TMP313 BILLY IUSO GOES NATIVE

[00:00:15] Speaker A: Greetings, troubled listeners. Welcome back to the Troubled Men podcast. I am Renee Komen, sitting once again in Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge in the heart of the Klempire with my co host, the original troubled man for troubled times, and future mayor of New Orleans, Mr. Manny Chevrolet. Welcome, Manny. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Hey, man. What is happening here? [00:00:37] Speaker A: Oh, you know, same old thing, Manny. It's down into the. The grind of the summer. It slows down. You know, the streets look kind of. Kind of abandoned. [00:00:47] Speaker B: Really? [00:00:48] Speaker A: Well, I mean, to a certain degree. Yeah. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Okay. I just know the summers are hot. [00:00:54] Speaker A: Yeah, they're hot. But, you know, we've returned back in New Orleans to our. Our typical weather pattern that we've. We. A few years ago, you had this one summer where it hardly rained for maybe, like, two months. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:06] Speaker A: Sweltering hot. The drought was that last year. I can't even keep up with what. [00:01:10] Speaker B: Year is what that was last year. [00:01:12] Speaker A: Okay. [00:01:12] Speaker B: But I'm used to droughts being from Southern California. [00:01:15] Speaker A: Right, right. Well, I like the. The. The moisture, you know, it's good to have it rain a little bit every day. [00:01:22] Speaker B: Easier to jack off with moisture. [00:01:23] Speaker A: Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep it. Keep it slippery. Yeah, but. But, yeah, that's so, you know, not much going on. Just had Pride Parade, the Trump military parade. [00:01:36] Speaker B: Oh, that's right. [00:01:36] Speaker A: The no Kings protest, Ice protest, the naked bike ride. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Yeah. All in one day. [00:01:45] Speaker A: It's crazy, man. You know, you say summer's getting slow, but, gee, what is that? [00:01:50] Speaker B: And I didn't go to any of it. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Right. [00:01:52] Speaker B: I didn't go to any of it. I just want people to know I was just too tired and laid up and it was too hot, and I don't want to see naked fat people. [00:02:00] Speaker A: No, no, we've. [00:02:01] Speaker B: We've talked about that before. [00:02:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we've talked about the naked bike. [00:02:05] Speaker B: But I think it's funny because I've noticed because I was under the weather the past few days, so I was home a lot this week, and I was watching a lot of television some. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Catching up on your stories. [00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah, catching up on my stories. And I was also catching up on just, you know, just sports and stuff like that. And I noticed, you know, ever since that big, huge birthday parade for our great leader, our fearless leader, he seemed, in the last 48 to 72 hours, he seemed disinterested in a lot of things. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, he's listless. After the big letdown, he thought it was gonna be so, you know, it's like one of those things, like you look forward to, you know, you think this is gonna be so great, you know, whatever kind of thing off in the distance that you're looking forward to in your life. And then the day comes and it's just kind of a fizz. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Well, it's like my birthday every year, surrounded by my friends. I go, these are my friends. [00:03:00] Speaker A: I need new friends. [00:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah. I got to get new friends. That kind of thing. But he did look like, just listless and just uninterested. Like he left Canada early. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:10] Speaker B: You know, I, I gotta go. [00:03:13] Speaker C: You know. [00:03:14] Speaker B: And then he said this was a great quote. This is great leadership right here. This quote. He said when they asked him about his bombing. Iran or Iraq or Iran. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Iran. Yeah. [00:03:24] Speaker B: He says, I may, I may not. Nobody knows what I'm gonna do. That's great leadership. Nobody knows what I'm gonna do. [00:03:32] Speaker A: Like, not even me. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know what I'm gonna do. [00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's his idea of leadership, is one of those schoolyard. [00:03:40] Speaker B: I know something you don't. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Right, right, right. [00:03:42] Speaker B: That kind of thing. But I noticed when I. Because I thought, I thought for sure that Saturday there was gonna be like every station following this military thing. And they didn't give it, they didn't give them the, they didn't give that to. Yeah, there was just highlights on the news and stuff. If you wanted to see the parade in full, you had to go to like C Span, cuz that was the only channel showing the parade from beginning to end. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Well, it was not very visually compelling. [00:04:07] Speaker B: No, it was nothing like the. No Kings parades. [00:04:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:11] Speaker B: Which had a lot of humor. Were very, and, and, and had a point, you know, this had no point. It was like. And then, and then you see like the tanks, these guys just waving. [00:04:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:22] Speaker B: These guys in these tanks just wait. [00:04:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't look very threatening. [00:04:25] Speaker B: Yeah. He wanted something like South North Korea. [00:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Stepping. [00:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah. He didn't get that. [00:04:32] Speaker A: No. [00:04:32] Speaker B: You know, which is good. I'm glad. [00:04:34] Speaker A: And then all the people on the dais, you saw them up there yawning and looking off to the side, looking at their watches, you know, Jesus, how much more of this do we have to endure? [00:04:44] Speaker B: And the bad thing was, is after the parade, they had to go to his party to go see him cut a cake and blow out the candles and all that stuff, you know. So, you know, it's all going to come back, I guess, as they say. But I'm, I'm happy today because I got a paid day off because It's Juneteenth. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Juneteenth. Yes. [00:05:03] Speaker B: So I got paid to stay at home, which is a good thing, you know. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Sure. [00:05:09] Speaker B: And I. And I. I'm glad about that. And I just want to thank the woman who. Who fought and fought for this. She's an activist named Opal Lee. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:05:21] Speaker B: She fought for this, and. And she got Biden to make it into law. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:27] Speaker B: His first year in office. And I think she passed away a couple about a year later or something, sadly. You know, and these activists, they all have great stories, but some of them are sad, too, you know, Like, I remember, you know, Rosa Parks, great activist, you know, and then she got sick, and her activism might have killed her. She could have lived a lot longer. But she refused to ride in the back of the ambulance. [00:05:52] Speaker A: Oh, wow. See, I didn't know that part of the story. [00:05:58] Speaker B: She was sick. They said, come on, we'll rush you to the hospital. You're going to be fine. She refused to get in the back of the ambulance. [00:06:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:04] Speaker B: So she could have lived longer. [00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, some of these things, those. [00:06:07] Speaker B: Activists, they're crazy going on. [00:06:08] Speaker A: Well, you know, you got it. You got to know where. When to compromise your principles for the greater good. [00:06:13] Speaker B: I don't know, but she seemed like a good woman, Rosa. [00:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did some solid work there. Yes. [00:06:18] Speaker B: You know, and I love riding in the back of the bus, so anytime I take public transit, I go to the back of the bus. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Well, that's where all the troublemakers would go. [00:06:25] Speaker B: Well, sometimes I like to go right next to that back door, you know, because it's easy to get in, out, you know, boom. You know? But I don't know if you do public transit, but. [00:06:37] Speaker A: Well, I have. [00:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I like the public transit. [00:06:40] Speaker A: Free car. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:06:42] Speaker B: But anyway, what else is going on? [00:06:44] Speaker A: Oh, well, we had Father's Day. Did you have a rewarding Father's Day with your family there? [00:06:51] Speaker B: When was that? Sunday. [00:06:53] Speaker A: Sunday. [00:06:53] Speaker B: This past Sunday. Yeah, it was the same. The child came over. My wife looked at me, and it was better than that. [00:07:01] Speaker C: Hit the bottle. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Bottle. [00:07:04] Speaker B: That's pretty much it. And, you know, my daughter. What? Oh, she brought me some sw. Was nice. [00:07:10] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:07:11] Speaker B: You know, she brought some sweets, and we had some food, and then she left. But that's. I was getting sick that day, so I just didn't really. You know, I was like, you guys gotta go. [00:07:21] Speaker A: Your heart wasn't really in it. Even the booze. You just did it because you needed. [00:07:25] Speaker B: It to pass out. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Right. You couldn't really get. [00:07:29] Speaker B: But did you get your love from your father? This. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Well, we. We had to do it on Saturday this, this year because. And he. They all came over to my house. He was there sitting at the table. He was, you know, happy to be there, happy to be taken anywhere. He's like a dog that's just happy to get in the car and take a ride. [00:07:46] Speaker B: Oh, it's that way now. [00:07:48] Speaker A: It is that way. [00:07:49] Speaker B: Who drives this dog? [00:07:50] Speaker A: My mom. [00:07:51] Speaker B: Your mom? [00:07:51] Speaker A: My mom drives. Yeah, she does, but you know, she's spry and they get out every day. She goes and takes them for a long hour long ride every day. Sometimes they ride down a laplace along river Road or something or they'll go out to New Orleans east looking for. [00:08:07] Speaker B: Places to put the body. Right. Is that what she's doing? [00:08:10] Speaker A: Maybe just some advanced scouting. [00:08:13] Speaker B: You know, it's like those. You know, I remember when I was a kid and we had a pet that we didn't really want anymore. My dad would just drive somewhere and leave the. Go pet. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Take him for a ride. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Take the pet for a ride. What happened to Sparky, Dad? I don't know that kind of stuff. Over the weekend though, I did. I. A friend of mine was doing a concert. I watched it on the Zoom. You know, I watched it live on that zoom or whatever they call. [00:08:41] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:08:42] Speaker B: This friend of mine back in la, he's. He's turned very Christian and he has a Christian punk band and they're called Thorn. [00:08:49] Speaker A: Okay. And that's a good Christian name. [00:08:52] Speaker B: And they, they were pretty good. So look out for Thorne. [00:08:56] Speaker A: Okay? [00:08:57] Speaker B: I'm just telling the troubled nation they're a good Christian punk band. [00:09:00] Speaker A: All right, all of you Christian punks out there, you know, you don't have. [00:09:03] Speaker B: To be a Christian punk because I'm not a Christian punk. But okay, I kind of dug them. I couldn't understand half the lyrics because. [00:09:10] Speaker A: It'S that kind of screamo. [00:09:11] Speaker B: Yeah. And he was cutting glass on his chest. [00:09:15] Speaker A: Really? [00:09:15] Speaker B: Yeah. All that. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Oh, it's. Oh, it's a self flagellation. [00:09:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:19] Speaker A: Going old school. [00:09:20] Speaker C: Okay. [00:09:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:21] Speaker A: Wow. Crazy. [00:09:23] Speaker B: Anyway, and then part of the show was the people in the crowd were throwing rocks at the band. Stoning them, stoning them like the old Christian ways and. Right, okay. You know, and I don't think they're gonna go on tour though, because I think they're gonna be laid up for. [00:09:37] Speaker A: A while after that. [00:09:38] Speaker B: Stoning. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Took its toll. It's. You know, when you say stony, you think it's like a small rock or something. But the stones can be big, man. They can be. You can do a lot of. Do a lot of damage, you know, especially. They add up, you know. [00:09:52] Speaker B: Yeah. You get hit enough by a rock, you know, in the head multiple times, it's gonna hurt after. [00:09:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:09:58] Speaker B: You know, but other thing. Anything else going on with you? [00:10:01] Speaker A: Well, a few, yeah. A few different things. I don't know if you've. You've been brow beaten into this to registering your apartment with this Healthy Homes regimen. [00:10:13] Speaker B: Yes. [00:10:13] Speaker A: That the city sent out these postcards to all the people that have apartments. [00:10:19] Speaker B: So, yeah, we've already done our thing and we're cool. We're street legal. [00:10:24] Speaker A: Right. So I, I came. I noticed mine a day after the. The deadline, so. So I went down there and, you know, turned all the paperwork in and. But I'm looking at the thing and the reason I was hesitant is because it really galls me that the city is engaged in this because, you know, this is run by the Safety and Permits Department, which is a department that's even more corrupt and incompetent than the mayor's office. These are the people that brought you the Hard Rock Hotel collapse. [00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:58] Speaker A: You know, so. So you're going to put this already incompetent agency in charge of this new mechanism, which will be. It'll ultimately be a shakedown operation, you know, as. As. As either for. On the city's behalf or on the individual inspectors. You know, it's like the. The police detail thing that they had a bunch of years ago, they called it. This will be an aorta of corruption. [00:11:25] Speaker B: Yeah. And this is the whole thing about having to put those meters in your vacancies, Is that it? [00:11:30] Speaker A: No, no, no, no. This is just, you know, registering. And I'm sure at some point there'll be some annual fees that you will have to pay to keep it up to date, and that will probably finance a whole inspection regime. And I don't see this turning out well for the. For anyone. [00:11:52] Speaker B: And I don't know if we got that. I don't know. I thought you were talking about that whole thing now with your new. [00:11:58] Speaker A: With any smart meters. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Yeah, well, not the smart meters. The ones that every rental that you own now has to have a, you know, the, the toxic meter. [00:12:11] Speaker A: Oh, the carbon dioxide. [00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:13] Speaker A: Carbon monoxide. [00:12:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Meter in any rental you have. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Right, right. Well, that's a yes. [00:12:19] Speaker B: Is that part of that? [00:12:20] Speaker A: It is, yeah. [00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:12:22] Speaker A: Carbon monoxide alarm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, we did that. [00:12:27] Speaker B: And we haven't heard anything from the city about, you know. Yeah, got a note saying, you need to do this. Yeah, so we did. We have a new tenant and we showed it where it was and we just said, you know, don't breathe into it, you know, that kind of thing. Because she looks kind of crazy. [00:12:44] Speaker A: That's not good. Yeah, have that crazy look. [00:12:47] Speaker B: I. I really haven't even met my wife's met our new tenant. I have not met her, but she seems nice. She paid the first and last and all that kind of stuff. [00:12:54] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's. [00:12:55] Speaker B: That's all that matters to me is cash coming in. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Right, right. You pay me. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:13:00] Speaker A: Well. Well, I had a thought, you know, on. Based on this. I was riding down to my. My new steady gig at the. The Carousel Bar with the Iguanas every Sunday night, 7 to 10. Which actually, before we played the first note of the second gig, we found out that we'd been. Our residency has been extended all the way through the end of September. [00:13:21] Speaker C: So. [00:13:22] Speaker A: Trouble Nation, if you're visiting New Orleans, you want to go see something kinky on Sunday evening. Iguanas at the Carousel Bar. But as I'm driving down into the Quarter, I was thinking, oh, am I going to run into a lot of Pride weekend stuff in the Quarter? Well, I know they had a lot of that on Saturday and I guess they must have blown their wad because it was pretty empty there on Sunday. But, you know, as I'm riding along, you know, I'm thinking Pride Parade. And I start thinking, you know, pride, pride is good. But, you know, shame. Where is shame these days, Manny? You know, it seems like people are more shameless than ever. And I know shame can be bad, but shame can be good too. It's a motivator. You know, I always think about music as kind of a shame based system, at least learning to play music correctly. You know, it's like a lot of the motivation that will make me go and work on something more is the fear of the shame that I'm going to feel if I don't have this under my hands when the time comes, you know, so I'm thinking about this. Yeah, yeah, Shame Parade. One of our president's big problems and the problem that he's revealed with our Constitution is we have all these norms that they figure, well, no one will do that because they'll be too ashamed to do something like that. And then you get someone who is without shame, who can do anything, and it's like water off A duck's back. So you see my point here? You say where I'm getting with this. But anyway, so I'm imagining like a parade. Maybe not a whole month, but if you just had a shame parade, maybe if you become mayor, you could do. [00:15:02] Speaker B: This by a proclamation, you know, get a permit, get, you know, pay off the cops to do the security. You can have the shame parade. [00:15:10] Speaker A: Well, so. Well, here's some. [00:15:12] Speaker B: I don't need to be mayor for that. You can do that. [00:15:14] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Well, thank you for the encouragement, but I was just imagining in my head, you know, you could have people with signs like please try to pay attention for once, or you could have done better, or how do you sleep at night? [00:15:29] Speaker B: Okay, you left the toilet seat up again. [00:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, anything like that. You know, everybody can bring their own. Their own ideas to this. [00:15:36] Speaker B: Well, this would be the city to do it because they'll celebrate anything in this town. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Whatever happened to you. [00:15:41] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, that's. [00:15:42] Speaker A: That's a good sign for the shame parade. I really expected more. We thought you were going to turn into something. [00:15:49] Speaker B: Well, that's what your dad gave you, wasn't he? Right? [00:15:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Yes. [00:15:53] Speaker B: Whatever happened to you. [00:15:54] Speaker A: Yes, he did. [00:15:56] Speaker B: And, you know, while your mom's trying to find a place, it's still working. [00:16:00] Speaker A: It's still working. [00:16:00] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. You know, shame is shame, people. I'm ashamed. Ashamed of things I've done, but I've, you know, gotten past it. [00:16:06] Speaker A: Right. [00:16:07] Speaker B: You know. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Well, you can't let it. You can't let it freeze you anyway. [00:16:10] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. Well, that's a good thought you're thinking, at least. [00:16:13] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you, man. [00:16:14] Speaker B: I appreciate you between these gigs. [00:16:15] Speaker A: Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. [00:16:18] Speaker B: You know, you're down there and this place is right on Bourbon street. Or where is it? [00:16:23] Speaker A: No, no, it's on. It's on Royal street and like between. On Bienville and I don't know what the other side street is maybe, because I know. [00:16:34] Speaker B: I saw just recently they're trying to figure out what to do with Bourbon street to make it pedestrian only or, you know, let cars in and stuff like that. [00:16:46] Speaker A: Right. I saw the police are spending about four hours a day moving those. Those things, those barricades. Barricades onto the. The street and then off again. It's a lot of manpower being wasted. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Well, yeah, the manpower is like, you know, some of them have to be there at 4 in the morning. [00:17:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:02] Speaker C: Break tag every year anymore. [00:17:03] Speaker A: Oh, I think you do. Yeah. You still gotta get A break tag every year. [00:17:07] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's the biggest scam ever, man. But I thought, you know, it's a big issue ever since the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street. [00:17:16] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:16] Speaker B: You know, and, you know, it was like they don't know what to do. The chief of police, the city council. Well, the mayor, who knows where she is. But it's like they want to make know if it's pedestrian or cars. And I, I, I just thought to myself, well, why don't we just do away with all cars and all pedestrians and make Bourbon street handicap only okay? Just for the handicap. [00:17:41] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:17:41] Speaker B: You know, just let the people who have handicaps on Bourbon street and, and no one else. No one else. I'm not sure that, you know, handicap, because there's nothing funnier than seeing drunk people in wheelchairs. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:53] Speaker B: You know, I think it's hilarious, you know. Okay, so that's one of my promises to the city, you know, to make Bourbon street handicap only okay. [00:18:03] Speaker A: You know, besides being a handicapped. Accessible. [00:18:06] Speaker B: Accessible, but handicap only exclusive if you're not. Or if you're not like on crutches or if you don't have some kind of ADD or whatever extra chromosome. Yeah, you know, exactly. If you don't have two heads, you know, are you connected with your twin by the head. [00:18:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:24] Speaker B: You're not allowed. Not allowed on Bourbon. [00:18:27] Speaker A: It's a bold statement. I think you'll be the only mayoral candidate who has that position. So that could, could give you. It could be a way. [00:18:34] Speaker B: Speaking of candidates with certain positions, Elena Moreno, I'd like to put her in a certain position. What's with her hair? She's so uptight. That hairdo she has keeps it tight. Yeah, yeah. What you got living in there? Well, I don't know, but anyway, I'll, I'll check it out. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Right. [00:18:52] Speaker B: But anyway, let's get to our guests. Unless you have something. [00:18:55] Speaker A: Well, I just wanted to give a shout out to, you know, make mention of, you know, we lost right before the last show. We lost. The great Sly Stone talked about. Yeah, we did. Okay, very next day, after the podcast, we lost Brian Wilson. Yeah, genius. [00:19:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I met Brian Wilson. [00:19:12] Speaker A: I met Brian Wilson once too. Where'd you meet him? [00:19:15] Speaker B: I met him. He was, he was on a Tower Records on Sunset. He just released his first album in like, fucking, who knows, decades. And I went there with my good friends Tony Rugalo and Bobby Share. And Tony Rugalo's dad was Pete Rugalo. [00:19:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:19:35] Speaker B: And you know, we got the record and we stood in line for hours and hours. And we got up and Brian goes to sign our vinyl and Tony being Tony says, you know, hey Brian, Tony Rugalo, my dad's Pete Rugalo. And Brian just like froze in his track. Your dad's Pete Rugalo? Your dad's Pete Rugalo. And just talked Tony's ear off for like I don't know how long. And the line was getting pissed off. The line was like, what the fuck? And he would not stop talking to Tony about Pete rugalo, about his dad. You know, Tony had tons of stories about, about his dad and stuff. And Tony's dad, Pete Rugala, who was, you know, rich and famous, but he, he died just like many musicians, he. [00:20:19] Speaker A: Died pretty poor, penniless. Yeah, that's what you were saying. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And. But then also my cousin, my cousin Celine actually, during the mid early 80s, worked for Landy. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Oh, Dr. Landy. Really? Well, I, I met Brian when I was up in New York and, and went with my friend when Brian's book came out again. It was tower records in New York and we got the book and stood in line to get Brian to sign. And this is the book that he co wrote with Landy. [00:20:51] Speaker B: The self help book. [00:20:53] Speaker A: The self help. Well, yeah, we got to the front and I can't remember what the name was, but I was holding a book for it for someone else and I wanted to get signed with their name. And I can't remember what it was like Albert or Robert or something. But I said, I said the name. He goes, albert, how do you spell that? I was like, looked at my friend, it's spelled it the normal way. And he goes, oh, okay. [00:21:19] Speaker B: Well, my cousin Celine who worked for Landy used to have to go to Brian's place out in Malibu a lot and have him sign stuff. This is how dirty Landy was. [00:21:30] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:21:31] Speaker B: And she said that he was just, you know, this poor soul. But anytime my cousin would pop in, he would just light up because he'd be like playing in a sandbox with toys still. Yeah, my cousin Celine would come by and go, hey Brian. And he would just get so excited like a little kid and jump up and down and says, oh, you know, and she had to have him. Then she quit. She actually, you know, she was part of that story where she knew what was going on. [00:21:58] Speaker A: This didn't want to be a party too. [00:22:00] Speaker B: She didn't want to be a party. So she took off after a while. And there's that great movie, Love and mercy. [00:22:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:22:06] Speaker B: Which is a fabulous film. Everyone should see about him. Yeah. [00:22:09] Speaker A: All right, well, let's get to our guest. [00:22:11] Speaker B: Sure. [00:22:12] Speaker A: He's a terrific guitar player, singer, songwriter, band leader. He formed the band Brides of Jesus up in New York City in the early 90s. And that was. Yeah, that was at the heyday of the Wetlands Club there. He was playing there a lot, sharing bills with some other people in the jam band scene, like Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band. And he later moved to New Orleans on the recommendation of the Meters, Art Neville and George Porter after he did a bunch of opening dates on tours with them. And he currently plays with his own band, as well as the Iko All Stars. And he's played with all kind of people. Anders Osborne, Wild Magnolias, George Porter, on and on. We're going to get into all that and more. But without further ado, the great Mr. Billy AO. Welcome, Billy. [00:23:03] Speaker C: Thanks for having me. [00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah, man, appreciate it. [00:23:05] Speaker B: What's happening? [00:23:05] Speaker C: How you doing? [00:23:06] Speaker B: All right, man. [00:23:07] Speaker C: I've been loving those stories. That's great. [00:23:09] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:09] Speaker C: My Beach Boy story is five years old. My father took me to my first concert. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Wow. [00:23:15] Speaker C: Madison Square Garden. Beach Boy Boys. [00:23:17] Speaker A: No, that's pretty cool. [00:23:19] Speaker C: The five year old I'm standing on the chair and I'm like, dad, when are these hippies gonna get off? And. And the Beach Boys show up. I thought, they're gonna come out in the striped shirts. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Right, right, right. 70s. [00:23:30] Speaker C: But this was, this was deep with the beards. [00:23:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And Mike Love has got a robe down to his feet and he's. [00:23:38] Speaker B: He's doing that horrible dancing there. [00:23:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Stupid white boy. [00:23:42] Speaker C: But I mean, that's. That, that's a great segue for me because that's really the first band I fell in love with as a. [00:23:49] Speaker B: But Brian was 5 years old. He wasn't. [00:23:51] Speaker C: He was actually performing, I believe, on that night. [00:23:53] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:23:54] Speaker C: I believe he did those Madison Square Garden shows. Because I looked it up recently. It's. [00:23:59] Speaker B: It's, it's hazy, but I. Yeah, well, that'd be fabulous. Yeah. [00:24:02] Speaker C: I don't. I'm not totally sure. [00:24:03] Speaker A: Right. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Well, that's a great memory. [00:24:06] Speaker C: But that's, you know, that's kind of. And I just remember as a little kid, like sketching a guitar, as a surfboard, you know, stuff like that. That was the first thing. And then, you know, as a kid up there, you know, Kiss was a brief moment and then. [00:24:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:21] Speaker C: And then launched into everything else, so. [00:24:23] Speaker A: Well, that's pretty cool of your dad. Was your dad a big music fan? A musician himself? [00:24:28] Speaker C: He's not a musician. He's he's great at air guitar. [00:24:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:33] Speaker C: He's, you know, he's. He was born in 42, so he hit rock and roll as it came out. And he saw, you know, from Chuck Berry, you know, to Bo Diddley to Lee Dorsey and then up into Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead and. Yeah, he's still a Deadhead too. [00:24:52] Speaker A: Oh, no kidding. [00:24:52] Speaker C: He's still with us and he's still coming down for Jazz Fest every year. [00:24:56] Speaker A: All right, well, he must have a great. He must have had a great record collection in your, in your house. [00:25:01] Speaker C: Yes, yes. [00:25:02] Speaker B: What did your father do? [00:25:04] Speaker C: He was in marketing. Yeah, he was. And not by choice. It's just kind of where he landed at the time, you know. [00:25:13] Speaker B: And your mom? [00:25:14] Speaker C: My mom was a pretty much stay at home mom most of the time. [00:25:18] Speaker B: And where is this now that I grew? [00:25:20] Speaker C: I was born in Port Chester, New York. [00:25:22] Speaker B: Okay, so that's outside. [00:25:24] Speaker C: Yeah, it's right outside the city going towards Connecticut. And then by the time I was 7, I had. My mom and dad had split and my mom remarried to a guy in the airline business. So I moved every three years at that point. I was in Ohio for a couple years and then Miami, Florida, and then Texas. And then I finally decided I wanted to go back and live with my dad so I could finish high school in one area. [00:25:48] Speaker B: All right, so. [00:25:49] Speaker C: So I went back to New England and finished high school. [00:25:51] Speaker B: Okay, so. So you're what, from 5 to 15, you're traveling and bopping around? [00:25:56] Speaker C: Pretty much, yeah. With this airport dad. Yeah. Every three years, you know, so a class clown, you know, getting, you know, got. [00:26:05] Speaker B: Well, you figured you weren't going to be there much longer. [00:26:07] Speaker C: Well, I mean, it was a way to make friends. [00:26:08] Speaker A: Right. I was going to ask. Yeah, how was that? [00:26:10] Speaker C: I didn't really have a, you know, like a childhood friendship that came, you know. You know, for years it was like every three years I was in a new group of people. So it was kind of like acting up in school was kind of the way. [00:26:21] Speaker B: So what was your best time, though? Was it Florida? Ohio? Texas? Oh, man. Childhood memories are weird. [00:26:28] Speaker C: Florida. In the beginning, I, I, you know, my stepfather and I did not get along. So once I hit that age of 13 or whatever. [00:26:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:36] Speaker C: You know, that, that was a done. But Florida, because the water, I really dig the water. You know, we had, we had a boat at the time that he had. [00:26:44] Speaker B: And what year is this? Thirteen. [00:26:46] Speaker C: This is. I was, yeah, I was about 13. It was early 80s. [00:26:48] Speaker B: Early 80s. Okay. All right. Yeah. So We're a little older than this kid here. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're older than most. [00:26:56] Speaker B: So you went back to see your dad? [00:26:58] Speaker C: Yeah, to finish high school. [00:27:00] Speaker B: And he was a deadhead. [00:27:01] Speaker C: Yep. [00:27:01] Speaker B: And the first thing he introduced you was bong hits. [00:27:05] Speaker C: You know, I found them before. [00:27:07] Speaker B: Florida. [00:27:08] Speaker C: Yes, I did, in Florida. [00:27:09] Speaker B: Good thing you didn't find coke. [00:27:12] Speaker C: It didn't take me years. Yeah, you know, not too many years after that. [00:27:15] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:27:17] Speaker B: You became a mule for your step. [00:27:19] Speaker C: Trust. Trust me, I'm well versed. [00:27:21] Speaker B: Okay, good, good. Yeah, yeah. [00:27:23] Speaker C: Well versed and all that. [00:27:25] Speaker A: Well, well, I use. So what. What sort is that? Greek? [00:27:28] Speaker C: Is that Italian? [00:27:29] Speaker A: Italian. Okay. That was going to be my second guess. [00:27:30] Speaker C: It's Italian. I'm Italian. Irish. [00:27:32] Speaker A: Okay. [00:27:33] Speaker C: So I'm constantly, you know, in battle with myself. [00:27:35] Speaker B: And you said your dad's alive, your mom's alive. [00:27:38] Speaker C: Yep. [00:27:38] Speaker B: They're both still with siblings. Are they alive? [00:27:41] Speaker C: I don't really have a. I have half siblings. [00:27:43] Speaker B: Okay. [00:27:44] Speaker C: Each sibling is over 10 years old. You know, I'm 10 years older than all my siblings. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Okay, well, so when you're. When you're in elementary school where you obviously, you're interested in. In music from your father and exposure to all that, were you interested in playing music? Were you already playing? [00:28:01] Speaker C: No, I didn't really start playing till early teens. I like every. Like, kids. Every other kid. I, you know, I wanted to be. Be a quarterback. I wanted to be this. [00:28:11] Speaker A: I never wanted to be a quarterback. No, go. Go on, though. [00:28:15] Speaker C: You know. [00:28:16] Speaker B: You wanted to be a cheerleader. [00:28:17] Speaker C: Who knows? You know, I mean, I. I went through stages like everyone else. And I was, you know, so. And I was geographically moving from, you know, you move from Westchester, New York to, you know, rural Miami. It's a totally different world. And then moved to Houston, Texas, and a whole nother world. So it was like cultures, you know, So I was just adapting. [00:28:38] Speaker A: Sure. [00:28:39] Speaker C: To whatever the. [00:28:40] Speaker A: You had your hands full. Just trying to keep your head above water socially. [00:28:43] Speaker C: Fishing, you know, I mean. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:28:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:45] Speaker C: You know, I mean, I came up with a story when I was living in, you know, Florida was kind of the most redneck place I lived, I guess. And being an Italian kid from, you know, kids are trying to put. Pronounce my last name. It's. It's Mariel Boat lift time in Florida, so. So there's a big line of tension, you know, already. So I made up a story that I was from Biloxi, Mississippi, so the kids wouldn't beat my ass. Good for you. [00:29:08] Speaker A: Biloxi. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Why I chose Biloxi, now that I've been to Biloxi. [00:29:13] Speaker A: Had you ever been there before? [00:29:14] Speaker C: No, not at that point. [00:29:15] Speaker A: That's crazy. [00:29:16] Speaker C: It's hilarious. [00:29:17] Speaker A: I figure, well, I haven't been there. None of these other kids know anything about it. [00:29:21] Speaker C: I like the way, you know. [00:29:23] Speaker B: Since your stepdad worked for the airlines, did you get to travel? Did you and your mom go with them and travel? [00:29:29] Speaker C: No, not really. We didn't travel a lot. We did a little bit. I. Mostly the only good thing out of that was I was able to see my father and other people in the family quite often because we could use that. [00:29:39] Speaker B: Right. So you used to fly by yourself. [00:29:41] Speaker C: Standby with the suit on, you know, as a kid. [00:29:44] Speaker B: You know, and by yourself. [00:29:45] Speaker C: Yes. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:46] Speaker A: That was back when people knew how to. How to fly. Show up and. And, you know, look presentable for an. [00:29:51] Speaker C: Airplane ride and light up a cigarette. On the plane. [00:29:55] Speaker A: On the plane. Smoke a. Cool. [00:29:58] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:30:00] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:30:02] Speaker C: The good old days. [00:30:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Suit and tie, hard shoes on. [00:30:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:06] Speaker B: And smoking. [00:30:07] Speaker A: Sucking on a. Cool. [00:30:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:09] Speaker A: Having a martini. Nice. [00:30:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:13] Speaker A: As far as musical tastes at that time, growing up, were you. They kind of all over the board, or were you already Deadhead or. [00:30:21] Speaker C: No, I. I was more. I kind of went to the heavier rock first. [00:30:26] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:26] Speaker C: You know, like Deep Purple. I like Deep Purple a lot. Early Purple, Zeppelin, of course. But I. I was always more a B side guy and didn't want to go with the most popular bands or whatever. [00:30:37] Speaker A: I was always kind of about Black Sabbath. [00:30:40] Speaker C: Black Sabbath I liked. You know. And then when I moved from Texas to Connecticut, where my father was living, to finish school, there was no metalheads, really. There was like, you know, so the clicks on the back, the school. And that's where I kind of got hip to the dead. [00:30:57] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:58] Speaker C: There was a Deadhead clique, and I was like, well, they're the most similar thing to me, so. [00:31:03] Speaker A: And they like smoking weed. [00:31:04] Speaker C: Yeah. It was the same score with these guys. Exactly. And I went to my first show. [00:31:10] Speaker B: Tell him you were from Biloxi. [00:31:11] Speaker C: No, no, I no longer had to use the Biloxi thing. In fact, that would have worked against me in that world, probably. Right, right. No, you know, and That's. That's. At 15, 16 years old, I was pushed through a turnstile at a Grateful Dead show for my first time and by a older friend. And, you know, I dug the hole more than. [00:31:34] Speaker B: So this is early 80s? [00:31:36] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah. Like mid-80s. [00:31:38] Speaker B: Okay. [00:31:38] Speaker A: So they kind of blow your mind, the Whole. The whole encapsulated culture that they have there. [00:31:44] Speaker C: The. The interaction with the band being just these average guys up there, and then the audience being equally as important. That vibe really drew me in. [00:31:54] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:55] Speaker C: You know, and I. Before I got too hip to the music, even though it was familiar to me because of my father, but I, you know, I was really. Greatest Hits was all I knew at that point when I first walked into it. So. [00:32:07] Speaker B: Did you go to shows with your dad? [00:32:08] Speaker C: I have, yeah. [00:32:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:32:10] Speaker C: I have up most of my life at that point. [00:32:12] Speaker B: From, like, teenage trip with your dad? [00:32:15] Speaker C: I tripped around my dad plenty of times. [00:32:20] Speaker B: Were you that heavy for. Because I know. So I know a lot of deadhead, being from SoCal, being from LA. I know a lot of Deadheads who are regular guys, who are lawyers and doctors and stuff, but they're Deadheads or, you know, they're accountants or whatever, and. And they've taken months off work to follow them. Sure. Did you ever do that? [00:32:37] Speaker C: You follow them? I did follow them for a while, like, but as a, you know, 18 to 20 year old. [00:32:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:44] Speaker C: And then when I got the bug to play music, I was like, what the. Am I spending all this money following this band Right. When I could just put my own band together and do it that way? And that's kind of what led me to do that. [00:32:56] Speaker A: Okay, so you just started playing guitar and just pulling apart your records that you liked and transcribing? [00:33:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you know, learning Dead tunes and Bob Dylan tunes to start out, I guess, and then open mics and then leaping from that into just band leading, you know? [00:33:14] Speaker A: Okay, so you're. You're back in New York with. Living with your dad when you're starting to play professionally, Is that. [00:33:21] Speaker C: I was. Actually. I left my senior year of high school. When I graduated, I went to Rhode island, and that's where I started my first band, up in Providence. Providence at the time was a college town. I wanted to go to a college town, obviously, but Providence was dead. The downtown was. [00:33:37] Speaker A: But you didn't want to go to college? [00:33:39] Speaker C: No. [00:33:39] Speaker A: Okay. [00:33:40] Speaker C: I had enough of school at that point. [00:33:42] Speaker A: Okay, well, you're in good company because me and Manny felt the same way. [00:33:46] Speaker C: I couldn't do. I didn't do very well in school in general because of my situation, and so I couldn't put more time into that. [00:33:55] Speaker A: That was a dead end. [00:33:57] Speaker C: It was not gonna work for me. So I. [00:33:59] Speaker B: School is just not for some people. [00:34:01] Speaker C: It wasn't for me. It wasn't. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Look, I was good at school. And I hated every second of it. [00:34:06] Speaker C: I mean, I know some cats that, you know, that I went to high school with that did that whole route and they're still living, you know, in their mom's apartment above their garage. [00:34:13] Speaker A: No guarantee. [00:34:14] Speaker C: So there's no guarantee. So at least I rode through this wave that I enjoyed. [00:34:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:34:18] Speaker B: See, I, I, I could have been good at school, but I decided not to. [00:34:22] Speaker C: That's the way I feel. It wasn't really my bag. [00:34:26] Speaker A: Right, right, right. [00:34:27] Speaker B: I had to get up at what time? [00:34:29] Speaker C: Yeah, but like Providence at the time was, you know, just strip clubs, bars, and like Lupos, you know, and, and the, the couple nightclubs. So we, we had this whole upper floor of a four story building that they rented to artists and musicians. And that's kind of where I just. [00:34:47] Speaker B: Like I said, what's the big school in Providence? [00:34:50] Speaker C: Brown and Brown. [00:34:51] Speaker A: RISD School of Design. Yeah. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Our former guest, Brent Ryder went to Brown. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:34:57] Speaker B: He went to Brown. I went to try to visit him there and he wasn't there. [00:35:00] Speaker C: You know, and it was filled with college girls. Yeah, I mean, it was just a good time. I was living in a rehearsal space and I was, you know, I was working in some kitchens at the time before I got off my feet. And then that was it. [00:35:14] Speaker A: So you start playing gigs. [00:35:17] Speaker C: Luckily, I'm across the street from the Strand Theater in Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in my rehearsal space. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Nice. [00:35:23] Speaker C: So every opening act and every cancellation, I was getting a phone call. [00:35:28] Speaker A: Okay. [00:35:29] Speaker C: So the first year of my playing, I opened up from B.B. king. I opened up for Jimmy Cliff, I opened up for the Counting Crows, Spin Doctors, I mean, just like these. And, and we weren't that good. I mean we were just cutting our teeth, but we had the balls to do it, so we just did it. [00:35:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:35:44] Speaker B: And you're doing originals? [00:35:46] Speaker C: Mostly. Mostly. I've always done covers in my set. But I'm a based, I like to be based on being an original artist. Yeah. [00:35:53] Speaker B: Okay. So you know, but as a kid, who bought you your instrument? Your dad just said, here's a guitar, go learn it. I mean, are you just went into the pawn shop and found a guitar? [00:36:03] Speaker C: I bought a guitar for 500 bucks that I still use every gig. That's my baby. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Still an expensive guitar at that time. [00:36:10] Speaker C: Yeah. 1988, I guess I bought that guitar. [00:36:12] Speaker A: I guess that's about to go. [00:36:13] Speaker C: I had, you know, I had a couple. I had one that dad gave me for Christmas and that did, that lasted till I got to the point where I wanted something different. [00:36:20] Speaker A: And then, you know, so you got a nice Stratocaster. [00:36:24] Speaker B: But I saw parents, both were like, okay, don't go to school. [00:36:28] Speaker C: No, my dad was like. I mean, my dad's a true music fan. Where he would. When I would skip school to go see the Grateful Dead, he would yell at me for about a second, and then he would go. Then he would go, what they play. [00:36:40] Speaker B: Did you tape it? [00:36:42] Speaker C: So I was like, with him, it was no problem. Now, my mother, on the other hand, she's a. She's a good Catholic, Irish woman. [00:36:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:49] Speaker C: From New England. [00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:50] Speaker C: This was no road that she wanted to see. [00:36:52] Speaker B: Right, right, right, right. [00:36:53] Speaker C: But, you know, here we now. [00:36:55] Speaker B: Were you one of those guys who tape shows? [00:36:57] Speaker C: No, I wasn't. [00:36:58] Speaker B: Okay. Because a very good friend of mine, who I still. Well, I talked to him every once in a while. Huge. Dead. You never would have thought this guy was a dead end. But he would go and he would tape shows like crazy. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Yeah. It's a thing. [00:37:11] Speaker B: It's a. And I went with him once to Berkeley. They did a 3D. Yeah. The. Great. And there's a whole area set up for people taping. [00:37:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:37:20] Speaker B: It's just the most insane thing I ever saw in my life. [00:37:22] Speaker C: It's. I mean, it's a. That was very innovative business practice for a rock band at the time to do that. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't think it was intentional, but they kind of stumbled into it. [00:37:31] Speaker C: They stumbled into it. [00:37:32] Speaker B: Yeah. And the Dead in the Bay Area have this. The vaults. They have vaults. I mean, everything's documented, hours of shows. [00:37:41] Speaker C: I'm glad a lot of my shows are not available. Well. [00:37:47] Speaker A: Like, how much. How many versions of a song do you want to hear? [00:37:50] Speaker C: Don't get me started with the Dead. I have a very unique relationship with the Dead. I love the catalog of music. It's a fantastic thing. And the spirit of what they did to. The freedom and that. But to be a cover band like these. There's guys out there who, like, play Jerry Garcia guitars and his exact replica, amplified. [00:38:11] Speaker A: Play certain sets, like the exact. The set. [00:38:14] Speaker C: This was done in 1972, you know, and to me, that is like. And then they'll go see that. And then the Late Night party will be another Dead band, you know, so the crowd is, you know. But as a musician, if that happens to you, God bless. [00:38:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's insane that that exists, huh? [00:38:31] Speaker C: It is. It's crazy. And that's why I started. I go All Stars because There was just kind of a need for it. And I enjoy the catalog. It's fun. And doing it with the guys that I play with in this community was fun because the dead have always dipped their toe in New Orleans. [00:38:45] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:45] Speaker C: Even though it wasn't always the most popular thing, they enjoyed New Orleans. So there was always that little, you know, connection. I mean, I saw the Neville Brothers for my first time was with the Dead, you know. [00:38:54] Speaker A: Okay, well, let's get into your. You moving to New York? [00:38:59] Speaker C: Well, I never really lived in New York as an adult. [00:39:01] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:39:02] Speaker C: I just played the circuit. I was. [00:39:04] Speaker A: I see. Okay. You're still based out of. Out of Providence. All right. [00:39:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So. But I would work from. You know, I was. Because I was closer to that area as a young man. I played wetlands when it first opened. [00:39:16] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:17] Speaker C: My cover band, you know, So I had already been connected with that scene. And I knew all I knew about Nightingales, which was on Second Avenue. And that's kind of where Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors started. And there was a whole really cool scene back then. Like, in New York. Like, there was a nightly like. Like, similar to what we do here, you know. Monday night you could see so and so, and Tuesday night you could see. So, yeah, it was a cool thing. So I tapped into that, and I was down there just working the scene. I was a very hungry young player, and I was not afraid to get on the phone and just try to make things happen. [00:39:49] Speaker A: Yeah. And meet all those guys, make friends with them. [00:39:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:52] Speaker A: Right on. It's funny. Like, the jam band scene. I remember the Iguanas were kind of getting some heat. Had a record deal. We were in Nashville and had this. This guy from a jam band magazine wanted to interview me. And he calls me up one morning, my hotel room, doing it, and he starts talking about all this, you know. Well, you know, the Iguanas, you know, and jam. Jam music. And I said, man, you know, I was a punk rock kid, man. I hate all that shit. And then later on that day, as I said, I was like. That probably wasn't the best thing to say to that guy. [00:40:26] Speaker C: It's always good to be honest. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Well, I don't know. Is it? Sometimes. [00:40:31] Speaker C: Look where I am today. [00:40:32] Speaker A: Sometimes it's not the best policy. [00:40:34] Speaker B: Well, it's all. It's always a good thing to be shamed, though, right? [00:40:37] Speaker C: Well, shame's a whole nother. [00:40:40] Speaker B: Honest or different. [00:40:42] Speaker C: No, you know, that would. That was just a. You know, back then, there was no jam band thing. It was just bands that Fit together kind of. I mean, you know, my songwriter. [00:40:50] Speaker A: They didn't even call it that or anything. [00:40:52] Speaker C: No, not yet. [00:40:52] Speaker A: No. No. I was a big Allman Brothers fan growing up. So, you know, I. There's plenty of jammy music that I love, you know, but just all the. [00:41:01] Speaker C: Music I like is jam band, really, technically, across the board. I mean, you know, I. I love stuff that has soul and is spontaneity. [00:41:09] Speaker B: You know, like craft work. [00:41:11] Speaker C: Well, I'm not a big craft work fan. [00:41:13] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:41:14] Speaker B: So what was the name of your first cover band? [00:41:17] Speaker C: Euphoria. Come on. [00:41:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:41:19] Speaker C: It's classic, right? [00:41:20] Speaker A: That is classic. [00:41:21] Speaker B: That's good. I like that. [00:41:23] Speaker A: But then you started the Bride. So is it the Brides of Jesus that are playing on the circuit? [00:41:27] Speaker C: Yes. Brides of Jesus was probably. You know, that was a good run in the 90s. We had been opening for all those major acts, and we did the two weeks with Dave Matthews on the album he broke, which was fun and super nice guy. Like, to this day, I hadn't seen him in 15 years. And I was working for the Funky Meters as their tour manager at the time. And we opened for him, and he recognized me from. You know, he's like, is your name Bill? I was like, yeah, it is. I was like, that was impressive to me. And. Nice guy. [00:41:58] Speaker A: He is a very nice guy. Now I have another funny Dave Matthews Story. And then we're gonna have to take a little break here. We'll come back. But this is when before they had broken, and they were doing well in the Virginia area. And I know a guy who. Who was. Who knew people in that band. And he was saying, yeah, you know, I got a tape from. From these guys up here. My buddy plays in this band. And they were saying, yeah, you know, you're playing in New Orleans. You think that we could get a gig down there? And I said. And he said, I listened to the tape. And he goes, I just don't see it, man. So then six months later, you know, they're on mtv and it's Dave Matthews Band. He goes, yeah, that was that band. The. [00:42:45] Speaker C: The. The first time we played with him was we were in Muscle Shoals finishing my first record, and I did my first record there, and we get a call to an opening act in Tuscaloosa. So we said, we'll take it. So we ran down there and did it. And when I walked into his sound check, he was like, in pajama pants, you know, like, I was like, like, what the hell is this? Like. And his voice, you know, it's very different to hear the first time, and it. Yeah. And then, you know, a month later, we're on the road and he's switching to semis and. [00:43:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:43:18] Speaker C: You know, the venues are all changing to bigger, and it was cool. [00:43:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. God bless those guys, man. They're good people. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Billy, this is about the time. You can see our. Our drinks here where they're at. And Manny, tell people. [00:43:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, Billy. That's your name, right? Billy. [00:43:35] Speaker C: Yeah. That is from today. [00:43:36] Speaker B: Okay. Nation knows what to do. We're gonna be right back. [00:43:42] Speaker C: She was born in Noah, Mississippi Daddy's drunk and mama took pity she always seemed to be on her own. [00:43:53] Speaker A: She decided to head to the city she was smart, she was pretty it didn't. [00:43:59] Speaker C: Seem to take her very long. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Way. [00:44:04] Speaker C: Too young to play with fire Denser. [00:44:07] Speaker A: Thieves and caverns of desire she seemed. [00:44:10] Speaker C: To show up in a mall she moves that way Cold years in New Orleans City of hangover and crescent skins she had nowhere to call her home out the dark came a black limousine. [00:44:42] Speaker A: She was handsome she had a dream. [00:44:44] Speaker C: The door opened, she was gone. [00:44:50] Speaker A: Woke. [00:44:50] Speaker C: Up in a hotel in the corner Seemed okay but all out of order Till she sees the writing on the. [00:44:57] Speaker A: Wall she moves that way she moves that way and we're back. Back with Mr. Manny Chevrolet. Yes, I am Renee Coleman. You are back with our guest, Mr. Billy Iuso. Now, the Italian. Yes, the Italian. Italian, Irish. Now, Billy, I know you've heard a few of these shows, and you know that we are, you know, reliant on our listeners. And we used to have a bit. We talk about loose change, our sponsors. Loose change. And we haven't said that recently, but a lot of the longtime listeners remember that we have that as such, we've had people send us bags of loose change before. Sometimes it's dollar bills. Sometimes they just use the Venmo or the PayPal links in the show notes of every show, or they'll join the Patreon page and support us week in and week out. We love our patrons, but last week, as we were closing up the show, we'd already turned the. Turn the thing off. Closed down. And we got presented with a box that had arrived at the. At Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge. And it's addressed to Renee and Manny Troubled Men Podcast, care of Snake and Jake's, 7612 Street. [00:46:32] Speaker C: And look how much it cost. A cent, too. [00:46:34] Speaker A: Yes, it's important. Is $10.65 for this. [00:46:39] Speaker B: For this and where is it coming from? [00:46:41] Speaker A: Does it say it's coming from? From Florida. [00:46:44] Speaker B: Florida. [00:46:45] Speaker A: No, no, no. Excuse me. It's coming from Mississippi. [00:46:47] Speaker B: Mississippi. [00:46:48] Speaker A: Mississippi. So. So we opened the box already. I have. [00:46:53] Speaker B: I brought a spend a month one day in Mississippi. [00:46:56] Speaker C: Oh, you caring. [00:46:57] Speaker A: I brought a box cutter in. Cuz while boxing cutters are not allowed on airplanes, they're still allowed in snake and jigs. So. So I brought the box cutter out of my car. Which. [00:47:07] Speaker B: Can you open up the box during the break? Opened up. [00:47:09] Speaker A: What is box during the break? [00:47:11] Speaker B: The nation wants to know. [00:47:12] Speaker A: Yes. And there's a envelope inside says Manny and Renee on the outside and on the the card, it's. It's from our old friend Eddie V. Who sent us that big box of, of of pennies and nickels and quarters before. And this says ahoy. I hope this package better meets your coin to postage expectations. [00:47:32] Speaker B: Best, Eddie V. Thank you. [00:47:34] Speaker A: So. So it's a smaller bag than last time. So let's see what's in the. What's in the bag? What's in the bag? What's in the bag? [00:47:42] Speaker C: This is dramatic. [00:47:43] Speaker B: Oh, it sounds like change. [00:47:45] Speaker A: Sounds heavy though. [00:47:46] Speaker C: It sounds like a foreign change. [00:47:48] Speaker B: Yeah, Maybe it's euros. Oh, they're silver dollars. [00:47:52] Speaker A: Kennedy half dollars. [00:47:54] Speaker C: Oh, well, you gotta get that app so you can scan the coin and you could be a millionaire. [00:47:59] Speaker A: We could. [00:48:01] Speaker C: Yes. [00:48:01] Speaker B: And I like his stationary. Eddie has his own little station. [00:48:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. No, Eddie's a class dude, man. [00:48:07] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:48:08] Speaker A: Eddie, he's a man of half dollars. [00:48:11] Speaker C: Wow. [00:48:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I like, I like it, man. [00:48:13] Speaker C: That's another round right there. [00:48:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:48:16] Speaker A: So shout out to Eddie V. Man. Not only is he supporting the podcast, but he's got a sense of style. [00:48:25] Speaker B: This is all. [00:48:25] Speaker C: And I feel included, so it's an inclusive gift. I like this. It's nice. [00:48:30] Speaker B: It always reminds me of like blackjack. [00:48:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:32] Speaker B: When you have your, you have your stack of chips. [00:48:36] Speaker A: I'm in, I'm in. [00:48:39] Speaker B: I'll split it. Yeah, there you go. [00:48:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, thank you, Eddie V. Yeah, man. Man. So, you know, you're brave opening a box too. I mean, well, Manny was standing back as us kind of notice that. [00:48:50] Speaker C: I did notice that he took a step back. Yeah. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm ready to take my chances with the troubled nation. You know, what's the worst that could happen? It's like I went and saw the volcano and people are like, aren't you afraid you're going to get blown up? And I was like, if I lose it by getting vaporized, In a volcano. I win. That's right. [00:49:13] Speaker B: Well, see, I think I'm more bombable than him. See, that's it. I'm more vulnerable. That's why. Yeah. I could see anytime there's a package. [00:49:21] Speaker C: I mean, I just met you, but I could see. [00:49:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. [00:49:25] Speaker A: All right, well. Well, thank you, Eddie V. And, you know, take Eddie V. As an inspiration. And, you know, you don't have to send it to the bar, although you. You can. But, yes, use those PayPal and Venmo links also. [00:49:40] Speaker B: But it's nice having a surprise every once in a while. [00:49:43] Speaker A: It's lovely. It's so nice. You know, we. We. You know, getting mail at the Borrow. I. I've said this before. Always reminds me of, like, Charles Bukowski, you know, it's like that's. It's just where I want to be. That's so. Yes. The trouble. [00:49:56] Speaker C: Listen, like Earl King doing business in the donut shop. [00:49:59] Speaker A: That's right. [00:50:00] Speaker C: Same kind of. [00:50:01] Speaker A: Very, very much the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, we have in the show notes, we have the Troublemen podcast T shirts that you can purchase. Also, follow us on social media, Instagram, Facebook, and rate. Review and subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening to it. Give us five stars. Helps us a lot. Cost you nothing. And I will mention that I've mentioned already the Iguanas Carousel bar thing has been extended through September. So keep that in mind. And I'll be out on the road with. [00:50:33] Speaker C: Where do you play in there now? [00:50:35] Speaker A: It's. It's, you know, in the. They have kind of a long room that comes off of the carousel and a stage back there and a picture. [00:50:43] Speaker C: It's been a minute. [00:50:43] Speaker A: Yeah, well, come. Come on down. You can see it for yourself. [00:50:46] Speaker C: I will come down. [00:50:46] Speaker A: No cover charge. [00:50:48] Speaker C: No, I'm gonna come down. It's every Sunday, right? [00:50:50] Speaker A: Every Sunday, yeah. We will be missing a couple across the summer because we have some other dates, prior obligations, but we'll be making most of them. We're definitely there next couple of weeks. All right, that's enough of that. Back to our guest, Mr. Billy Iuso. You're playing a lot at Wetlands. You're rubbing elbows with all these touring bands. You're doing tours with them. You meet the Funky Meters. George and Art Tramps in New York was the first Tramps. Okay. The Iguanas played Tramps a lot. That guy, that. He was a big fan of New Orleans music. [00:51:29] Speaker C: Steve something or other. [00:51:30] Speaker A: Yeah, he was, like, foreign or Australian or something. Or English or something. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you wind up doing opening dates for Funky Meters. And they say, well, you should move to New Orleans. [00:51:42] Speaker C: I would show up with a different drummer all the time. Time. Because, you know, the. I was living in Athens, Georgia, I guess, at that point. Yeah, I left that out. But we had relocated to Athens, Georgia, because we were playing in the Southeast. So much so. [00:51:56] Speaker A: Huh. Okay. How'd you like that? [00:51:59] Speaker C: It was cool. Yeah, it was a fun little spot. You know, I feel like I aged out of it pretty quick. [00:52:04] Speaker A: Yeah, but. [00:52:05] Speaker C: But it was fun at the time. Right, but so we would have. I would just have like, there was like one funk drummer that was doing the stuff that we were could do, you know. And so every time I showed up, it would be a different drummer and they'd be like, finally, like, you should just move to New Orleans. [00:52:22] Speaker A: We got lots of drummers on every block. [00:52:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:25] Speaker A: Play the song. [00:52:26] Speaker C: So, you know, that's where my friendship with Russell. [00:52:30] Speaker A: Russell Batiste. [00:52:31] Speaker C: Yeah, Russell Batiste. And that was really. Russell was my gateway in. I was friends with George and Art, but they were bigger stars. So with home life and, you know, you know, they weren't out ripping and running. [00:52:42] Speaker A: Russell would hang out. [00:52:43] Speaker C: Russell would hang. So the first place I slept in New Orleans was on Russell's couch for about three weeks. An apartment. And he was the guy that said, you know, like, walk through the side door. Tip Tina's, you're a player. Come on. You know. And he taught me, you know, that. [00:52:59] Speaker A: Type of attitude all the ropes and introduced you to everybody in the city. [00:53:04] Speaker C: I'm sure you got it. And some, you know, some. Maybe we shouldn't have been introduced for better or worse, but yeah, Carlo. Oh, yeah, I knew Carlos. [00:53:15] Speaker A: I'm sure you were here at Snake and Jake's plenty during that time. [00:53:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:53:19] Speaker A: Probably hang out with. With Michael Ward and June Yamagishi and. [00:53:24] Speaker C: I met Michael and June in here. Yeah. And, you know, I remember Naked Night. [00:53:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. It's come up before. [00:53:31] Speaker C: And you know, at the. At my end of my career at Snake and Jake's, because I haven't been in here in a while, it was a half beer limit. Once I finished half the beer, it was like, okay, time to go before anything got real sideways because I just, you know, at that point, that's where I was at. You know, I wasn't coming in here until 4 in the morning anyway, so. [00:53:50] Speaker A: 300, right? Right. Yeah. So. So you moved to New Orleans now that's the first time that you and I meet. [00:53:57] Speaker C: Pretty much around that Time probably a year or two after I got here. I got here in 96. So January 96. [00:54:03] Speaker A: I think I might have met you within a couple of months of you get. Oh, well, no, maybe it was longer because when I first met you, it was the sky. This guy, Ray Harney lived across the street from me. He bought his house about the same time I bought mine, maybe a little bit later, but. But we were about the same age, friends. And I was over there for some reason. He had two other friends there and introduces me to him. I think we were smoking a joint or something. And it was you and Joe Sherman. [00:54:32] Speaker C: Probably bass player at the time I had. And he lived over on Panola. He was friends with Ray. [00:54:38] Speaker A: But you were telling me. I remember the conversation you were saying, oh yeah, you have this band, Brides of Jesus. Yeah. Where you have this record George Porter plays on some of it, you know, and talk about that time. You're. You're in New Orleans. You're. You're meeting all these guys. [00:54:51] Speaker C: The scene was tighter and smaller in a way. And. [00:54:56] Speaker A: And didn't have so many people from out of town. It was before. [00:54:58] Speaker C: Very much so. And. And I. I was probably one of the first in that I wasn't in that wave that came in later. But I mean, I was one. I was a new guy in town and. [00:55:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:55:08] Speaker C: But my only friends were Neville's Porters and Batiste. So I got a lot of stuff and I got a lot of opportunities and I think that might have. Yeah. I'm sure that, you know, it would bother me too if I had been here working the ropes and this comes into town and, you know, got the red carpet rolled out and not that it was. It was a dirty gray carpet. [00:55:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:55:31] Speaker C: Let's. Let's face it. [00:55:32] Speaker A: So. [00:55:34] Speaker C: But you know, so. So, you know, I learned from that aspect. But, you know, New Orleans is a place you really. You know, I've been here now 30 years. So I mean, I'm. I'm. I'm here. So it's me. [00:55:47] Speaker A: Yes. [00:55:47] Speaker C: But when I first got here, you know, just waiting in the grocery store line while the lady talks to the lady in front. And you know, and I'm from New York. I'm fast moving. [00:55:56] Speaker A: Hurry, move, move. [00:55:57] Speaker B: I know I had that problem today. [00:55:59] Speaker C: Calm down, baby. You know. [00:56:00] Speaker A: Right, right, right. [00:56:01] Speaker C: So there's. [00:56:02] Speaker A: Take some getting used to. It's a learning curve. [00:56:04] Speaker C: And it takes a longer than you think. You might join the hottest band in town, come here and think you are New Orleans. But New Orleans is Going to show you that you are not New Orleans until you're ready to be New Orleans, right? So I've been here long enough. I'm New Orleans. So, you know, and I learned some the hard way and some the easy way. [00:56:24] Speaker A: Now, when that thing that you just mentioned of people taking the time and the grocery go, how are you? And you go, I'm good. How are you? You got to say it back to him. It's just, you know, this is not like. You're not just saying that to me because it's your job. You're saying it to me because we're having a social interaction here. And if you don't want to have a social interaction with me, you're going to look at me like I'm fucking asshole. Because why? Why? You don't have time to ask how I'm doing. Now, when you. You do that, don't you feel your blood pressure drop and everything get more groovy and relaxed, you know? And I agree. [00:57:01] Speaker C: Yeah, it's. [00:57:02] Speaker A: It really is a blessing. [00:57:03] Speaker C: It is. And I've. I've. That leads me to, like, now when I go back to New York, I'll be in a bodega grabbing something. I'll be like, hey, man, how's it going? The guy just looks at me like, don't talk to me. [00:57:14] Speaker A: Right? [00:57:15] Speaker C: So it goes, you know, it goes both ways. [00:57:17] Speaker A: But right now, I had to. I've been in New York and, you know, I'm sitting with a friend from. That lives up there, you know, and the waitress is giving you something, and you need something. Sweetheart, could you get me this? And she go, oh, yeah, yeah, sure. And then the person goes, did you just call her sweetheart? [00:57:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Or darling? [00:57:36] Speaker A: And I said, yeah. And she's like, I can't believe you did that. And I said, look, she didn't bat an eye because she could see where I was coming from. You know, it's like. It's the way you feel it, you know, it's like, I wasn't trying to make a thing about this. This is just, you know. [00:57:48] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. [00:57:49] Speaker A: It's really intention. People can tell it with. Without a lot of explanation. [00:57:53] Speaker C: I agree. I agree. And there's. And then, you know, that New Orleans is filled with that and took some time to get used to. There's a lot of things that took time to get used to here. I mean, you know, my first summer here was, you know, and they don't change. I mean, as soon as June comes, you just feel like, all right, well, I Guess I go get a beer and sit on the porch, you know. [00:58:12] Speaker A: And you always forget how hot it actually is going to feel. [00:58:15] Speaker C: Yeah, you do. You do. [00:58:18] Speaker A: Until the year comes around. Like, God, this. Was it this hot last year? Yeah, but, you know, yet we endure. So. So you move here and. But so you're. You're still in with all these guys, you know, George and, and, and, and the Funky Meters and all. So you, you wind up going out as a road manager. Stage manager for George and the Nevilles and Funky Meters. [00:58:42] Speaker C: Yeah, as Brides of Jesus. I kind of. Towards the end, it was just me, you know, and even though I was the sole songwriter, it just was. It was supposed to be a band and it just kind of splintered to the point where it wasn't working anymore. And I felt like I was just holding it together. So I stopped. And at that time, George just brought up, hey, would you like to come work for me? And I said, well, shit, you know, here's a great opportunity, you know, like, just to be over the shoulders of these guys, you know. So I did that and I got real comfortable doing that, you know, it was. It was easy for me. I was used to running a band on a shoestring budget with a van and putting everything together, and all of a sudden now I have a team to work with and I have to focus on one job. So. Was good at it. So. [00:59:29] Speaker A: Yeah. And you were saying John Grow was in, In George's band. [00:59:32] Speaker C: He was in Running Partners at the time. It was one of the bigger bands with Mullins and all those guys. [00:59:37] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:59:37] Speaker C: Mark Mullins, Russell and Tracy Griffin and all those guys. Yeah. And Funky Meters I started with right after Leo left. So it was Brian Stoltz. [00:59:48] Speaker A: Brian Stoltz. [00:59:48] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was. That was great. And this is in the time when they were like 2000 and when they were playing a lot, you know. And then when I was working for all three of them, I would come home from one, go out with the other, come back and go out with the other. So it was. [01:00:02] Speaker A: You must have been doing like 290 days a year on the road. [01:00:06] Speaker C: I was. And I was finding myself as an artist. I pretty much had forgotten I was an artist at that point, really, because I was just focusing on this job. And so my. My artist self, my rocks off guy, had to start either snorting below or chasing women or doing something. [01:00:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:27] Speaker C: Like, so that's. [01:00:30] Speaker B: He did both. [01:00:30] Speaker C: So I. I mean, don't they go hand in hand? You don't really, do you not do both? I mean. [01:00:37] Speaker B: No, you gotta add the heroin. [01:00:39] Speaker C: Well, I don't know. We didn't go there, but. And then halfway into that, I just kind of said, you know, I, I, I think I'm going to go back to playing music because that's really what I wanted to do from day one. Anyway, I found that other job easy and it was a great opportunity. Working with those guys was a blessing. We did an epic Neville Brothers run one summer. You know, that was, you know, two months, you know, just. [01:01:01] Speaker B: Was Aaron on these tours? [01:01:03] Speaker C: Yes, he was. Yeah. It was the whole, it was. [01:01:06] Speaker B: God, I can't stand. [01:01:07] Speaker A: Manny's the only person in the universe who doesn't like Aaron Neville singing. [01:01:12] Speaker B: I cannot stand that singing. [01:01:14] Speaker C: Well, you know, that's, that's, that's, everybody can have their opinion on that. But if you talk to him, you'll, you might like his singing. [01:01:22] Speaker B: Yeah, but I probably, if I talk to him face to face, I couldn't stop looking at that thing on his forehead, you know, what is that? I don't know, the map of the Ukraine or something. What the is that? [01:01:35] Speaker A: It's a Gorbachev callback. All right. [01:01:39] Speaker B: Or is that the map of Jefferson Parish on his forehead? [01:01:42] Speaker C: Well, I don't think it's Jefferson. Maybe the 13th Ward. [01:01:44] Speaker A: There you go. [01:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go. No, I just, I don't like it. [01:01:48] Speaker A: Anyway, sorry, moving on. [01:01:50] Speaker B: He'll cut. [01:01:51] Speaker A: Well, that, you know, that's a phone cut. [01:01:53] Speaker C: This, the Neville Brothers thing was a unique thing because it was like, you know, there we'd play a hippie festival and it would be like straight up, you know, funk and Cyril and, and that whole front. And then the next show would be at a casino with, you know, 65 year old women smoking cigarettes and playing slot machines. And then it would be all Aaron's material, you know. [01:02:13] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [01:02:14] Speaker C: So it was a really, you know, weird time to, you know, to balance that. But they, you know, they did it with grace and they were, that band would always wipe clear everybody off the stage. Yeah, they were just phenomenal. [01:02:27] Speaker A: They have so many different things they can do and do it in such a unique way that. Yeah, it's like you don't even know how to, like how to evaluate it except that this is just overwhelmingly great. [01:02:42] Speaker C: It was great. It was great. And you know, we had the two tour buses and one was Willie and Cyril and the rest of us, and then the, the quiet bus with Aaron and Art and Charlie up front with the tour manager and stuff. So you had your party bus and you had your. [01:02:55] Speaker A: Okay. [01:02:55] Speaker C: If you needed to get some rest, you could go sleep on the other bus for a while. And it was. [01:02:59] Speaker A: Every fourth day you go sleep on Aaron's bus. [01:03:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:02] Speaker A: Okay. [01:03:02] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. [01:03:03] Speaker A: That's pretty luxurious. [01:03:04] Speaker C: Yeah, it was fun at the time, for sure. [01:03:06] Speaker A: Well, so at some point, you. You hook up with Anders Osborne. [01:03:10] Speaker C: Yeah, that was just. I've. I've been parallel with Anders for my whole career. Like, I'd play a place in New York and people would be like, anders was here last night, or, you know, it was like that type of relationship. And we did a couple bills together in the 90s with brides of Jesus, but we never hung out. Like, he was deep in his world back when he was, you know, using and, you know, until he got clean. And then we. I sat in with him. I guess I was sharing a manager at the time. I guess I was with Ruben at the time. [01:03:40] Speaker A: Okay. [01:03:41] Speaker C: And Andrews invited me to sit in one night, and then I sat in it to Patina's, and then he said, would you like to do the rest of the tour? And so that was. And that was it. And it was pretty cool on stage. We really clicked, you know, we had a. You know how it is when you have something that just works musically. [01:03:57] Speaker A: Sure. [01:03:57] Speaker C: Doesn't matter what happens anywhere else. It's just when you're there, it's like, wow, this is fun. [01:04:02] Speaker A: So. [01:04:02] Speaker C: And that's the way it felt. [01:04:03] Speaker A: It's magic. [01:04:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:04:04] Speaker A: Really? Yeah. It's a magic trick, you know, because. Because you can't explain it any other way. [01:04:09] Speaker C: No. And Anders is a super talented. I mean, the guy can write some amazing songs and his energy and stuff. He has a special quality. And I did. I was on two of his records, too, and to watch him work in the studio was really incredible. He's. He just hears that. I'm just like, where is he hearing this? You know, But. [01:04:29] Speaker A: And then also during this time, you. You hook up with the Wild Magnolias, and you wind up being in the back of the band for those guys. Now that has got to be. I don't know if it was blowing your mind, but it should have been. I'm sure it. [01:04:43] Speaker C: Yeah. Because it was. It was, you know, Big Chief. Bo was still around. [01:04:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:46] Speaker C: It was kind of his last. [01:04:48] Speaker B: Yes. [01:04:48] Speaker C: His last run. Last few years of him performing. I was with him and then as Little Bo was transitioning and. Yeah, it was pretty amazing. I find the Indian music. I'm not a virtuoso. Guitar player. I'm a groove. I've taught myself. I didn't go to music school. I. You know, I didn't know what pentatonic was until halfway into my career. [01:05:09] Speaker A: You know, you've been playing them for years. [01:05:10] Speaker C: Yes. [01:05:11] Speaker A: You didn't know what they were called? [01:05:13] Speaker C: Yeah, no. It's all out of just feel. So to do the Indian music was good for me. You know, it was like, wow, I could do this. I got time and groove and trance music. Just sit in that pocket. So it was a lot of fun. Yeah, that was cool. It's the. But the Indian world to play in is very unique. [01:05:33] Speaker B: No, you're talking Native American Indian. [01:05:36] Speaker C: Mardi Gras Indian. [01:05:37] Speaker B: Oh, Mardi Gras black masking Indian. Yes. [01:05:42] Speaker C: I just always felt that, like, I'm in the band. Just keep that in mind. And I'm playing the music. I have nothing to do with the street. [01:05:49] Speaker A: And it's separate politics. [01:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah. And, you know, people don't separate that. [01:05:53] Speaker B: But. [01:05:53] Speaker C: But there's a difference between a performing Mardi Gras Indian and the ones on the street. [01:05:57] Speaker A: Sure. [01:05:57] Speaker C: You know, not that all of them can't do it in some way or form. I'm just saying that there are certain ones that turn it into an entertainment source. And Bo Dallas was the king of that. I mean, he was. And that was, I guess, Quint and all them putting it all together. [01:06:11] Speaker A: You know, I gotta say, it's a good opportunity to bring up about Quint. You know, he's known for doing so many things like Jazz Fest, obviously. Obviously. The most obvious one. There's about five things about Quint. If he had just done that, he would be a giant. If he was just Professor Longhair's manager and doing all that. If he just invented electrified Mardi Gras Indian music, if all he did was pair Willie T. And a New Orleans electric funk band with Mardi Gras Indians, you know, that. That would have been truly some of. [01:06:47] Speaker C: The most magical music to ever come out. [01:06:49] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [01:06:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Those couple two albums are just like, you know, created a whole genre, the bass line. So I know as a bass player, I mean, man. [01:06:57] Speaker A: I mean, just. [01:06:58] Speaker C: Is that Julius Farmer, Right? [01:07:00] Speaker A: Yeah, probably so. [01:07:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:07:02] Speaker A: So like a Jun Yamagishi. You must feel. [01:07:06] Speaker C: Well, I stepped in after him. That was hard. [01:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:07:09] Speaker C: You know. You know, and then I realized, you know what? And I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin. I mean, I'm. I'm. You know, there was a time I started as a rhythm guitar player. I only picked up lead because I couldn't stand lead guitar players, so I just started and BB I opened for BB King in Providence, Rhode island, as a kid, and he told me, get a good sounding amp and hold a note and if it sounds wrong, slide up a fret. [01:07:29] Speaker A: Right. [01:07:30] Speaker C: Doing that my whole career. So good advice. So, you know, that's. That's kind of where I'm at with that. And so, you know, I just realized that I just got to do what I got to do on it. And I just, you know, listened to the records and we came up with a good version of what we were doing. But, man, you know, it was. It was hard to see Beau. He could no longer perform at, you know, a full show and. But I got to do, like, the Kennedy center with them and stuff like that. It was amazing. [01:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. [01:07:56] Speaker C: Really fun. Really good times. [01:07:58] Speaker A: Well, so get. Getting into, you know, something more recent. We're kind of on the downslope of the podcast. We always take the. In our most recent shows. [01:08:06] Speaker C: Well, I ain't done in the last few years anyway. [01:08:08] Speaker A: Well, no, I just want to talk about. About, you know, your. Your current band. You have, like, in. In your. Your current Billy I I USO band, you have a bunch of real faves of mine. You have Reggie Scanlon, the great Reggie Scanlon, who play with everybody from Professor Longhair, James Booker, of course, the Radiators for a long career. But Reggie's still a monster. He's been your. Your bass player and not only your. Your regular band, but the Iko All Stars, which is a New Orleans group that plays all Grateful Dead music. [01:08:42] Speaker C: Right. [01:08:43] Speaker A: But you have Reggie. Have the great Eddie Christmas. [01:08:46] Speaker C: Yep. [01:08:46] Speaker A: Who I still have to get on the show. When the show started. [01:08:49] Speaker C: Oh, he'll come on. [01:08:51] Speaker A: Eddie was like, renee, we got to do something. I thought he meant we got to play a gig. I was like, yeah, it sounds great, man. At some point I started thinking, does he mean he wants to come on the show? I don't know, but I'd love to. [01:09:01] Speaker C: Have come on now. [01:09:02] Speaker A: I know, I know eddie has like 20 jobs a week. [01:09:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:09:07] Speaker A: So I don't know what. What days he's going to take off to come on the show. [01:09:11] Speaker C: He'll do it. He'll want to do it. If he wants to do it, he'll do it. [01:09:13] Speaker A: All right. Okay. [01:09:14] Speaker C: Those guys are. I mean, if you see me on a gig, it's usually Eddie and Reggie with me. No matter what ca. When I'm doing. Doing my Dylan tribute, it's the same thing. [01:09:22] Speaker A: So you can't go wrong with those guys. [01:09:24] Speaker C: No. [01:09:25] Speaker A: And, yeah, you've had. Recently, you've had Joe Ashler in your band. [01:09:28] Speaker C: Joe has been tremendous. [01:09:29] Speaker A: I'd love to get him on the. On the. The podcast. I know he can talk. I don't want to put him in a uncomfortable situation, but I've had some conversations with Joe that last forever. [01:09:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:09:43] Speaker A: So. [01:09:43] Speaker C: And I have some young guys, you know, I have Thiago guys. Guy on second guitar. [01:09:47] Speaker A: Love that guy, man. [01:09:48] Speaker C: Yeah, he's fantastic songwriter. And his wife, Renee Grow and Whitney Mixon and Chloe Marie, our backup vocals, Sari Jordan. I added backup vocals in the last few years. [01:09:59] Speaker A: Okay. [01:10:00] Speaker C: To kind of ease myself of that weight. [01:10:02] Speaker A: Right. [01:10:03] Speaker C: And it's been wonderful. It's been opening the door to new music and. [01:10:06] Speaker B: So where can we see you? [01:10:08] Speaker C: Well, at my house right now. No, I mostly play in town. When I'm in town, it's usually Tipitinas or the Broadside. Those are the two venues. Now, I'm not going to say I don't work other places, but those are the steadies for me. [01:10:21] Speaker A: Well, you know, the club scene has changed so much in the last five, four or five years in New Orleans. There was all these clubs that bands like the Iguanas or other bands I play in, probably your band as well, would play these places on Frenchman Street. Those places have turned over now. They're not really hip to what we do, you know. Now they. They have, like, bands that appeal to tourists more, you know, I went into one of them. I won't name the club, but I went in and I was playing there, and I went up to the bar and I was getting my regular, you know, Stoli soda. And I said to the guy, I said, you guys got hand grenades here? And he goes, no, man, I said, but it won't be long, will it? And he just shook his head like, fuck you, man. He knew I was right. [01:11:07] Speaker C: He knows you're right. Yeah, that scene. I went down there recently, it had been a few years, because I don't work down there too often, and I went down there to see somebody and I barely recognized it. It was really the. Even just the street people are different. The street people used to be people going to see music. Now it's just street people. [01:11:28] Speaker A: Like Bourbon street people. [01:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah, it. It. It's. It's. You know, there's less. There's less working ground for the. For the bands, for sure. [01:11:36] Speaker A: Nothing stays the same, Billy. It never does. Times change, people change. You just, you know, it's. It's part of life, right? [01:11:42] Speaker C: No, I feel it. I mean, you know, I'm. I'm in my mid-50s. I'm. I'm getting to understand the world a little better and, you know, well, listen, nothing. [01:11:52] Speaker B: Yeah, like I said, that lasts forever. Your time's over. Over after a while. [01:11:55] Speaker C: I mean, I'm pretty much close. Yeah, I feel that. I feel that now. It's knocking on the door. [01:12:00] Speaker B: You can only play so many Geralto festivals and stuff. [01:12:05] Speaker C: These camping festivals now. Like, I mean, there's. There's no camping anymore in my life, you know, I mean, like, there's. There's no camping, you know. Well, we got a great festival for you to play, and there's great camping. It's like, no, man. [01:12:15] Speaker A: Where's the room where I turn the air conditioning on? [01:12:18] Speaker B: Camp. Exactly. [01:12:19] Speaker A: And sleeping. Some clean sheets. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:12:22] Speaker C: Or even slightly dirty sheets. [01:12:25] Speaker B: Done with that. [01:12:27] Speaker A: Well, you and I. But before the podcast started, we were talking about touring these days, and you were saying how, you know, the fees have stayed the same, but all the expenses have gone up. And you're saying at this point, like, we, you know, we don't want to share rooms anymore. I was like, no, we're not. Not going to share room with a grown man. [01:12:44] Speaker C: No. Or the, The. The band house. I mean. No, thank you. You know. [01:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:12:49] Speaker C: You know, I mean, there's certain houses, don't get me wrong, in some of the places that work, but, you know, the. The quintessential band house, the one bathroom. [01:12:56] Speaker A: You know, even an Airbnb is. Is pushing it for me. [01:12:59] Speaker C: It might be pushing it. [01:13:00] Speaker A: Yeah. If I get up in the middle of the night and that bathroom's occupied, it's going to be a problem. [01:13:06] Speaker C: There's a. There's a part in. When you're looking on the Airbnb where you can select two bathrooms. [01:13:12] Speaker B: Well, I remember when I was touring, we used to take bedpans with us. [01:13:18] Speaker A: That is back in World War I. [01:13:20] Speaker B: That was back in the 90s. [01:13:22] Speaker A: Okay. [01:13:22] Speaker C: Well, you know, we're going backwards in many ways in this country, so, like, you know, maybe that's how we have to tour again. Bed pants. [01:13:28] Speaker A: Now. Now. You know, there's an innovation that I've said on the. On the show before back, you know, relating to those days of touring, which is. Is that you always have paper towels with you. Because when you stay at somebody's house and you go to take a shower and you say, do you have a towel? And they go, yeah, you can use this one. And you can see the mildew on it already. Turns out with 15 paper towels that. [01:13:55] Speaker C: You can dry off. [01:13:56] Speaker A: Dry yourself completely dry your hair. Brand spanking clean. It's. It's a thing, man. [01:14:04] Speaker C: Okay. I'm gonna try that when I get home. [01:14:05] Speaker A: Check it out, man. [01:14:07] Speaker B: I've been there with this. [01:14:09] Speaker A: Anyway. Well, yeah, I guess we're gonna wrap it up here, Billy. So, so fun, man. [01:14:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you for having me. [01:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Everybody, check out the Iko All Stars. You know, another great band you have. You still have Eddie Christmas and. And. Or even. Is he. Or. [01:14:29] Speaker C: Yeah, no, Eddie's. [01:14:30] Speaker A: Eddie. [01:14:30] Speaker C: Eddie and Deadhead Ed, we call him. [01:14:34] Speaker A: That's hilarious. [01:14:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:35] Speaker A: And Reggie Scanlon, you have kind of a rotating. [01:14:38] Speaker C: Well, Mike Fuquay is on drums. Second drums. Okay. [01:14:42] Speaker B: You have two drums. [01:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah, we mimic the Dead. You gotta do it like. [01:14:45] Speaker A: Wow. Okay, okay. [01:14:47] Speaker C: And then we. It's usually CR Groover on keyboards. [01:14:49] Speaker A: I love cr. [01:14:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:50] Speaker A: That's a guy. You don't have to say a word to. To him. Just tell him what the chord is. And throughout the entire song, he does exactly what you would want him to do. [01:15:01] Speaker C: He's a great player. [01:15:02] Speaker A: And not. I mean, I haven't said two words to the guy as far as, like, what you should do. Don't do that. Do this. [01:15:09] Speaker B: Is he deaf? [01:15:11] Speaker A: No, no, it's just. Just really sensitive dude. [01:15:14] Speaker C: And Mike Doosan has been playing the. [01:15:16] Speaker A: Mike Doosan, a former guest of ours. I love West Bank Mike. [01:15:19] Speaker C: West Bank Mike. [01:15:20] Speaker A: The only thing I don't like about is the. The bare feet. I don't care for that. [01:15:23] Speaker C: I don't either. And. And I keep telling them, I'm like, there's. There's. Somewhere in your future there's going to be a staff infection or something. I mean, there's just no way you can stand on all those stages and you don't know who is here the night before. [01:15:36] Speaker A: I just don't want to see it. I don't want to see any Mantos on. On stage. [01:15:39] Speaker C: Oh, that's okay. I'm sorry. [01:15:41] Speaker A: This is for. [01:15:42] Speaker C: For me. I've known Mike. Mike and I have been playing together a lot. Long time. So, yeah, I guess I'm used to his Manto. [01:15:47] Speaker A: No, I love that guy. I'm just saying it's something I. I know is a thing with him. [01:15:52] Speaker C: It is. [01:15:53] Speaker A: Anyway, I guess we'll wrap it up here. All right, Billy, thank you so much, man. [01:15:57] Speaker C: Thank you. [01:15:58] Speaker A: Kick. And as always on the Troubleman podcast, we like to say trouble never ends. [01:16:03] Speaker B: But Billy, the struggle always continues. Good night. [01:16:06] Speaker A: Good night. Sa. Sa.