This is the Henry's Child podcast. Am I Crazy or am I just Raving? Hello, fellow humans and welcome to episode 80 of the Am I Crazy or am I Just Raving podcast? Today's podcast is with Jason Allen Cripe. Jason is one of the co-founders of the Guitars Under the Stars Music Festival that is held in Lebanon. And you may recall that Henry's child has actually played there twice in this episode. Jason gets really super personal and tells us about how the festival has evolved from a very small core to what it is today and how really he is an alchemist. He really turns personal tragedy into a very public triumph. And you'll hear that you'll hear this consistent thread in his language about being observant and flexible. And really, that's references to looking at the comments and looking at the feedback that he sees online and that he hears from other people at the festival and then turning that into something that works for the festival itself, really at this point, guitars under the stars is its own living and breathing entity that now offers all kinds of different stuff. You know, the high school comes out and supports it. There's music camps for teens and even music production as well as uh the guitars, bass and vocal camps that they had offered. Jason also talks about three new street fairs that he's gonna run this summer. There is a sort of a rock one where Henry's child is gonna be headlining on the 17th of June. There is a country one, uh the next month and then the following month there's a blues one. So he'll give details in here. And um yeah, it's a really great conversation with Jason Allen. Kri. Enjoy our talk. Jason, thanks for coming down and uh jumping on the podcast with us today. I have Jason Allen ripe with me today. He is, he is the uh let's see, the, the genius behind guts and he runs Cafe Rock, which Henry's child and Seven Second Circle just played. Uh which is a really cool little club down in uh Lebanon over in Lebanon, I should say depending on where you're coming from. But uh yeah, man, I just thought it'd be cool to have you on and talk about your story and hear how it all came about. It actually started because a friend of mine was doing a fundraiser. Um So I was not really actively involved in music. Um I mean, I've always been a fan, you know, I, I had the hit parader posters that I would yank out of the magazine and stuck on my wall, you know, all the motley crew and all that kind of stuff when I was a kid, you know. So obviously I was really into it, you know. But, uh, it, it started with a friend doing a fundraiser for, for their family. They were trying to recreate a situation that was a good situation for their kid, but they didn't have the money to do it again. And, um, I think, I don't know, everybody knows Zach Ro, you know, so they were, they were doing the rocking for Ashton event. And um I remember hearing about that and reaching out to Zach because they were, they were talking about doing a raffle and I had just been volunteering for a nonprofit and we had started looking into starting a non-profit of our own to help kids. And I remember, you know, you can get, get in a little bit of trouble doing a raffle if you're not, it's, it's kind of illegal, right? And so I was like, you know, I don't know, most people probably won't care, but Murphy's law says, you know, so I reached out to him and started asking some questions and turned out that Ashton had had uh therapy sessions at Mighty Oaks Therapy Center in Albany and I had a relationship with them. So they were more than willing to umbrella the fundraiser and uh it worked out really well. They were trying to raise 3500 bucks. Ended up raising 5200. Um, so they got, yeah. Yeah. So not only did they hit their goal and they were able to go take that trip and recreate the situ situation for the kid that they were trying to, which was beneficial. But Oaks also got a check, um, which was helpful for them as well. So, at the event I ran into Ed to Shred, which is Jeff Gilbert. I hadn't seen him since we were teenagers in Lebanon. And I remember back then when we were teenagers thinking best guitar player I'd ever seen live, you know, like, oh my God, this guy, he was like 17, you know, at the time. So here we are, we, I run into him years later and he had won the Dean International Search Competition in honor of Dime Bag Darrel after Dime was murdered, you know, Dean Guitars was looking for the next Shredder. And so he was like, so you, you helped put together all this stuff for the rock and for Ashton thing, we got this other event and uh he was referring to the music festival. So that was 2012. So we did uh sound music fest. I, I came on board with those guys and helped them organize that and uh use some of my same skills. I, I, I knew a lot of people in the area. My M O has always kind of been to operate kind of like red from Shawshank redemption. You know, I don't have any actual money but I can trade and I, and I know people who I'll do a favor for you. Now you owe me and then someone will call me and they need something and I'll call you and you take care of them. Now, that person owes me a favor. So, when the next person calls I help them and you know, what do I get out of it? Well, I get, I get to take care of the next person that calls. Right. Right. And, and so it's kind of developed into a situation where, you know, I know a guy. Right. And it almost doesn't matter what your, what your needs are. I know a guy, you know, you kind of, kind of, you know. So, so we did the festival, um, I used my ability to bring together relationships and, and help those guys get a little structure and then, uh, Jeff used his, his graphic art skills and web design skills to make it look, you know, fantastic. And we had about 1500 people show up that first time, you know, which is a great town. Oh, yeah. Small, small, the city freaked out, uh, because they had no idea that many people were gonna show up in that small of a town. I mean, what 100 and 50 people live in the town, like 10 times the population. No, I'm not sure if that's the actual population, but it's a very small town. Right. I'm probably exactly right now. How incorrect you, how in I am? Yes. So, and then, uh, we, we did go to the city and say, hey, you know, we want this to be something good for. And so they, they allowed us to do it again. And, um, after the second one, oddly enough, the i, in, from my viewpoint, the, the benefactor that, that received the most was the groce local grocery store. They sold out of everything that we can and they complained the most like we had to restock everything, high quality problem people or something, you know. It's like, yeah, you also get to go to Hawaii this year, you know. So, so we, uh, got some feedback from the city that, hey, as great as this was and there weren't no issues. We're not gonna support continuing something of this size because our town is just too small was the feedback that they gave. So we started looking at, what else could we do? You know? So that's where we ended up looking around the state to find a venue to continue doing an event of that type. Right. Jeff's heart was in the guitar world, you know, the being Ed to shred, you know, instrumental guitar guy known in the Steve kind of, uh fold, you know. And so that's what we were trying to emulate. And, uh, oddly enough, a comment came in on youtube because we're trying to think, ok, well, what, what's the next step? Maybe, maybe do a CD or gotta do something to show the Dean people that, you know, you, you, you're not just a one off going to win this competition and then we're not gonna do anything, right? So, a comment comes in on the youtube channel. What's Steve by really? Like, you know, asking Ed because Ed had met Steve. I like the assumption was, well, you're a guitar hero. He's a guitar hero, don't you guys just know each other? So, so we're like, we're like, you know, of course, as soon as the question comes in, we're like, how the hell do we know what he's like? You know, but then it hit us. Oh OK. So the perception is, it's like the hall of guitar heroes. Like, it's like, it's the super friends, right? And you got Wonder Woman and Batman and all of them Aquaman all hanging out together, right? So in their mind, Eddie Van Hale's there and Steve, I comes, you know, in and out, you know, who's, who's making coffee or whatever, you know, like, but it's not like that, but that led us to, well, ok, let's just go ahead and build a guitar festival. We'll get some known commodity, guitar guys on there put on the bill once he gets on stage, no one's gonna doubt it. The dude throws down. And so that was the idea, right. How do we so guilty by association? Let's build a show and, and put you right in there. Right. That first year we ended up, uh, great idea, by the way, but that first year I think we had about 5000 bucks raw cash and this great idea and his web skills and guitar playing skills and my salesmanship. So we set out on, ok. Well, what can we actually do? What's realistic? Well, we're probably gonna only be able to pull off a one day show. So we booked floater and we booked Ty Curtis and uh we put on the bill and we announced that's about all we could do. And uh and, and then, and then we booked Tony mcalpine because that was the, the one guitar hero guy we had access to. Well, he was one of the, yeah, so that was, those were the first, those were the first guys that we announced, right? And uh build a website, made it look fantastic. You know, this is gonna be guitars in the stars, this fantastic show and uh phone rings. So he, he ends up setting up my cell phone to an 800 number on the website. So it just rings my number and uh it's Larry Mitchell, two time grammy winner. Hey, I'd love to play your show. Looks like you got this cool guitar thing going on. I'm, I'm open that date. So I called Jeff and he's like, I know who that is. Like that guy back in the eighties, he was on guitar player magazine cover. As much as Captain Crunch was on the cereal box, you know, like was, was a comment that was made and I was like, oh, really? I, I wasn't as familiar. So, you know, we reach back out and get him on the bill and, uh, what he was asking for was an amount that we had. We're like, ok, we could do, we could actually do that, you know. So we get him on and next thing you know, well, hey, my buddy Travis Larson who represents a lecture voice and Ernie Ball, he's, he's coming through the area as well. Oh, well, you know, so we talked to Travis and oh, what he was asking was reasonable and so Jeff starts joking around. Well, I wonder who's gonna call next, you know, a few days later, hey, this is Gary Hoey and I thought it was Jeff messing with me, you know, and I'm like, dude, I don't have time for this. I don't remember what I was in the middle of. No, it was Gary Howie. He starts telling me all his accolades and I'm like, I know who Gary Hoey is. I've been listening to that dude since I was 19. He's like, no, I'm gonna send you an email so he sends me, oh, it is. Holy crap. This is Gary. Holy, right. So he was, yeah, after the first couple of calls that we got. Right. So we're like, well, God, I called Jeff. I'm like, well, maybe we should be two days. Now. We headline floater the one night we'll headline Gary the next. So we, we reach back out to the, the park and hey, we wanna, oh, yeah, we can do that, you know, listen, we'll just give you the whole weekend, you know. Ok, cool. So now we're two days and Gary Hoey on the bill, you know, he, he was discovered by Ozzie Osborne. Like we're thinking, you know, we're all big, you know, like we had just Landed Journey or something um in our, in our minds, right? So, so we start promoting and, and filling in the bill with all the, all the best Northwest stuff we can get our hands on. And next thing, you know, Gary calls back and he's like, you know, I did all the lead parts for Leda Ford's comeback album and helped her write some of that stuff. She's coming from rock in the Rivers in Montana where she's headlining in one of their stages there. She's available for Sunday if you guys are interested. And so next thing, you know, we're a three day festival headlined by Leda Ford on her comeback tour with a book and a movie out about the runaways and all that stuff. And, you know, so we're so we tied right into all that and got some attention off of that. And we had a good crowd turnout that year. You know, the, the event ended up being about 100 and 63 K and we started out with five grand, you know, so we ended up uh borrowing from an investor to, to help us bridge the gap at the end of the show. And uh the rest of it, we raised you and sponsors and we only did about 19 K in ticket sales. So just me and Jeff, we were prolific that year on a theoretical event that had never happened, raised over 100 K and sponsors, you know, that originally was in Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, and the original guys that were out there in with us just to be clear that partnership dissolved, you know, and it was, it was me and Jeff that moved on. Yeah. So with this, this was uh not associated with the guys that we did that original event with those guys are great. We're still friends with all those guys. Um That property is still fantastic. We, we still go out there and hang out with John, the owner and stuff. He's a cool guy, but this is, it became its own thing. Uh Guitars and the stars just kind of became its own thing. The next year we uh we brought it back and uh we had P O D um and P O D man in the nineties, they had a ton of hits, I mean, boom, I think is a, a staple. Everybody knows that song. It was, wasn't it the W W E theme song at one point or something? I think it was in that movie with Kevin James. I know. But anyway, they had a ton, ton, ton of hits, right? Uh, five time Grammy winner, Robert Cray, Los Lonely Boys. That second year was a good show too. So, what are we up to? Is this 2013 then? No, this is so 2014 was the first guts. 2020 14 was the first guts. So we did 2012 and 2013 with and then 2013 or 2014 and 15 were the first two years of guts. And uh right after the second show, um we actually got contacted by the bite and brew of Salem and they wanted us to book for him. Hey, you guys seem to know what you're doing, you know, and me and Jeff looked over our shoulder. Who us like? Oh, yeah, we'll come meet you, you know. And so we're um, I'm sitting there at like 8 15 in the morning in downtown Salem, you know, two blocks from my meeting at 8 30 a gal hits me doing about 55 in a Jeep Wrangler. She didn't even, yeah, didn't even touch her brakes. She was texting her boss to let him know she would be late again in her words, you know, I can think of is, you know, set your alarm just a little earlier, honey. You know. So, anyway, she plows into me. Um, my car went, I was in a stick shift, you know, so I'm in neutral. My car went 200 ft before it came to a stop. You know, she hit me so hard. So ended up in the hospital, you know, titanium and screws in my lower back and I had to figure out how to walk again and stand up straight and all that stuff. So that was, you know, 2016, get back on my feet, mostly about 70% recovered and got the bug up my butt again. Ok, we're gonna bring the show back, you know, because we missed that year. I mean, I almost got murdered basically, you know. So now I'm up in Vancouver and um getting ready for the to bring the show back for 2017. I shit you not, I'm sitting at a red light and a guy hits me doing about 45 texting and driving this time. He's in a low rider. So his car goes underneath me, you know, which drive my head up and then really far back, you know, so my, my neck blew out and six screws and some titanium in the top of my spine. So no show 2017. Is it hard for you to fly? It's hard for me to do anything. It's hard for me to stand up in the mornings. Um, no, no joke. That was 2017 was a second, a second. So, here we are 2023 now. And today was a difficult morning. Yesterday was a difficult morning. So, no, it's every day. It's, uh, about three hours worth every day of, and there's some days where I'm better and some days I'm worse. Some days by midday I'm, I'm walking. Ok. And I had an episode last December where, you know, this years later and I had an episode last December where my left leg just quit working for almost a month. I was on crutches, then a cane and then back to walking again. So it's, uh, it's an ongoing recovery. I may quoting, you know, so it's, it's kind of just the way you are after that. So anyway, um, Doom and Gloom aside, brought the show back in 2018 Light the Torch, um, unleash the Archers. That was a fantastic, that year was fantastic. Great show, you know, Howard Jones from Kill Switch and his new band light the torch out. And they, unfortunately, they had only dropped as a band literally like a couple of weeks before the, the festival. So we had to do a little educating and people know this is Howard from Kill Switch, you know, and this is his new stuff, you know, but we had a great turnout for that as well. Um Then we brought the show back again the next year with Lily and uh what a success story they are. I love that family. By the way, Florin has done such a wonderful job with those kids. Um, you know, him and his wife are, man, what a great family. I, I, I don't have enough wonderful things to say about them. When we first, when they first came across my desk, I saw a video they were doing Iron Maiden the Trooper. And I think, you know, I want to say the youngest was like nine or something, you know, and they just destroyed, I mean, just absolutely destroyed it, you know, and so I hit him up and I, I get Florent on the phone and he said, well, yeah, we know about guitars and the stars you guys had Leda Ford. It turns out they were from Lake Oswego originally. So they had actually heard originally. Yeah. And then they moved down to California and they were doing shows down on the pier. So he said, well, we get, you know, a couple grand to do shows on the pier. If, if you want to match that, we would love to come play our show because it would be a good opportunity for us. And I was like, perfect. It would be good for us too because we're trying to, you know, we're, we're trying to push the next generation of, of musicians, right? It started with the idea of uplifting Jeff, right, as a musician originally and then that translated to me seeing and realizing what an impact the show could have for others other up and comers, right? Um And the community and tourism and, you know, just giving family something good to do, you know, something that they could look forward to. Right. There was all those benefits. So we bring, we bring Lilia out and I think they had about 16,000 followers on Facebook at the time. They're, they're, they're pushing up on a million now. It's, it's, it's right around 900,000. The last time I looked it was high eights and pushing up on nine. So I, I, I wouldn't be surprised if we looked again and it's up over nine again. So at this point. So even back then, that first year we had him out in 2019. Um Florin shot some video of their show that night and, uh, the next morning he said, hey, I'm gonna post this on youtube. He come back in an hour and I bet I got 10,000 views. I came back about 45 minutes later and he had about 13,000 views on it in like 45 minutes. Like, I mean, what band wouldn't want that? Right. Yeah. What band wouldn't want that? Right. So, we, so those were, those were good outcomes, those years, you know, it was still a growth period, you know, through all those years. I was still investing in the show I was able to use. Fortunately, and unfortunately I had funds that came in from those accidents. That, that's what brought the show back. I mean, we didn't have some big mystery investor and, you know, Coors Light didn't come in and save the day with some 200 K sponsorship or something, you know. No, that was my, you know, masseuse money. Right. Right. So we bring the show back those two years and, and I thought it was, you know, the right move, you know, it definitely was. And then of course COVID hit. So that puts us two years on two years off, two years on two years off. And then we bring it back last year and uh man, the state didn't open up until April. So we had 90 days, the official, the official, ok, you're now other events and I'm not gonna name any of them in Oregon. Went ahead and went the summer before even. And I was like, and people were getting on me like, well, they're doing it. I'm like, yeah, well, they, they aren't me that have every penny of my life invested and if I get sued, I'm destroyed. So, yeah. No, I can't just go bucking the law and the closures and the I, I just, I wasn't a multimillion dollar entity that could just flex. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So we missed two years and then we brought it back with 90 days notice. Now behind the scenes, about six months out, I saw that the state was gonna open and I was pretty confident it was going to. So I started spending money and I started, you know, working with a guy that it turned out not to be the greatest relationship. Um He did a little overpromising and um put together, put together a ridiculous lineup for me. But if I was working for a show and didn't tell them how much I was agreeing to with people, I could have put that line up together too. Um So the weekend of we, weekend of, we ran into a little bit of uh so here's your pay. No, that's not what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be this and it was in some cases a much higher amount. Uh So that is, yeah. So that got, that got us in a little bit of an issue. And then we had a, we had a sponsor that uh dropped the ball significantly um this last year and that's actually the second time we've encountered that. Uh back in 2018, our title presenting sponsor literally dropped the ball 100% paid nothing. Um So this is like the second time we've had this issue with, yeah, kind of, you know, but, but the thing is is we're not, we're not Fire Festival, we're not, you know, like the, and I'm gonna throw him under the bus the, the Willamette Country music festival that happened out in Brownsville. They skipped town three years ago and 300 K and have never looked back. They haven't paid anybody nothing. So, here I am, this is the 10th anniversary of my event. And yeah, we had debt at the end of last year's show. A lot of shows have growing pains like that where, you know, but the good news is is we've paid down about 80% of it and we'll have the rest taken care of here in the next couple of weeks. And I'm pretty, I'm pretty damn proud of that. You know, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of stress, you catch a lot of heat and when you're, when you're in a situation and, and here's the thing, people are reasonable, they understand coming off COVID, you did it in 90 days and you had a couple of circumstances. So most people were like, hey, you know, you've, you've always been solid so they've been willing to work with us. A couple of noise makers, you know, the there's always gonna be someone who's last to get paid when a situation like that happens, right? So I don't uh I don't fault those folks that made a little bit of noise there towards the end. But that's OK. The good news is, is like I pointed out we're not Fire Festival that that show didn't even happen. We happened, you know, this is we're heading, this is gonna be our 10th anniversary. So big, big, big, big difference. I'm shocked, I'm shocked, I'm shocked that this is our 10th anniversary. You know, I mean, the, the two on two off stuff, this isn't our 10th show, but this is the 10th anniversary since we got going and, uh, to last that long through the adversity that we've had. I don't know how I did it in the first place, let alone how anyone else would have. Um, a lot of nights staying up till 34 in the morning and then the next day pulling another 12, uh, at some point, you start really believing in the mission, you know, and, uh I think that, I think that really took a turn 2019 when we started looking into adding music education to it because we started having additional comments. I pay attention to everything, right? Just like the what Steve, I really like comment which led to the epiphany of, oh, it's perception. Ok. Well, let's play into it. The comments that started coming in where you've inspired my kid to play guitar or I'm 65 years old and you inspired me to play guitar or, you know, I'm in a band and we played your show and that got us. So I started seeing the ripple effect of what could be. And then I started, you know, he started doing things like you and attend the NAM convention at first to gain sponsorships and hey, these are the people that are most likely to support a guitar festival, right? And then you start hearing the, once you're behind the curtain a little bit, you start hearing the industry folks talking and well, sales are down with young folks and people are doing digital and there's this, that and the other, it's across the board with the manufacturers. And of course, my thought process kept coming back to, well, what are you doing to actively engage? You know, you got things like the fender play program online stuff. That's a great start. That's a perfect step because everything's moving to online. How old are you engaging? How are you? Inspiring, not, not just engaging but inspiring, right? And then, and then Larry Mitchell got in my ear and he said, you know, I do the 5.0 camp. I uh some of these guys do rock n roll fantasy camp. You got the same guys here every year. If you combined a music experience event with your festival, it would be like nothing in the country, you know. And so I got to give Larry credit and uh I tell you if that's a good idea. Well, and, and, and if we, we get this to a point where it's developed to where it's solvent, uh, Larry's probably gonna be getting himself a check every year. Well, you know, it's, it's really interesting. I mean, I just want to make an observation real quick as, as we're talking with Jason here, you notice that he's never once said I'm getting this money or it's about me or it's about like, he's always, Jason's always putting somebody else first, whether it's an artist, whether it's a sponsor, whether it's a, a location or an event or a city, a whole entire city, I mean, and, and the cool thing about this is just your evolution from like seeing what is available and what is possible and then taking those two things infusing them together as an opportunity and then being able to take that. And it's just like, it's just growing and like you said, it's kind of like this podcast, like it just, it just grows itself, the more people are like, oh, I want to be on here, I want to do this kind of thing or somebody gets in and because we played guitars under the stars, you know, it was a great experience, wonderful experience. It really cool to get all the families out and do this thing and just get out there and be, you know, especially around at the time of COVID too. Like it was amazing that that occurred. So, yeah, I appreciate that about you, Ben. That's awesome. I, I appreciate hearing that. It's something that I hope people observe about me. You know, if you're, if you are observant and you're flexible then, then you absolutely can evolve, right? Um Those are the keys, right? Um Man, to say that I haven't evolved is, is a uh such an understatement because, and I still continue to this day, you know, um I'm again, very passionate and very defensive of the work. Um You know, and I've got personal reasons too, you know, I mean, every once in a while I mentioned myself, um you know, I've, I've invested quite a large sum of money and quite a bit of man hours and into something that I have never received a paycheck for. You know, um I've managed to continue to find ways to, to do side stuff. I do a lot of ebay on the side so that I can, you know, buy dog food for my dog doesn't seem very resourceful. Well, that's kind of the thing. Well, here's the thing. None of the money for the show belongs to me. It never has until the show is completely paid for and there's a profit left over then, then that's mine. But until everything is solvent and we're, and we're able to do this year after year and we're sustainable. None of that belongs to me. The intellectual property belongs to me, the, the, the reward of, you know, doing for others. And, and uh so like, you know, again, we had the high school out in fundraise last year. They raised $2500 in two days. Great, great outcome that, that raised the total to $9200 that we've raised for the high school through programs we've done for them. Not bad. Right. So I get that reward. Ok? And then that reward leads to the willingness for people to do things for me. Back to the, you know, I know a guy analogy. So, so as long as I'm continuing to provide situations that are beneficial for people right now, I've blown it. Oh, boy. There's been, and there's still people, there's people out there that are mad at me right now. My band didn't do that. Well, my, whatever my, my booth didn't make me money. I didn't get rich off your festival this weekend. So I'm mad at you and, and, and I hate to boil it down and generalize that much because that's deflection, right? I'm culpable in some of that. Right. There's, there's been times where they want to provide something so amazing that you're just beyond inspired. Well, if you fall short or if there's a low attendance or, you know, there's, there's details that are missed. Well, yeah, that is on me. Absolutely. Why not? I'll take that and hopefully those folks circle back and stick with me because if you do, you're gonna get, you're gonna get a little more and a little more and a little more, you know. So one of the things that's developed right now through that whole, that mentality of, of what can I do first? What can I receive? Second, right. So if I do, then obviously I'm gonna receive something at some point. Right? And, and if I have enough people that I've done for, it's the idea of leaders eat last. Right? So, uh the, the analogy that uh in the military, the guy in charge makes sure that everybody else has got a plate first. But you can guarantee those guys, they're paying attention and they're gonna make sure that he gets a plate too, right? So, so, but, but you have to be that way as a leader, right? Everybody else eats first and then, and then if you've done well enough of those folks are gonna make sure that you're provided for as well. There's some that are gonna think, well, I didn't get enough potatoes or whatever and, and, and you can't, there's nothing you can do about that, you know, you make more potatoes next time um or, or whatever, you know. So one of the things that's developing right now is um it, it took a while to get the high school involved. For example, you know, the first time they came out was 2019. The first show was 2014. So that's a few years of hey, come out and fundraise and this will be good for you guys and them saying, oh you're a rock and roll show like we went to the Country event and people were losing teeth and we had to take the kids home because you know, and that was, I'm, I'm paraphrasing but I, but I heard some stories like that. Right. So, if it's that bad at the wholesome country show, you rockers, you must be, you know, tattooing children's foreheads and shoving heroin in their arms or something, you know, like, I don't, I don't know what, what, what the thought was. Right. So it took years to get him to come out and then finally in 2019, when they came out and fund raised, it was the dance team that, that led the, the charge and their parents got their zero cc licenses and poured beer and took all the tips. No group had more fun than, than those, those parents I'm telling you right now, you know, and when the show was over, they were like, this is nothing like what we expected. Nothing. This was like a real concert. And I'm like, really? Because that's what we were going for a real concert, you know. And so it was, it was really cool to break through that. And, uh you know, between the dance team, the swim club, the robotics team and the music department. The robotics is an outside of school program, but they, they still came out and fundraising. It was like 6700 bucks, you know, 6700. That's a, that's a great weekend, you know, for, for those programs. Meanwhile, I lost about 15 grand on the festival. But again, um I, I, I, I should rephrase that. I invested, I invested about 15 grand in the future of the festival. That's a better way to put it. So this last year, obviously coming off of COVID 90 day head start from when the light switch was turned back on in Oregon, only the music department came out. It was hard to get the high school. Yeah, there just wasn't enough time, there just wasn't enough time but they still again, 2500 bucks, you know what a great outcome. So that opened the door for the conversation of. So you guys are doing music production as part of your camp. It's not just guitar bass and drum clinics and vocals. Yeah. So our camp is different. It's everything from how to brand your band. I call it adding the r right? How to turn your band into your brand, right? So we talk about that stuff. We for the up and coming artists that are take part, you know, we want to talk about things like, you know, your standard guitar bass and drum and vocal clinics where those artists are talking about everything from gear selection to influence, to inspiration, right? So, um but then we also want to add stage sound lighting that most of the jobs in the industry are the guys behind the scenes, not the famous guy on the microphone, right? Very much so that is what got the music department at Lebanon High interested. Aaron was, like, you know, I got a ton of kids that are interested in music but they don't play instruments and I fall into that category. I have picked up a guitar. I don't know how many times foreign object. Like, I, it just doesn't work in my hands. Right. Like, it just doesn't work in my hands. My brain doesn't work in that way. Right. I love it. I give me, you know, I'll air guitar the hell out of it. Right. I'll, I'll enter an air guitar competition. Give me a real one. But I have no idea. And I think a lot of people feel that way. They love music. It, it, it's a, it's a time stamp for things that occur in your life. It's a, it's a way to release tension. It's a way to feel joy. You know, there's so many things that music brings to people who aren't musicians themselves. Thank God for the musicians out there. Um So to be able to bring a music production curriculum, I thought, well, God, that would be something next level, wouldn't it? So we started talking and uh we have put in grant funding requests that are gonna potentially make that happen. Now we got a uh so we got South Albany High School involved, Lebanon High School, crossroads, community um through crossroads, uh Jackson Street Youth Services and thy bear cares and this is gonna allow us to provide a Sunday program at Cafe Rock, that's gonna teach stage sound lighting. Uh We want to teach youtube content creation, graphic arts, all of the stuff that behind the scenes you have to do for music production. I'm calling it, you know, air because, you know, there's everything from promotion to content creation to, to the actual show itself, you know, and there's so many things um that you have to know how to do. Um So it'll be a 12 week curriculum on a Sunday afternoon, 2.5 hour program. Um, and here's the beautiful part. This is gonna provide kids something positive and fun that they can really own on an off school day. Give them something to, to keep him engaged. Right. It also is gonna provide them food, you know, they're gonna get a meal at the cafe, order off of the menu. Head home with a sack lunch. Oh, that's cool. Them, gives them additional nutritional, uh, support and, and, and, and, and an off school day as well. Right. And then the fun kicks in. Right. You're gonna, we're gonna set up, we're gonna bring bands in and do mock shows. The kids get to set it up, the band, rocks out. The kids get to, you know, experience that whole thing, you know. I mean, and then, then the summertime, all those kids that are enrolled in that throughout the year they get to come out and be part of the camp and the bigger picture stuff. So we'll, and we'll also use the, and the segways into the, uh, street events that I was, uh, telling you about. So, we've got three street fairs in front of Cafe Rock that we're gonna do. Uh, June 17th, July 9th and August 25th. The first one is Northwest Best Street Fest. And yes, I came up with that myself. Uh, I'm clever sometimes it is. It is. The second one's gonna be Northwest Concrete Country Fest because it's on the concrete. I'm very clever once again. Uh And then the last one is street blues and brews. He can probably tell that's gonna be a blues event. Uh But they're all gonna be the first one's all the best rock stuff we can get in the Northwest. So that'll be June 17th, Saturday. We'll start out with some beer tasting and some samplings and, and, you know, get the day started that way, food craft vendors and then we'll get the music going uh about four o'clock. And the idea is to run up until about 11. So we can, you know, the bands can play under the lights and have the, the video screens and all that stuff. And that allows us to use those street events as an additional learning tool for those students that are enrolled right now. This, these first couple might not because we gotta get the curriculum going, but these are gonna be annual events every year. Those those street events that'll give us three events downtown, that'll bring additional tourism. Uh, attention to the downtown business is another way for us to engage the kids that are involved in the production program. Um, something for the public. I mean, you know, street fairs are fun, you know. I mean, the, the, the, the blues, the brews, what was it? The, uh, brew Fest they did for the boys and girls club a few years ago, they did it a few years in a row. Those were packed, people love those types of events, you know, and it's good for the downtown. Um So our goal is to hit on a bunch of different levels, you know, back to the show itself and the things that I started observing, you know, I view all of these things as circular. Ok. So with my goals starts with the, the next generation, right? How do you engage, how do you inspire? Right? We talked about that. So that's the first cog in the wheel, the next cog in the wheel or the, the? Ok. Now you're in a band. What, what do I do now? I don't know. Uh let's talk about it, you know, are you ready? Do you have your graphics in line? What's your social looking like? Um You know, what's your prep? What gear are you using? You know, all those things are on the table for discussion, you know, we want to help, we know people. Um, and so you help those guys figure out direction. Ok. Um, and, and you identify the ones that seem like they're, they're trending towards, hey, we got a, we got six out of the 10 pieces, right? Or whatever. You know, what do I do with these other four? You know what I mean? Like we're, we're, we're, we're kind of fledgling doing it. What, what do we do now? You know? Ok, you, you go right over here, come right over here, you know, and you help them out. The next cog in the wheel is, uh you're touring musicians guys that are just gigging and gigging, you know, Larry Mitchell, Travis Larson, I'll throw guys like Gary Hoey in there and they're just all over the place. They're doing shows all the time in my mind. If I'm gonna be doing a camp for kids that's gonna be engaging and, and talking about, you know, regular clinic stuff. Um, you know, you got a guy like Larry Mitchell out who can talk about, you know, product. He's got 26 awards as a producer, you know, so he can talk about other things, right? So you get, you get all those things tied into this, this cog in the wheel and that middle part though. Those touring guys, why not, why not have them be spokesmen, why not pay for them to go do clinics and stuff at, at locations around the country? You're helping those guys by providing them an extra paycheck. It's advertising for you. If I'm gonna advertise on social, why not just spend the same two grand with Larry Mitchell to go do a guitar center clinic for me and talk about our goals and, and, and further push the education stuff, talk about whatever is near and dear to his heart. Right? I want to start looking into doing that kind of stuff. Um, where are you guys out on tour? Ok. It looks like there's a, uh, a guitar center or there's the, there's a music shop here. I'm gonna get a hold of them and I'm gonna pay you a fee to go. Be a spokesman for me. Right? Plus you're giving those guys, uh, a show that they can count on every year that they can anchor on and if God forbid, we end up multiple stops, you know? Right. So the next cog in the wheel after the touring guys is the, ok, we're ready. We started out as a band. We, we figured out all the fledgling stuff. We, we were hitting on six out of the 10 parts. Now we're hitting on 10 out of the 10, you know, we're ready. Ok. So you give them a spot and that's like your lili a, right? They were ready to go, ready to go. They just needed to be seen, you know. Now I'm not taking credit for any of them in their success. I'm just saying, I recognized it and was the first one to headline him and put him in a prime spot, right? So that's, that's my eye for seeing what's about to be ready, right? Stuff. You know, and you find those and you put them there, right? And then the, the next car in the wheel is the known commodity. Your Ford, your P O D, your, whoever you're going to put at the top to shine a light on the the project the wheel, right? I view local as the same, right? So your community when you're bringing in those street shows. OK. Where, what other areas are we hitting on? Are we including the downtown Association businesses? Are we bringing in food trucks? Are we, are we, what other, what other local businesses can we support? What is our message? Are we gonna be all ages? I think we all should be all ages on all of our shows. Um And that and that can be problematic, you know. Um I think a 21 and over festival would have probably blown up faster. I probably would have made money quicker. Oh, yeah, I also wouldn't have a zero incident track record with never a single police call. We've been a family friendly show. We've advertised family friendly and the vibe is family friendly and we, we keep an eye on that, right? You can't inspire who isn't there, right? So you gotta have the young folks there, right? So going back to, you know, uh viewing it as a circle. Um Now, the festival that has its own circle that I just described. Well, the festival itself is just a circle in my local community activity. It is, it's just a piece of that circle. So you get the festival, you got the cafe, you got the bands that we work with. Uh on the weekends, you'll have the music education stuff and you see where I'm going with this, how it all just kind of ties back into and benefits each other. So that's, that's kind of, and like I said, observation and flexibility has made that organic growth just happen, you know, like, so I've got a succulent at home on my window sill that I got at a seminar a few years ago and it came in a little two by inch, you know, two by two potter, right? And it was about the size of my thumb. I have things hanging off the window sill. Right. It's, it's huge. I didn't have anything to do with that except to add water and organically became what it is, right? That's kind of what this is, right. And, and, and it's getting to the point where I looked at that succulent the other day. And I had to ask myself as the show is starting to grow now and it's starting to branch out into things like music education, you know, we're not just a concert anymore. You know, we're, we do hit on those areas. Yeah, we're bringing in tourism. We're gonna, we're gonna continue to do that stuff. But as it branches out and it grows, well, what needs to happen to that, you know, it needs to get into a bigger potter. Right. So, then I asked myself, well, what am I? Which, which am I in this equation? Am I the succulent or am I the two by two inch potter? I'm probably the potter, right? Ok. The, the project in the show is the succulent, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I need to find a way to, to get that into a, uh, it's, it's new home, it's new container. Part of that process is adding to my team. Right? So we've added some folks to the team that have been helping out chad, the owner of the cafe has been instrumental, you know, I obviously had to shred still part of the project. Um, we've got some of their folks locally that have been stepping up to the plate and we'll keep adding to that. Right. That's the, the, the bigger potter. And I, I worried at first that, you know, as you put the succulent into a new potter. Well, what happens to the old two by inch potter? The little guy, you know? Well, it doesn't need to get thrown away. Right. Those things are biodegradable, right? They're made to be put into new soil into a bigger potter. And become part of the new pot, right? So I, I had to come to that realization too that I can let go and bring people into the team that can help, right? And that's been a process and I don't have to throw away any part of myself. It just morphs and becomes part of the new, the new form of what you are, right? So again, observation and uh being willing to be flexible allows for that organic growth. Yeah, beautifully put man. Put every once in a while I get on a roll. I had my caffeine this morning. So how did you get, how did you come about um working with Cafe Rock had, was that kind of like, were you part of the original people that sort of opened it or again, organic, they reached out to me, apparently, the owner had been watching my activity for a couple of years and then when they acquired Cafe Rock, they reached out to want to be a sponsor and it was just a good fit. So I've been doing booking for them. Um And you know, it's interesting, you know, in years past, I've had people ask, well, how come you don't do other shows throughout the year? Because the big one took 365 days to put together with a team of two people don't, people don't understand how difficult booking can be. Even even even if you have a commodity that people want. So, so here's what happens. Um And I made a meme to illustrate it. Um I made a meme that shows some cowboys on the range and they are coming over the hill on their horses and they are chasing a herd of cats and they're trying to lasso up these cats right now. Now imagine your lasso is made out of yarn. Ok. That's, that's kind of like booking. That's, we've let the public know what uh what booking truly is. So it's, it can be difficult. You got a lot of moving parts, everything that comes across my desk, especially for the festival. I have to look at how does it affect the other moving parts? Ok. Do I already have something in this? Whether it's a sponsor, do I already have some in this category? Are they expecting exclusivity if not? How do I break it to them that they didn't pay for it? And I'm not gonna take this other guy's money and plop him right next to him because even without that upfront agreement that they're exclusive, they'll still be mad at me. I, I catch all of the love and all of the hate for every decision that is made. Ok, so the there there's a couple of things I have to consider. One. Does it raise my insurance if the answer is? No. Ok. Proceed. Uh two. Does it affect my mission with kids? No. Ok, proceed. Three. Do I already have something going in that category and is that something going have they, are, are they an immovable object because there's something or someone who has gone over the top to support me and there's no way you're nudging them off the hill because I'm loyal, you know. Um, so there's, there's all these things that I have to consider when something comes across my desk. Right. So forward motion as you're dragging this bag of everything, right? That's the, that's the way to look at it, right? So you get this bag of everything, you gotta drag forward to the next thing you're considering. Ok, that's the nature of the difficulty of it, you know. So it's a tough one and you're never gonna please everybody. You know, I currently have people mad at me. It is what it is. You, you do your best, you circle back, you try to do better. You'd be observant, you'd be flexible. Sure. Well, you're also doing it with integrity too and that, that is it, it's easy to, it's easy to tell that you're a very authentic person and you know, you mean, well, there's only what you can do and you know, there it is question though real quick and we don't have to really go down this road unless you're, I'm, I'm just personally interested. So you do some booking for Cafe Rock, right? And do you do their posters as well? I do. And that's one of the things that you noticed the posters. Did you? Well, I, I, I, yeah, I've got a thing for, uh, I don't know. Let's, let's just call it web three point oh, right. Like that's kind of my, I just moved us on to podcasting two point oh, I'll show what that means here in a minute. But, uh, but I was very curious about what you used to generate the, the posters. I am a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater. Um So you're not a prompt engineer. Uh No, I am. Uh So here's the thing. I have 30 hats that I wear, right? So here's what I try to do. I'm, I'm uh I'm not a graphic artist. OK? And I don't claim to be so I cheat a little bit and I've, I've used some of the A I programs to help generate some initial images. There's still a ton of editing to do after, you know, um I think my strength and the reason that the posters are well received is layout balance, color palette. Those are the types of things when we go to teach the kids how to do promotional stuff. That's the area where I'm gonna be teaching is, you know, again, layout color palette, balance, making sure things flow. Uh choosing a So let's say that I, I, I come up with an image that I like or a theme. I'll start there a theme that I like within that theme. I still have to choose an image that has areas of it that are usable for a poster. You know, you have to have light areas, dark areas areas where text can be placed without taking away from the overall image that you're using, right? You don't wanna be laying over stuff, you don't want to be busy, you know, there's there's all these things to consider, right? So you come up with your theme, then you come up with your base art and from that base art, you choose stuff that has the elements that I just described. Light areas, dark areas, areas that can be used to for balance and then you insert your assets and then when you put your assets in again, it comes back to color palette and balance and, and you know, sizing and, and all of that stuff comes into play, right? You do it and you do it enough times you'll, you naturally get, see where the eye draws and, and that sort of stuff and that's, and that's my strength. Now there's uh a local graphic artist that, that throws up in her mouth a little bit. Every time I talk about the A I stuff, but she's, she does actually understand and she's gonna be coming in and helping teach the kids the analog version. I'm gonna call it right? Because you get your analog and your digital in the music world, right? And there's, there's your guys that are, I'm still old school analog and I'm, I'm always going to be that way when I record and you know what I mean? So there's your graphic artists out there that are, that are freaking out right now because this A I stuff exists. If I was them, I would be using it as a tool. So what do you actually use? Oh, it's, it's a mid journey. Oh OK. I again, huge fan of mid journey. I, one of the few subscriptions I pay for. But uh well, so and to, and to that Jason, I would say this, there's also so much more expected of us as musicians and to make this round package, you're absolutely right. Like using it as a tool is just one little element just like crypto is just like podcasting two point oh is, it's just we're at the precipice right now where things are. And again, it's not justification just for using that. I mean, I just like it because I can generate quickly. The exact same image that I need for youtube, which is completely the different 16, 9 and 9 16 ratio than a poster is. So I was just when I saw those, I was kind of like, ok, somebody knows what they're doing, they, they know what to prompt to get what it is. Now, if you're like me, that could take you 88 times to actually get it because my, you know, it's just, it's kind of like when a, when a band you really, like, puts out a, a music video and the music video is just like them playing in a parking lot. You're like, it was so much better in my head, you know, like, and so, and so, yeah, to get, to get to that is, is definitely, you know, whatever, whatever means, one of the things that I had to learn and this was, you know, I always hear my grandpa in the back of my head, you know, because there's so many moving parts to the festival. I remember having a lunch with uh the director of the Jam, you know, and they're, they're big, you know, 15,000 people a day. That's a country one, isn't it? So they're, you know, we've, we've had 4000 people is the most we've had on the weekend at our show, right? So they're, you know, three point something, you know, four times our size, right? But the job is the same, the lead up is the same. Everything I have to do is the same, right? We just don't have half a million dollar headliner. Our budget is just less, right? But talking with Robert, he was like, well, who does your booking me? Who does your social me? You know, at, at the time I was even doing graphics at that particular meeting. Uh You know, there was uh there was one year where Jeff wasn't working with me and I, I literally did the festival 100% with volunteer work the weekend of, and the entire lead up was me. You know, and so Robert was like, God, I have like, 30 people doing what you do. How do you do that? And I said, well, why do you need 30 people? Like I didn't see in my car. Yeah, I didn't see all the hats. No, I need like, four of me and I could, I could. But I, but here's the thing though. You get to that scale, you start getting to where? Yeah, if we're doing 15,000 people and we're doing half a million dollar headliners, which I really don't ever want to get to that point, to be honest with you. And uh I would love to fill the park. I think that, you know, hitting the, the 17,500 capacity is, is perfect. Yeah, that would be, that would be great. So, at the camping area, it's what did you say? 17 5. Yeah. So the capacity for that venue and the, and the permit is they do 15,000 people there at Strawberry Festival. So the park will hold it, the park will hold it and the county permit is 17,500. We just have never pulled that many people. I would love to do that. But what I don't want to do is I don't want to start having people expect that our festival is gonna be nothing but known, headliners, nothing but known names. And it's gonna be like, you know, all these other festivals, you see where any band on the bill could be a headliner at anything anywhere. And they all are super expensive and you've heard of every single bit of it, that's not at all what we're trying to create with guitars and the stars. Think American Idol. No, you haven't heard of them but, you know, darn well, when you tune in that they've produced, you know, Carrie Underwood and all these, right? So think of the names, right? So nobody had heard of her before that, you know, so our goal with our festival is to, to complete the circle. Like we said, if I start just shoving known names on the bill, what does that push off that push us, pushes off the, the Lily Acts that are the next up that pushes off the touring musicians that are, that are looking for, you know, steady paychecks and, and deserve it because they're phenomenal, you know, that pushes off the, the next up and comers that, that we're trying to show the business to and that pushes out the kids, right? So, and the other thing that it does is it pushes sustainability further down the road every year. So if every year you fall to what's known as fan expectation. So last year you had this headliner this year, it's gonna be even bigger and next year it's gonna be Elvis leaded singing for The Beatles somehow, right? You, what happens is, is so you had more people come out but then you ramped up your cost on this big headliner to appease them and then you had more people come out, but you ramped up your cost. So you don't push any closer to sustainability as an event unless you're Danny Wimmer and you're starting out with millions of dollars and you're gonna own every festival across the country. Um You're gonna have, you're, you're always gonna be chasing sustainability. We want to get to a point of sustainability by people understanding who and what we are. Ok. Yep. We're gonna give you known commodities at the top of that bill. We're gonna reward you for coming out and supporting our mission to support those up and coming artists, to inspire those kids to, to provide a place for those touring musicians to have a home and to throw down and do what they do because we're talking about professionals, right? Like legitimate professionals that'll make you the hair on the back of your arm, stand up and every year, what, what I hear from people. I've heard this every year. I never heard of him and it's almost like they're mad at me, you know, like, how dare you to expose me to something new? And then after the show is over, are they coming back now? Hold on time out? I thought you never heard of them So you liked them? Ok. And the ones that we brought out last year you liked. So I finally started seeing comments, um, from fans who've come to the show year after year. And that's one of the things that has been, you know, it's a feature, not a bug now, ok, where people have finally started to recognize and say in the comments of one of the things that I love about this show is every year I come out and I get exposed to something that I would have never known about. That is totally amazing, right? And I'll give you an example. I got an email from a 66 year old lady and it started out, I'd never heard of Canadian Power Metal. She was talking about unleash the Archers Britney Slays in that, in that outfit, right? And uh and I remember it as I got that far into the email. I thought when I booked him, I'd never heard of Canadian Power Metal either. Ma'am. I heard a Power Metal, not Canadian. So she was going on about what an amazing voice that woman had. And I would have never thought that I would have liked that type of music. I watch all their videos. Now I follow her podcast. So those are, I mean, so we're talking about exposing someone to something real that they, that they felt and they walked away with that going, I didn't know that that even existed in this world and I absolutely love it. So, if you can, if you can have stuff like that where you can have a 66 year old woman, all of a sudden be a Canadian Power Metal fan after a weekend at my show, then I think almost anything should be possible. Right. So, uh, I guess to wrap it up. Are you doing guts this year? Yeah. So we are going to be to the 26th to the 29th for the camp. And the last two days of that is the festival itself. So the first two days, the way that the way that our camp works, the first two days are all our clinics and, and behind the scenes stuff where they're hanging out with artists and then on Friday and Saturday is the show itself. So this year is gonna be pretty amazing and I'm gonna go ahead and just let the cat out of the bag. So we've got, uh, we got Greg Howe and Stu, they're gonna headline on Friday night and, uh, Stu for those of you who don't know, uh known as the best bass player on the planet. Incredible bass player. Um He's toured with Steve and Joe Satriani. He is now part of the Greg Howe band and will be touring with Greg Howe. And if you don't know Greg Howe Man. So Greg, how, uh he's, he's toured with Michael Jackson and Enrique Iglesias. He was originally known as uh all instrumental shred metal guitarist. It's interesting that all these pop guys always hire the, the metal guys, right? But Greg, uh there's a reason Stu's touring with him. So you heard me mention Steve and Joe Satriani. Greg is right on that level. So that's gonna be a fantastic show. We also have Jeremiah Johnson on a national blues tour that's gonna be playing that night earlier in the evening, Ty Curtis, uh Larry Mitchell's on that night and we'll be in, in the night with an hour with the All Star Jam. That's gonna feature all of our instructors and we're talking George Lynch from doin the brothers. Both of them are playing on Saturday night. So George Lynch and Lynch Mob are gonna be out. Uh The brothers are coming out doing their set where a good portion of it is, you know, Deo tribute stuff. Uh You know, I mean, they were tied deeply with all of his work, uh, you know, and, you know, and then Carmine was with Rod Stewart. So they, they do some of that stuff as well and it's kind of a ensemble, you know, as far as the, the songs that are, are put up through, through that set. And then earlier in the day, we've got some really solid local stuff, Nixon Rodeo, Robert, Anthony Robinson. There's a slew of stuff we're going to be announcing for, for that Saturday. We're gonna do a Thursday night. Uh free show and we're gonna feature some of the best Northwest stuff that we have so that they have an opportunity to play under the lights. Um You know, well, a lot of the Northwest bands that have played traditionally have been during the day and, yeah, you get to say I played on the same stage with or on the same bill with, but the crowd isn't as big and the lights aren't on and it's just not the same man. So Thursday night, you know, some of those artists that have come out and supported us in the past that have been day bands, they're gonna get that opportunity to throw down like the big boys do and, and it's gonna be fun for them. It's gonna be fun for us too, you know. So there'll be three nights of music. Um 27th, 28th, 29th that are, that are available and open to the public. Uh And then again, there's gonna be this, the street shows that we talked about. So June 17th, that's a Saturday event and that's gonna be the Northwest Best Street Fest and that's gonna be headlined by Henry's Child. He is gonna play that second Circle. Yep. Seven, Second Circle. Uh some other fantastic bands on that bill as well. Uh Sad reason uh is gonna be playing that the, the mad season tribute. Those guys make the hair on the back of my neck, stand up and my arms man, what a, what a, what a great show they put on. Right. Uh Also have a, now, this one's really interesting to me, a band called Boundless Joy, Out of Salem. OK. And that is the uh original drummer from White Zombie. That's his band. And so he lives here in Salem and he started this new group and they're tight. What a tight outfit. Uh The music is hard rock, clean vocals, just very, very well done. So those guys are gonna be on I, I believe right before Henry's uh yeah, direct support. So that's gonna be great. Seven second Circle on that day. Minor anomaly on that day, sweater for an astronaut on that day. Um So that's gonna be, that's gonna be a packed Yeah Northwest show. Uh And then on uh July 9th, that's gonna be a Sunday event. We've got uh some country outfits coming through, uh Haystack coming through on a national tour and he does kind of that country rap stuff. It's really well done. He's got a, he's got 11 video on youtube's got over nine million views. Um So, you know, pretty, pretty cool. Uh And then he's got a, a young fellow named Chris Taylor coming through with him that this kid's got a voice, man. This kid can, he can sing? His songs are very well written. So we'll be announcing this coming week. All those street events you'll see all of the, the lineups and everything. Uh August 25th will be Jeremiah Johnson, Ty Curtis, Mets Ryan Collins out of Portland. And, uh, if you guys don't know, Mets Ryan Collins, that band is fantastic. So, it's the fellas that own five star guitar in Portland, Jeff Metz and, and crew and, uh, those guys are amazing. Jo is, uh a good friend of mine and he's, uh, he's someone I admire a lot. You know, Jeff is, uh, I've, I've followed him for years now. He's spoken in front of Congress, uh talking about music education and the importance of it and pushing for that. Um So that's something that obviously is near and dear to my heart. I, I see him every year at the Nam convention. You know, he's, he's walking the walk and talk the talk. So I love Jo Metz and his band, Mets, Ryan Collins is good. Um They got a song on youtube. Look it up called Oregon and that song is, is uh featured at Blazer Game up in Portland. So we'll put the link in this uh description so def definitely worth uh checking that out. But yeah, we got some good stuff coming up and I appreciate you having us come on to talk about it. I look forward to Henry's child throwing down at the Northwest Best Street fest. We'll have the, the lights on and the video screens rolling and the big P A going and, and a packed crowd. It, it's gonna be fantastic. Yeah, thanks for coming out Jason. I appreciate it. Thank you and throw down. We shall. That's right, June 17th in Lebanon. We'll be right in front of Cafe Rock, like he said on the big stage with the video monitors and all kinds of good stuff doing the one thing that we love to do which is play music for you and see your beautiful face. So please show up to that show. It'll be a great way to kick off summer and uh have a little bit of fellowship together. My friend. Listen, if you're not already subscribed to the Henry's child newsletter list, go to our website Henry's child dot com. Leave your first name and email address and you will be part of this Henry's Child tribe. And as you heard on the podcast, it's double duty for both Henry's child and seven Second Circle. Take care of yourself and those you love. We will see you June 17th in Lebanon. It came out of my mouth.