afterwards we kind of found out that there were conversations about us happening that we weren't a part of. Always the case. Yeah, there was a conversation for me in DC. I don't know anything about it, Like well before the idea of us hosting a show together in Seattle. Um, and then I think there was a conversation about the two of us for Atlanta that was that was a serious conversation they're having. I also forgot I almost moved to Denver. I don't know how that's was lately skipped over. That was three months of just me being like mental, just they offer you something there they did. Um, it was gonna be an executive producer role on the air as well, but they were It would have been for party. J J. J J was a local host on He's now in Atlanta, but he was in Denver for a little bit and I was gonna move with him. J J K and Um I would have gone out with him, it would have been another top forty pop radio show, and they just there was like no money in it. I basically would have been making the same or less, and I still wasn't making a lot on Elvis's show. And that's when things started picking up. There were some clients and things that worked with Carla Marie and I. We were giving more, be given more opportunities. So I said, you know what, that's a full time role, and it's a step in the right direction. But I'm gonna ride it out and see where this thing with Elvis and and Carla Marie goes. You get to Seattle, you're on Cube Kub and it's going fine, But do you guys get pop? They're right, Seattle was crazy. Yeah. So about two years into us being on Power top forty station, they decided to make all their changes in Seattle. Take the Kiss station that you probably would have gotten to work for and bring that back to top forty. So change Power, take Kiss, make a top forty again, make Power Cube again. So at that point they're like, all right, you guys, you're young, you're great. You can host this morning show for a hip hop station. I don't listen to hip hop and I was like no, no, no no, no, no, I can't do this. But they're like no, but like this is your job. Now you have to do it. And I was like why they gave us I think a day and a half basically of warning. So I was like, all right, and I like made a playlist on the I Heart Radio app of like every song that we were going to play, and I started listening to and I was like, man, I really loved Tylor Swift and Ariana Grande, like this is not my jam, and but we did it. But we did it for three days. That's it. Yeah, and then it took us off. Why what did they tell you it just didn't sound right? Well, no crap, you told him you felt that, yeah, And now afterwards they were like, yeah, you were right. Well we actually told them yeah, going into it, we said, we don't know if this is the right we try, We're gonna if you give us any job, we are going to work our butts off and put every ounce of energy into it. Um and they kind of calmed us down. They played some imaging tonight, said all right, let's do this thing, and they have three Three business days later, we got called into a offsite lunch. I was like, I said, hey, why don't you meet us at this restaurant. We got there and we're like, this is not good. They fired you at a restaurant. So yeah, this is where they didn't actually fire us. They said, we're taking you off the air. We are not firing you. We're just going to figure something out eventually. So you continue to get paid. Yeah, and then within a week they knew that. They put us on as a night show on the Kiss station. You're a most job. Yeah, yeah, well years and years. So you go into night a Kiss and who was doing mornings? Bender and Molly Benders seems to have been on forever, there for seventeen years. I think, Yeah, it seems like he may have been the show on whenever I was. He probably he probably was. Yeah, so okay they're on. And then were they married? No, so his previous co host it was Bender and Jackie originally they were married, Okay, that's why I think that. Yeah, they got divorced um and then Molly who was on the Bachelor, Molly and Jason Mesnick. That's like the infamous season where he picked someone else and then picked Molly, Like that was the first time. That happened like eleven or fourteen years ago at this point. But Molly during The Bachelor got to be on that radio station because Jason was from Seattle, and then years later became co host there. She's a sweetheart. Did her and Bender get married to Okay, Oh, they're still together, like one of the success story of success stories. I just automatically assumed they've been the Bachelor. Didn't work out? So Wow. By the way, being married to your co host, that would be tough. I think getting divorced from your co host, well, I mean just staying married. I guess that's what I mean. Wow. And did they stay on there after they're divorced? Do you know for a little bit from what I know, I don't know the full story. I know that. Do you imagine that happened basically on the radio and that's not private, that's public information. And on the radio? Did they go their divorce happen on the radio, not like serving divorce paper. They went through the process, they decided on the air from a big personal announcement radio. I would not um No, I think a lot of the drama played out in there. So they're done. Did they fire them that show or did they what's what's that? I don't know. They let Bender go and they moved Molly to a different for us. Yeah yeah, yeah, um, they let Bender go. He's back with the company somewhere else, but they let him go and kept Molly, kept the producer on that show and brought us in to do the morning show and have this audition process that was going to take place to find more people to join our show. Where's Molly now? She actually got lego of the same day we did. She was she was hosting, but that's what happened. She went, They did her own, like midday show. Okay, so now you're on you're looking for co hosts and I think this is where uh British Willie comes on? Yeah, English Evan and then Alabama ends up coming on too. So it's you four. How long were you four together as a unit? Fourteen months? Yeah, yeah, fourteen months, So that's about it's just about enough time to start to feel like, okay, we're starting to get a little traction, especially now. Well it was it was also kind of crazy because our our ride was not smoothed by any means, and it wasn't anyone's fault, like Alabama had a stroke three months after starting with us, four months after. It was just insane. It was six in the morning and she had a stroke coming up. But now I look, there's like so much where we can easily say, oh, that sucks that this happened. It stuck that that happened, But there's so many things like if our show never went through all the things that it went through, and to the point where okay, and then Alabama and Evan joined, who knows where in the world she would have been when she had that stroke, But because she was around people, she's alive, and so many different things happened, you know, the Seattle and all the changes our paths cross, and it's like there's little things like that that I hold onto were like, Okay, we were supposed to be in her life for that moment, because she could have been alone in a radio studio and that could have happened. And it's little things like that where I'm like, yeah, as much as life sucks at the moment or as we're going through this, it's like little things happened for a reason. And then we did start, you know, hitting our stride, and things were going well and then uh, the plug was pulled a little bit before we get to the plug, how are your parents still alive? Everybody's okay, good um, because the worst is when you're like, hey, what's your dad and he's like, my dad died in a fire three years ago, and thankfully they're they're alive and well. And that happened with Weird al way back in the day, had Weird al On and I love them, and so I felt like, I don't need to look anything up. I love Weird Alt. Why would I look anything up? I knew everything by heart. I know all the songs about her. I was a kid I used and I was like, what did your parents think about you decided anythings? Yeah? I think his mom died in the fire or something. Oh yeah, that's what really want on line where I felt, how do you recover from that? You? Um, you don't really, but you just keep going. You just hop back in, never address it. Because I've been with artists who and they're like, hey, so I know they have kids and like your kids are like, I don't talk about my kids, and you can go or you can go so this other yeah. Yeah, so we went through that. It's awkward. Your parents are alive, Um, what are they? What at this point? You're in Seattle, You're on now in the mornings and kids are they now like you guys did the right thing. Oh yeah, yes, super proud. My mom was telling all of her friends that I had my own radio station in Seattle. She didn't like, she's like radio station, sound like, Mom, I don't own a radio station in Seattle. But it was just like this, the most bragging moments ever. I would hear from them. I'd come home to New Jersey and I'd bump into their friends, like, oh, your father told me this, this, this, and it's like you hear from their friends about your own life, and it's at that point they were like, yeah, you know, it's kind of cool that you did that, you think for me. I remember I've posted about this before. When we used to drive to church in the morning. UM, American Top forty was on the radio and I was hosted by Casey Cayson, who's also Lebanese and my dad's from Lebanon, immigrated here during the Civil War, and I remember their Civil War not hours six. He's really all And I remember it was like clockwork every Sunday Casey Cason would come on as we're on our way to church, and my dad would always point out, you know, this guy's Lebanese. You could do anything if he can do it, why and uh And I remember getting my job and he never like made that connection once I got my job. But it was cool being a minority and knowing that someone else will look up to you and do that. And I think we've gotten messages like that. My kids love listening to you because they've never heard another Lebanese person on the radio or on TV. And uh, I know my parents were proud of that too. So everything's rocking. Did you start to feel like did you feel the Jaws music coming on? And I thought it would have been COVID related. I kept telling my mom, Mom, we're getting fired. I know, why did you think that? I don't know. I had this feeling because I was watching everyone around me lose their jobs. And I also started thinking I could see us getting furloughed until people start driving to work again. You know, we're not We're on and we're not syndicated where you know, every city has their different rules right now, Seattle was shut down. It was a ghost town for three months. Still is like it's shut down. So I was like, it's gonna happen. My Mom's like, stop putting it out there. I'm like, no, I feel it. I just feel it. And we knew there were changes happening at other radio stations that were not our company, so we knew that there were people who were also available. So talking about Jubil across the street and what station was he on? No, he had been fired. He had been fired. Okay, everything is so confusing right now. Okay, but he's off air, not anyway, he's he got cut. Okay. So in you guys, you feel like coming because, like you said, everything around. Hung up something on my wall in my house and it was the last thing I had to hang up finally after decorating, and I said to Anthony, I said, I just hung up the last thing on my wall. We're going to get fired. And seven days later we got let go. And how does that call happen? Or meeting? Meeting told us to come back to the studio, same restaurant we once. They told us to come into the building. Although we had been coming in, no one else was in the building because of the pandemic. So we're like, uh, well, we took a duffel bag and boxes to the studio. We know it. So how do they tell you? And are you both in there at the same time the same time and they just said, hey, we're making a change. Who's the who? Who has to tell you? Two of our managers, like to executive level people are SPP and I know them? Who are they? Probably not? I don't think you would know them personally. You're not saying their name. Who are they? Rich Moore and Robert Dove don't know all right? Which sucks, I will say, because they were like ads to us. Yeah, I better suck for them to have to do it, dream more more than it to suck for us to hear it. I want to say more, but I would say go ahead. But yeah, I mean like Robert, I used to live in the same apartment building as Anthony, but Robert also lived in that apartment building, so like they lived down the hall for me for like three years. So and it's great when you have these relationships with your management. When that moment comes, it's like you're almost like, how are you telling me this? Why couldn't you tell someone else to tell me? So they tell you walk out of the room. What's the conversation you guys have as you're walking down the hall. Well, we got to clean out our own office, so there was no one else to clean it, so we were I was crying cleaning out the office. Anthony, you hadn't cried yet. I don't think so. I don't when I get upset. I also oftentimes don't talk at all. I'll just sit there. Like the whole meeting that they were when they were telling us what was going on, Carling had questions. I think I may have said twelve words. Maybe I don't even know what they were. Um, but yeah, we clear out the office, get all the stuff down to the car, and as we were doing, like the final walk out of the elevator, I looked at Anthony and I said we needed this, and he's like, I think you're right. And it just felt like looking back, yeah, you, like you said Bobby had, things were finally picking up. But were they really numbers wise? Probably not. And I think that we had just been through so much in Seattle, and we we were trying to make something work that I don't think was going to work, and that's why this happened. It's not because we did anything wrong. We were told we didn't do anything wrong. We tried the hardest, but it just didn't work a few times. What would you do? Let's just say, hypothetically, Gotham City called not New York. I'm trying to think of a fictional city because I don't know anywhere anywhere but Gotham City. Call us yeah, and they go, hey, when want you guys come to a show? What kind of show do you guys want to do? It's a it's a pop station. Um, like, what would you do? That's a bit different on this show than the last show, because I think that will be a question that you will get out. I do think that right away we would need to have a team in place, like none of this come along as we auditioned several people, and you don't get to hear the people that you did fall in love with along the way, like we Yeah, granted we loved our team in the end, but there were other people who auditioned for that job that listeners fell in love with who didn't get the role. And then you're a listener and you're like, but I wanted that person, they didn't pick them. I think being introduced to a new city as a full show is huge. And yeah, the two of us were great together, but we do even better when we're surrounded by more people. And I know, Bobby, you could probably say the same thing, like, yeah, you're great on your own, but when you've got Amy and everyone else in the room, it's way more fun. And we both know that about ourselves, like we have more fun when other people are around. And I think having a full team that we both truly believe in with our managers maybe, but starting from that day one, all of us everything in place, instead of hey, move out to Seattle. Oh, then do this, Oh then do this, then pick your produce, sort of like we were just picking up pieces and trying to do the job without everything in place, I would say, And it's kind of piggybacking off of that. And this might be like for people who don't know radio in the way that the hierarchy works. We had so many managers in that four and a half years that we were there. We had so many different plans. We had so many different things, and a lot of those plans were good. But when you have twelve good plans, it makes zero good plans quarterback, having offensive coordinators coming in every year like exactly a quarterback, but you can't actually learn the full system unless you have time to spend knowing their vision and how it intersects with your vision. Yeah, I think just consistency is zillaly thing I would have asked for, and it's hard to ask especially in our world. Um, but that would have been the only thing that I would have changed, just a little bit more consistency. Right now, is anyone going, hey, we may have something for you guys soon. Um. We had some people reach out just to have kind of conversations. It's also because there's no money being spent right So now I'm not even saying that as a as about you guys, but I'm saying that about just you guys. Plus the dynamic of nobody's spending any money anything. And we're also having conversations with between the two of us, with some friends and saying, do we what do we want to do before someone offers us something? What do we want to do? Do we want to grow something on our own? And we started this Twitch channel which isn't huge yet, but it's a lot of fun. It's kind of like what we wanted to do on morning radio with a live audience that can interact through a chat room. Um, so what do we want to do moving forward? Do we want to go the traditional mainstream radio model? Do we want to try something different? Carlmur your side Hustlers podcast? Even though I mean that was an iHeart radio? Are you still doing it at the moment? I am not because they don't want you to. I'm not really sure, but you they're not letting you really interesting, but you can if you end up getting back with the company sitting there to be I just can't see a world and I'm just speaking candidly. That's someone eventually once in a few months doesn't go, hey you too, let's go. And I don't say that as I wouldn't flup your butts if I didn't think, I just wouldn't say it at all. I would just be like, look at you guys, all right, twelve past the hour. Here's something divorce stroke on the way. We'll talk about it soon and it it um, it's tough to sit and just wait, and I'm sorry to cut you off. It's also I think a welcomed relief. And I know because you're someone who works a lot, right. Imagine if someone and you'd probably hated it first first, but if someone said you have to sit still, Well, that's what the pandemic did to me for a month. But again I got to keep freaking. But yeah, but yeah, yeah, it shut me down from the road, shut me down from lots of things. And I think there are times where you don't taking care of yourself or the people around you, or the things that you care about. And I think we've been able to kind of back up and say, you know what, let me actually get some sleep, maybe more than four hours a night. So there are benefits. It sucks at first when you're just sitting, especially when you're used to going at a hundred miles an hour, but I think it's also a welcomed um both mentally and physically and emotionally. That's great. That's great to hear. I just know how neurotic I am, and I would be like, Okay, at six pm, nobody's called me. They must hate me. I may probably never work in radio again. Okay, it's seven like, but I I'm just saying as as truly as I possibly can, I just can't see a world where somebody doesn't come at you guys and go, hey, look, you guys are proven. You're both wonderful personalities, hard workers. Let's go. And sometimes it's hard to see the forest from the trees when you're in the middle of the trees. And right now, you guys are in the middle of that tree thing when you're really like, man, what's happening. But I'm glad to hear that's your perspective right now and now, so you're doing side hustles right now. Okay, are you guys doing any podcast at all? So you can catch our Twitch stream that's where we're doing, you know, my day Friday either. Wow. For right now, we're still figuring everything out. I'll be so pissed, not thrilled, not thrilled. No, it's you know what it's. It's also us figuring out exactly what path we're going to take. So there's a lot of things in motion at the moment. Listen, and I think you guys are great. Um you're driving all around. People can watch your twit channel to see if I remember here, it's Twitch, dot tv slash Carla Marie and Anthony you go, and then on Instagram, Carla Marie Anthony. We have we each have accounts to I have at worst Anthony. It's at worst Anthony on everything, Instagram, Twitter, I'm Carla Marie on everything And what about you two? Because you are you? Did you do every date? No? No? We actually when we met, um I had did I still have a girlfriend? I think I still had a girlfriend when we met, Um. I was friends with Carlin's boyfriend for a long time. And it's funny, even as Carlin Maurie had a boyfriend, people thought we were dating, even though they she would be posting with him all the time. Well, Amy and I had that for tenures in career. I feel like you guys still got hand. Sometimes I think it's a it's a little but um, we got that. But the difference is like YouTube, I don't ever see a boyfriend or a girlfriend and haven't well, I normally make it a point not to post about relationship stuff, and I haven't had a long term girlfriend for the last four and a half. But one of the things, and I don't know if you've ever dealt with this, Bobby, but as a guy in our world, it's very hard to be open about a relationship and not be made out to be the bad guy. Well, because we're the bad guy, won't That's what I also, I try to protect the people who I am, who I do care about, because there's you know, in this world where everyone's a keyboard bully or a keyboard hero, there's a lot of times where you post things and comments that come through aren't necessarily the kindest. So I try to protect you. That's why don't even really posted about my family that often. I mean, Caitlyn struggles with that people are so mean to her. They're just like, why they are so mean to her? I don't, I don't get it. I love her. She's like, I don't want to be in the public life. I post like once every month on Instagram, but she is. They're just so much to the point where she has to she limits comments, she limits she doesn't limits herself to even looking at it. She's like, I hate that. I I do, and then I feel bad because I'm like, she didn't sign up for that, and I feel the same way, and that she knew what she was a little bit getting into. But it's so much more brutal than even I thought. Here's the thing about girls, They're meaner than guys are Yeah, her comments from girls making terrible about her, about her body, about why she's with me. It's everything and horrendous to the point where it's she has not good days because of it. And listen who and you can say, we'll just good all social mediacause that's what I would say, just get off of it. But then who do I love it? Why should she have to suffer? And I say that word meaning it suffer from not because she loves to be on TikTok and look at TikTok. She doesn't she doesn't do very much on there, but she looks at she loves Instagram. I do too, And now because there are a couple of dicks and she can't get online, And it's like, why should she have to stop doing something that she enjoys because there are people who don't know how to use that platform like a normal human. Because no one, I not no one, but not many people would probably say the things they say on Instagram or TikTok or Twitter to her face right ever, ever, they could be sitting next to in the movie theater for two straight hours, they would never turn to her and say YadA, YadA, YadA. But on. But because we're all living behind these keyboards, it becomes so easy to don't realize there's an actual person attached to that picture. And she shouldn't have to change her normal behavior because there are people who can't respect boundaries. Here everything that she's gorgeous, obviously, she everything I've heard from you, everything I've seen, She's an amazing person. And granted that's what I get from social media. How is someone getting anything different than that. It's because they're assigning it with their own mind and their insecure and they're jealous. Well, all that being said, you guys have never dated, you know, why don't you just go ahead and do it? And they'd be Bender and Jamie. Well that that depends. So although it had the same ending that our radio show did, so I guess it could have happened. No, I don't know. But and do you think that you will not develop as adults and your roles change and you're not just two single adults as you get How old are you? Anthony? It's time, bro, it's time. It's not it's it's not time to get married. Listen, not forty, I'm not married, and you know I've had this conversation away. We we kind of had this, but at some point you have to go, Man, I can't let my job completely affect my life. No, we have had that conversation. I actually took We had that conversation almost a year ago. Um, and I did take that to heart, and I tried to make sure that I was giving myself time to be a real person rather than just a person who works on the radio. And I think Carla can probably back me up here. I did it better job, not a great job, but I did a better job of trying to carve out some personal time. No, I thought, maybe I for me personally. It was after we got let go. I had a moment of I just missed out on so much of my life for what I put so much time and effort into this career. I said no to family, things, things with my friends, things with you know, my own loan, time for this career, for what to lose it all. And I've since circled back on that. And I know how many lives I've touched and how many people I've met because of this career. And I take that sentiment back a little bit. But I've made a vow to myself that this whatever this next career part of my life is, isn't going to get the same person that this last part got. I'll still do my job and be great at it, but I'm not going to go above and beyond a career that I tend to retire from one day and hopefully have a family to dress of my years with. And if I put it all into that career, I'm not going to have that family when I retire. Well, and in the counterintuitive way of what you're gonna take away from your career to form a family, that family and those stories are actually gonna be better for your for your radio job and career. I have a question for you. Go ahead, because we did have this conversation about a year ago about finding time for your personal life and things like that. And I'm pretty sure after that is when you met you met Caitlin, right, except we we're probably together, like September of last year I met Caitlin and November. So then do you think it was just you were living your life normally and that happened, or did you make a change to open yourself up completely made a change? What did you do? Didn't rush to judge didn't sabotage immediately. I'm guilty of that as well. I didn't do a lot of things that I wouldn't didn't really do anything differently, like outwardly. But what I didn't do was a lot of the things that I was doing that made the relationship really bad. Um. I also was like auditioned by subtraction almost absolutely first and foremost I met the right girl. But then I just didn't do all the dumb things that I had done before. And I had met I've met no one had been with anyone that's been anywhere close to to Caitlin. So number one was meeting the right girl. But I definitely see how I could have just sabotaged myself and kicked myself in the in the nuts and been like it's not gonna work. She lived long distance, you know, so but it was great, um, and we're great now. It looks like it's fantastic. Well, and you know, everything on Instagram is real. So I know you said I love you. I'm so excited I did. I was like, he didn't say it on Instagram, but if he answered it to cal and I was like, yes, the first time ever to anybody, to anybody. How do you feel great? Because I do. Were you nervous before he said the words? It wasn't nervous. It was like, did you practice in the mirror? No? No, I couldn't. I don't, couldn't. The only thing I've ever said it to my dog, ever, my last dog, not even this dog. Oh now this dog. Yeah yeah, yeah, but moly, it's like I love you, but you're an idiot. Yeah, okay. Look, I in conclusion, I'd like to do a little exercise here, because you know, I thought we do twenty minutes. I would like for you, Anthony, first, I need you to say three positive words about yourself because I feel like we need this right now. Go ahead, I have to go first. You have to go first. Three positive words about yourself. You couldn't have picked the worst person for this. I just started with a negative. Three positive words around three positive words, Um, faithful, dedicated, Faithful, Dedicated is loyal, the same thing as you can say. Do you know what's crazy is if I were to say, Anthony, say three nice words about columb Or, you don't have to. You'd be able to go batman bank. But when it comes to having to say things about ourselves in a positive light. It hurts, and it shouldn't. It shouldn't. It should almost flow out of you, carlamery, three positive things and three positive words about yourself, supportive, caring, And I also have to throw loyal And there's the first one I thought about myself. But yeah, alright, she was really better. Yeah, yeah, you gotta just thrown on you. First of all, good luck. Second of all, you don't really need it. Um. You know, my football coach would always say, tough times don't last, but tough people do, and tough talent people really do. And in the end, I think you'll learn and grow more from this than you would have had it just continued as was. And I think now you see that so grateful for this. And it's such a crazy thing to say, but I am, I am so I love love you guys. You know that. Um, Mike, anythink you'd like to say to these two, I also love you guys. That's one of my favorite people. No offense to you, Bobby, you probably spent more time with Mike. I will say this. I still I have this rotation of show that I listened to normally that I hurt radio shows and uh, other than Elvis, who's like my actual family. Basically, I listen to you guys all the time, and it's because I love what you guys do. I love what you've been able to build. And one day and I can build something that is even a quarter of the success that you've done. And what you guys do is amazing and encouraging. I appreciate that. That's kind one of the nicest things. Because in Austin a few years ago for our country festival, and we got off stage, and I still remember this. I got off we played, we did a set, we played, and we got off stage, and I got and listen in my heart, I'm just a radio guy and I get a lot of craft from other radio people that don't know me. And he sucks. He shouldn't be where he is today because he's not good. How it's NonStop, right, NonStop jealousy, however, and I like, outwardly you know that, but still when it's hitting you, like, like what's happening here? Like all I am is a kid who had no connections at all, worked at a tiny station and has every step ladder step just over and over and over again. And to have people being hateful because of success. You like, it's so weird. However, on the flip side of that, I remember getting off stage and I'm not a musician. I'm an entertainer. I'm not a musician, but we get up and we play. We have a pretty funny band whatever, and Carlo Maray semi at text it was like, Hey, to see a radio person get up and do that. That was freaking awesome and inspiring. And that meant a lot to me that you would just send that text. Not because of what I did, who I do stupid stuff, but because you sent that test that text and said it that way. That was awesome. It's true, and it may it makes people like us in the role that we're in think you can be more than this. You can be more than what you're doing, and you can have other dreams. I mean, anyone, really, anyone not to send anyone at radio. You can have other dreams and what you're currently doing. And to see you guys get off there, I mean I lose my mind every time I see you guys perform live, because it's just the coolest thing. I full blown like fan girl and that doesn't happen. It's Harry Styles and me. But it's like, I am nothing but a radio guy who said, well, let me use my platform to do a little bit of local TV, a little bit of writing for a local newspaper. Okay, let me go and fly to California and try for anything on the Oh, it's spend all my own money back and forth, back and forth just to meet people, just to beg and then it's but then when it all happens and all of a sudden, you're an overnight success and you don't deserve that. You're just like, why why are people in our industry like that's my frustration because I want to be someone that can look at and go, dang, look at him, Look look at the work he's put it made to do that. Well, look at you like that, I'll say that, And I think you need to be just like you were telling us, it's better to be conto yourself. I think you, yes, you are a radio person at heart, but you're a radio person who has not been afraid or at least you've taken the chance to do different things. And every time it's not easy to do different things. It's not easy to say I'm gonna go do stand up comedy or I'm gonna go see if American I Al wants to have me out whatever, Like I'm not I'm gonna dancing with the stars. You've been actually gifted that. We gotta wrap it up. Follow them on social media, check out their Twitch channel, in their show, and hopefully we'll do an update on this whenever you guys have a job again. Deal, you're rocking. Thank you? All right, good to talk to you, guys. I definitely didn't expect this to be an hour long interview into the entire Carla Marine Anthony story, but I'm glad it was. I really enjoyed this, and I hope you guys did too. Um. We don't spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about radio, but hopefully you found this interesting. All right, thanks, Right on right now with Damon Whiteside, the president of the Academy of Country Music the a c MS. Damon, how are you hey? Real good? Excited to talk to you because you know the awards are coming up. However, before I talk about what's happening in a week or so, right, it's a week, Yeah, it's about a come. It's one week from today, but who's counting, right? Okay, So before then, this thing, this a c M Awards show was supposedly going off what seven months ago? Eight months ago, and it because of COVID never happened. Right, It was going to be April five, and then it was canceled and we ended up moving it here to Nashville. And there was a lot that happened between that, right, Like, I mean, you had to think, first of all, are we going to cancel it? Can't have it in Nashville in Vegas? Do we have it in Nashville? You know late April? Was there a lot of that before it was finally shut down? Oh? Yeah. It was definitely months of researching and having conversation, and honestly, it was very difficult to find a venue to how is it? Because so many tours had been and shows have been canceled and moved to the sub time. We all kind of thought this COVID thing was going to be temporary and everything, we'll be back to normal in the summer. So it was really hard to find venues and we literally scoured the country. But we ultimately wanted to be in nash Field just because we you know, it's the home and country music, but also we wanted to be make it safe for our artists, um, so that they can just be at home and drive down and not have to travel. And um, you know, so many in our industry have been hit really hard by this and out of work, and so we didn't want to require the industry to have to travel. So we just basically decided to put it in their backyard. It's happening Wednesday, September and it's hosted by Keith Urban. My question about Keith is, did you know Keith wouldn't be nominated for Entertainer of the Year when he was picked to to host and be like that guy. Uh No, we did not know at that time when we discussed with him about him hosting. But he's our ragining Entertainer of the Year right now and he actually jokes that he's the longest running raining entertainer since our ships back to September. So it's it's great to have to have him in the show. You're doing it from a different spots. All are super important, not just to me personally because I've played all of them, but just to country music in the history of country music. So talk about those three spots where the show will be broadcast from Oh my gosh, it's it's like a dream come true to have this show happening in the three most famous country music venues in the world. Um. But yes, it'll be UM live from the Grand Old Opry in the Bluebird Cafe UM, and we're gonna have moments also from the Ryman Auditorium. So it's really absolutely you know, it's just gonna be magical and such a such a homage to country music and just you know, all the legends that have been before us. The Bluebirds interesting because you know, again having performed there myself, it's so small. People are are right on top of you when you do play because it's so small. But it's definitely a songwriter's room. And what you guys have done is you've put people in that situation to kind of play to that scenario. Right, isn't Miranda doing something something with the songwriters who wrote bluebir She is. Yeah, Miranda's performing with Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick who wrote Bluebird with her. So that's going to be a really cool um set up and I think something we haven't seen her perform that song yet with the songwriters, so that's going to be kind of a neat way to present that. Do you know who's won the awards already? I do not know who's won. A lot of people have asked me that. But now they are still under lock and key with Deloitte, who's our accounting firm that holds all that securely, and they will be on site the night, live on site at the Opry House and handing envelopes to the presenters that night, um to see who's gonna win. So um So, yeah, it's still a big mystery. Explain to me how that works, damon, because you pay a firm to do what count votes from people and then keep a secret. Yes, it's it's just to ensure the integrity the awards. So they manage our voting process and they they are the one is that hold all of that information and they analyze it to make sure that there's not been any kind of discrepancies in any of the voting or anything like that. They flag it immediately if anything looks off in any way. But yeah, it's just as ensures that everything is accurate and that we really maintain the integrity of the awards, and they do not share it with us until they literally on that stage that night. They've got the envelopes and they hand them physically from from the Deloitte person to the presenter that walks out and reads it. You know, it feels like, you know, the A C. M s are They're happening so quick, and it's the first big Awards show since Pandemic and I hear your email just blowing up. Is your life now right now? Like, Hey, let me get on that show, let me get a music perform performance slot on that show. I mean, is it just all the time right now for you? It is? Although you know, I'll say at this point we're done with the booking at this point, but the last you know, two months has definitely been that way. We've had a ton of interest, which has been great and being involved with the show. But I have to say it's going to be this year in you know, talking with our executive producer, Rack Clark, who works tirelessly on this show, we figured out that we've got like twenty five artists in the show performing and it's going to be like forty hits in the show. It's probably going to be more songs than an artist than we've ever had in an A C. M show. So it's pretty incredible being that, you know, in the midst of COVID were able to be in these three incredible venues and have more music than we've ever had. But that's what we're really going for, was just to have a night that truly is celebrating music and bringing some comfort to the fans and just given everybody just a really good time and a great way to reflect on all these great artists that are going to win these big awards. If I can to your horn for a second, you know, you guys have suggestioned that these artists play hits. You mentioned that, you know, because sometimes on awards shows, an artist wants to play their thing that's about to come or has just started, and the viewer watching go, I don't even know this song. However, as I look at the list here of of songs that these artists are playing, Gabby Barrett's playing I hope, uh, Carrie Underwood's doing a classic country melody. You have Randall Lambertine Bluebird, Morgan Wallen's doing whiskey Glasses. You have so like as thank you from me to you and how you're putting on the show, because I feel like I speak for a lot of the viewers like, thank you for having these artists do songs that we know. M hm. That was a big important part of it. Yeah, as we you know, we wanted to bring some familiarity and we really want to bring you know, some of that the fans really just they want to sing along, and so we we felt that that was really important, and so there are a lot of songs that, um, you know, the fans are certainly going to know every word by heart. We even have a huge opening at the beginning of the show where all of our Entertainers of the Year, the nominees for Entertaining or of the Year, are all going to perform one of their first ever number one hits. So you're gonna hear class sick hits from the entertainer nominees that they haven't performed on stage, you know, in years and years. So it's gonna be pretty neat to see all of that. But there's also going to be you know, a few songs that you know, maybe people are a little less familiar with, but we're excited about that because we really want to hit the right tone and um, you know, there's just some really beautiful songs such as Tricia Yourwood is going to be doing and in Memoriam, which is unlike anything we've ever done before, and she's doing a beautiful song called I'll Carry You Home. Mickey Guidan of course, is going to do what Are You Going to Tell Her? Which is an incredibly powerful song. So I'm excited just you know, for people to hear some music that they also haven't memorized yet. A couple of those other ones that are newer that I'm looking forward to. Our Luke Holmbs doing Better Together from Blue from the Bluebird, which I think is gonna be freaking great, and then Marion Morris doing to Hell and Back, which she's played on my show pretty recently, and it's just such a good song. So it's like there's a distinction you have to make between wanting to hear hit or if it's just so com pelling new and I think you guys have really nailed that. It's a good it's a good mix and you know, and essentially, like Thomas Read is performing at John Party, they're doing Beer Camp Fix, which they were originally going to do that back in April, and we're really glad that they're still going to do that. Because it's a lot of you know, going to be a lot of fun and old dominion too. I think when when fun thing for this year is that they're going to do a medley of their number one hits, and so that's that's great too, because I think fans are going to hear that and just go, you know, wow, I love all of these songs, and so it's just gonna be wall to wall music and just a lot of great artists. All right, damon, Well, if I feel like just in this call, you have seventy three emails to return just this that I heard, and uh, probably a hundred texts. So I'll let you go, but let me remind everybody Wednesday, September at seventh Central wherever you are, a seventh Central, Keith Urban's hosting. It's the A C M Awards. I personally cannot wait because I've been craving a good old live Country music Awards show, but one, this one since April, and I'm super up. It's in Nashville, damn it. So good luck and thank you, and we're gonna. I will be there. I'll be presenting. I would rather to your horn than mine during this segment, but I will be presenting, and it's uh, there's no right carpet. It's all COVID. So it's like you go in, you do your deal. You you don't touch anybody else, right, and then you you you're done. Absolutely, yeah, it is all touchless. And artists just walk in and they walk in, they do their thing, and they walk out and they never near anybody else except for you know, maybe their own personal manager. That's it. I love a touch less ceremony. All right, Damon, good to talk to you, my friend. Good luck. All right, take care of that is Damon Whiteside, President at the a c m S. Here's the thing for me, Well, I'm not taking a date. I would I would have taken Caitlin. I was taking her back when the original one was happening, so I would have taken Caitlin. But I still have to buy or find nice clothes. Mostly have to biome because nobody I'm not famous, so no one wants to give me clothes to wear because it makes the clothes the cool. Just have to buy it. I'm super pumped that I get to do this, but the one mini drawback is I have to go buy new clothes for the Award show. You even have to do that in a while, I haven't. That's a good thing though, all right, thanks to Damon Whiteside and you guys be sure to check out the A C M. S. So what I have here is a list from Slate, a list of the dirtiest number one songs before whop And do you know what whop is? Yeah? That's the new song. I don't. I mean I don't really if it came on, I wouldn't even really recognize it, but I heard of it. It's not wet, right like, Yeah, I gotta stay away, not to be confused with that. What's that other one? The whop? The whop? The who? Remember that one? Yeah? J completely different though. Do you know what whop stands for? Right? No? Oh you don't. You don't know the whole reason of this story. I do not. What is it? The w and whop stands for wet and it's a A H wet A p Okay, got it? Got it? Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah? Do we have an edited version? Because yeah, there is, because I've heard it before. Yeah, I can find it. So. Yeah, So that's a very dirty song, and you know it's Uh, it's Cardi B and Megan the Stallion. Right, Okay, so I have a list here of the dirtiest number one songs before. What's that? It's the edited version seven days a week. I want to hear the hook instead of wet a p what they say? Here we go, come took a dog, tign me up like I'm surprised. Let's go play with disguise. I want you to park that big mac chuck right in the critical vo make a stream. I don't make a scene. I don't cook, I don't clean. But let me tell you how I got the stream. Gobbled me, swallow me, tripped down the side of meat, will jump out for you. Let it get us out of me and tell him would have put it? Never? Tell him? Well, I'm about to be up burnt down on the right. So it's for a call while you rob that like you really ain't never got a thing. He already made his mind. Boy, can't booze? Can your coat? Anyway? We can hear a hook here. Look, I need a hard head or neathing. That's where I'm headed. Took here one because I need I feel like I need to get a confessional, not even cat like but I'm looking for you're saying that man cut the whole thing out, big stamp. Well, how do you get it? Right? I think I get the idea of buns. If I if I went home and my kids were listening to this crap, I would freak out. Okay, well that's why I bring up this this list here the number fifteen dirtiest songs before while According to number fifteen, whistle from flow righte at two thousand twelve. Now and kids were singing this like crazy because they just thought, but you know what blow my whistle is? Obviously I think I have an idea the first. But again, but it's nothing dirty about blowing a whistle. Obviously there's a second meaning no, No, that's the that's the first meaning no, not just blowing the whistle now, and then they whistle in it to cover their bases. A little bit Lollipop from Low Wayne, which was very dirty. It's like same as a whistle, right, yeah, like my lollip? Is there all number one songs by the way, A con with snooped at of you. But the original version is I want to f you very dirty. You see me looking at you and you already no oh, there's version Dan, we gotta like flip that or something reverse it. Okay, I was not expecting that either, did it for effect? Holy crap? Number twelve is ludicrous moneymaker? Your money make? That one doesn't seem so dirty as compared to lollipop and whistle. And I just want to blank you, no, because what's money maker? You're But yeah, right, it's not bad. It's not so bad. And numbers. Now, there's number eleven, laughy taffy, same thing, same kind of talent. Yeah, I don't understand the laughy taffy. What do you mean that's your butt? You have? But how is a butt a lafy taffy? Well, it's a thick piece of chewable, that's what it is, Okay, got it? You never thought like that, No, never, I've never looked at a button me like, that's a laughy tap. Well, but you heard laughy taffy? New was butt like thick and chewy shake that laughy taffy. At least that's what I think. I don't think it's a butt. Oh you don't know. Why do you not think it? But I just looking it up on Urban Dictionary. It's not a butt, oh bones when we're wrong. I never thought of a butt. You never. You thought it was the front. I mean I didn't think anything about it. What I always thought checked that laugh tapy was the butt. It's not the back, it's the front. Oh, I feel weird about that song. Now there's a reason it was never in laught taffy commercials. Apparently candy shop fifty that was always a pretty dirty one two thousand five shop. I mean, come on, I'll take you to the candy shop. Lick the lollipop, hit the spot. Whoa two thousand five. We're just playing the radio all the time. I mean, dirty, dirty, dirty number nine slow motion juvenile? You know that one? Heard it? I don't know it though. That's not too dirty, right um? And then he gets into the verses and he gets a little more descriptive and what he wants in slow motion? Okay, he gets he describes it one by one. Here we can listen to a second em. Oh, well there you go. Now we got to reverse that there. Did you hear that, Eddie? I did hear That's? That was the number one too? Yeah, it was number one. It came out and he goes, I'm a d thrower, but edited. You put all these in for effects for us. Number eight is too close from next massive song just about basically dancing and getting a bonner. That's fine from what fine? Oh yeah? Uh No, Number this is a jam. This ang was a jam. And I was a teenager when this song came out, and I remember thinking, this is a good song. Baby got back. Number seven on the dirtiest number one to walk as in a round thing in your face you get strung, which want to pull up? Just was a butt song. But then he did hit us with the my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hunt. And when you refer to your penis as an anaconda in a song, it does elevate the dirty level. Uh uh. Number six is Cream from Prince, which is great dirty, don't you stuff. I've never listened to that song to be dirty. Now I know it's extremely dirty. I guess we're just they're just kind of hiding a plain sight. But they just turn us a little bit to the right, so we're like and we don't see it. It's like I thought whistle was about a coach. Yeah here, yeah, here, here's my whistle blow it m uh. Number five we'll get to the top five dirtiest songs here, Like a Virgin from a Donna's Number five. I imagine this song was extremely controversial, for sure, massive, but I don't remember it obviously I was too young. But just having the word virgin in a song, it's probably crazy. Number four Afternoon to Light from the Starland Vocal Band ninety six sticks and songs together make the spot. I'm a bottom love and you was getting so excited star Rockets in flight Afternoon They're light, come on. That feels like a folk see porno song like mom is in the Papa thing that about getting it on later. Yeah, I mean if you're not breaking down Afternoon to Light or what it means. It kind of sounds like a very just generic song, a fun lunch with the family, except it's not. Number three is Ray Stevens The Streak, which is oh yes, they call in the street. It's about someone who streaks more than that's funny you throw that in there. I didn't put it in here, And I love Ray Stephens. Number two Chuck Berry nineteen seventy two. My Dingling, Dingling, Dingling, I love you want to play with my Dingling? Dan you've heard this before. Yeah, I used to play it all the time for fun to be funny dingling when Mama too made a son, tried every time play with modernly this is funny man. Yeah. And then finally Eddie the number one song, a massively famous song. What do you think the no, it's it's tough to go? What do you think the number one is? But what do you think the number one? Dirtiest? Is probably one of the biggest songs in American pop culture history. Oh yeah, extremely famous opening riff, beat it no earlier, although beat It's funny earlier. One of the biggest groups in rock and roll history. So the Beatles, no, the second biggest, I said one. Who's the second biggest? Rolling the Rolling Stones? Okay, rolling Stones? What's the five? I can't get no satisfaction faction? Yeah, that's it really here it is try try no no, there you go. I guess back in the day that was a very dirty song. Huh. He's just saying like he just can't get any I guess not. You know, all these songs kind of hide it a little bit. They never go right at it. Wop goes right at it. Dude, there's no hide in that one and the other Snoop Dogg one that you played, Yeah, I just want to blank you hey kind of stop dog. Yeah, that one doesn't hid to either, I guess, just go right at it. Yeah, that's a good point. That was. At one point there was an Enrique Glesia song because to Not I'm Loving You, and it was a hit, but the real version was because Tonight I'm new. Did you know that? Yeah? I remember, I remember you played that one too, shocking. Okay, you might have broken that news to me. I think we were playing golfers and be like, dude, you know what that really means. We're like, whoa, that's crazy because obviously we're listening to in three Kase, we're playing golf for sure. That's all we did, all right, We just wanted to spend tim and on going over. I thought that was so funny. I don't want to make it as significant part of the podcast. I wanted to put out the very end in case people didn't want to get sexified on the podcast. But that's a list of the dirtiest number one songs before walk Eddie promote your podcast, Sore Losers, Podcast Me, lunch Box and Ray we had sports podcast, but we do talk about a lot about our lives and just kind of what we do personally. Right there you can check out the Sore Losers. All right, Eddie, thank you, Thanks Man.