Hello, my fellow passengers. This is Taylor Lawong, your dad, along with the boy, the co host, and the host the Wolf, Will Compton. Well, how are you doing today?
I'm doing good.
What's up my puppies, My little wolf pups, little wolf pups out there. Just a couple of guys trying to force feed you some content, so you buy into it, puppies, passengers. We got a couple of things through the day. The boy get on the bus, so we did get the lace cross and everything. So got a very cool podcast for you guys today. A guy named Butch Spiriton. You might have heard that name. You mighty think of yourself.
I don't really know what are they talking about. Just think of everything in Nashville it's ever happened since nineteen ninety one. This man is the reason why it's happened. Very responsible for the Tennessee Titans coming to Nashville, responsible for the for the Predators coming, hard Rock Cafe, the Fourth of July parties, the New Year's Eve parties, and most City, Yeah Music City, and most recently the NFL Draft. He was a major part of putting the draft into Nashville.
So it's a very cool, very informative podcast, and to be honest with you, I've known Butcher for about five years going into our six year of knowing each other, and he's an unbelievable person who works with honesty and integrity and has definitely turned the city into city to a city. These guys made it special.
And it's trajectory is only going up.
Dude, I was I was skeptical at first, not skeptical like I knew we'd get all some insight.
But the dude is a freaking boy.
Man. Like he's he's cursing, he's raising some hell, like he's he's being himself.
Dude, He's just he's just handing out T shirts and Butcher slapping some food.
That was hilarious when he brought that up, but man, it really is.
It was an insightful podcast, man, like a lot of cool shit you learned.
About, and he kept it.
He kept going with some enthusiasm, had some fun with us, and you know, I sat here and got a history lesson in Nashville and some hilarious stories about him Butcher slapping everybody around and make shit happen.
Dude. He Butcher let me once. Not proud of it, but I became a better man. For it's without further ado.
Who woa, whoa whoa woh oh who wha wha wha woo whoa.
Hey called call to action, little premature story of my life.
Yeah, hey, we gotta get everybody to follow.
Oh that's right, Busting with the Boys.
Ah allow us today.
Follow us on social media at busting w tb our site, busting wtb dot com YouTube channel, go hit subscribe, follow our stuff great content that is Busting with the Boys and our Facebook pages Busting with the Boys. Haven't. I'm gonna be honest, I haven't even been on the Facebook.
I don't have Facebook. I don't have Facebook. But if you do have Facebook, go ahead follow us or friend us or what however that works. But look at me.
Go ahead, follow us, my puppies, go.
Ahead follow us five stars. Subscribe Why because it just helps our podcast keep moving if you enjoy it and you want to hear more. Gotta pay for this bus, dude, all right, this thing is turning into a merging maple syrup conglomerate. Dude. We got to pay the taxes on this thing.
We are in the red right now, and everybody out there they want the bus to be rolling and mobile. You want to go around and stuff in Nashville. And you guys all Busting with the Boys and some events. So throw some beer down, you know, be with the boys, like, we gotta get this thing rolling.
Ye we're in the red, Yes, we're in the red. We're selling zeros, We're selling Zero's Baby. We got no money in this thing right now except for our own. And I'm just saying you don't have to donate because it's saying a charity event, but I would like you to subscribe and do five stars. And you might be thinking, man, these guys are really putting a push on for this thing.
Save that opinion, Put it in your pocket, stuff it deep down, write it on a piece of paper, put it in a shredder, and then throw it in the river, baby, and then fish it out because you don't want to Pluto rivers. And that's a bad thing to do. You see what happens at Busting with the Boys. We care about the environment, and we care about the earth. And if you care about the earth, you care about Busting with the Boys. Five Stars. Subscribe, Let's go, my babies,
sc hey run the hook. But spirit and babies, Let's do it. My molmost flat as a door. Though growing up, my old man didn't have a big chest either.
You made up for it.
Yeah, dude, I can just just a big dude. I don't know I figured it out.
I think it was last weekend. I kind of went. I was just thinking about the draft, Titan draft. Yeah, and you're still struggling with all right. I love the Simmons pick, but first round pick, they can't play. Yeah, it's like scratch your head and thene Just the other day I went, did they think they could do that? Because they had picked up Cam and can He's only got one or two years left, so you got a placeholder to grab what should have been a top ten pick,
top five. Yeah, if he's not going to play, why would you waste that? Except I don't know if that makes sense. That's a question.
No.
I definitely get. I definitely get what you're saying. Were rolling right now? Are we just chilling? All right? So this can maybe make it in the podcast? Who knows? I don't so. First off, I'm not a GM by any means, but I do and I do think John Robinson there's a method to everything that he does totally agree. But I think that when you have a guy like Jeffrey Simmons, who what I've been told by experts just from reading, like everybody else, the guy was a surefire
top five pick and gets hurt. And I don't know if it was an ACL. I don't even know what he had a TOURNEYCL. So if he had a torny a CL that ain't like the nineties or even the early two thousands anymore. That's a you'd come back in nine to ten months and you're solid. And I think I think the first thing that our team does is base guys off character, and I think the issues he had or whatever, and I don't know a lot about it.
I know that he's overcome a quite a bit of things, and people do make mistakes, and I think that John saw those things and saw this guy's a kind of a rare talent probably and could be special. And in our defensive line, I mean, you brought Cam Wake in, you got Harold Landry, who's get a second year and that jump from one to two is huge and three
two to three is usually better. And then you got Joe Casey Da Kwan Jones signed a new contract to Austin Johnson, Like, there's a lot of guys that are very good on that defensive line, and so when you that's kind of just like I feel like it's just
kind of padding the stats, you know. And then to have a guy like a J. Brown, who was, I believe everybody was the first wide receiver off the board kind of guy for him to fall in the second, I mean, I think I think that the Titans had a great had a great start.
You were asking about Cam, Yeah, just him.
He's a little bit of tread left. So it buys you the year while you're getting Simmons. Ye, that's kind of my.
And leader ship qualities, Like the dynamic of a locker room matters tremendously, and the Titans have a great locker room.
Uh.
That was last year with the titles, was probably my favorite locker room I've been in. When you lose guys like Brian A. Rackpo and Derek Morgan like veterans, vets in the locker room and at outside back a pass rushers, you know, Cam comes in and can he has those leadership qualities, has those intangibles.
He's been around the block.
They definitely do their homework on guys like Rabel is just not going to bring in any any sleptic.
That's it's this is.
The most this is the most organization I've seen since I've since I've been there.
They do a good job communicating from the top down, John Robinson, He's in every meeting, every squad meeting. Rabel is always communicating vision. He's always preaching the vision, whether it's the three keys of the game, the three things we're gonna get done during ot as, three things in the off season that we need to improve on, three
things in training camp, three change. He's constantly changing things, but at the same time he's painting at clear vision, clear expectations of what's going to happen, which that is. You know, that's huge for a team, for any organization.
I mean, I'm sure you know, dealing with big time rooms that you've been everybody done by in Yeah, it's over and you have to be clear in your expectations because even when shit hits the fan, you've got to follow in those fundamental values, those fundamental things that you're talking that you talk about and preaching.
The Titans do a really good job of that. They do a really good job.
Yeah, those guys, the consistency of leadership from the top bottom is really good. Like he said, great, Rabel comes in and our ota is we have three or four words that are consistent day in and day out, and he quizzes guys day in and day out on everything. And so people, when you're in those meeting rooms, you're in those team and he's, man, that's like, that's the most stressful part of our day.
Your asshole is tight, like.
You're waiting for you're waiting for able to say something like dude, just don't call him, and you lock eyes with him and you're like, fuck, it's on Dan. He's like, tylor what uh what do you think He'll go into whatever the question is. And you've got to be on man, because if he's got a time clock and if you don't get that answer in four five seconds, it's.
Like, yeah, let me go answer. Yeah, uh Jayon, help him out.
Yeah, And then's over there picking his nose.
Or you know the answer, and you just like you're just frozen.
Just.
Intimidating us. Hell, he's just so intense.
He's he's I think, okay, okay, yeah, like you got a ball, you know, I think the thing about Rabel, that's that plays off. That is one. He played in the league for so long, so he's done it. But his confidence he's got, he's got a lot of confidence. The way he talks. The wait, he's he's sure when he speaks, he's sure. There's there's no there's no wavering
or doubt. And then the message he's trying to get across, whether that's a basic conversation or that's you're talking about whatever it is you and him would him would talk about were they involved at all with the draft stuff?
Uh? That helped us when we were raising money. Both Robinson and Rabel showed up, came out. Steve Underwood broken on the administrators side, invaluable. Even Amy Amy Adam's trunk.
How was Amy the best dude?
She said, she'd come on the bus.
Yeah, your and your wife's a cool got hey, you get the hat right here?
Boys, ain't nobody that's the move.
Yeah, Tayling's car we got. Uh she had that Tesla and that thing. I didn't like them, but damn that car is something else?
Have you before? Yeah?
That's one right now, it's the best vehicle. You go home, you plug it in, you go to bed, you wake up. You never have touch a gas station ever again.
I'll tell you what. We had a little scare though that one night. Yeah, like what was it? How many miles left?
I had like two percent battery or something like that, and driving from here home. I was coming from here home and I started cruising over and I was like, I'm not going to make it. And we barely made it to the house. You little like kicked out on me as soon as I got in the garage.
Yeah, he calls me, He's like, hey, man, do you mind following me home? I don't know if I'm gonna make it.
Yeah, let's go. And we're on the highway.
What going like twenty miles an hour on the highway. Everybody's on their horns.
Nashville traffic anyway, man, Nashville traffic anyway. So what is your Chamber of Commerce? Like is that?
What is your the presidency of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation. So we have a contract with the city to do the sales and marketing to bring events, conventions, leisure, visitors, anything the Chamber doesn't do really. Uh so we trace the draft For example, we traced British air flying here started last year.
You're talking about that. We're going to get into that too. When it comes to the draft, what is that process? Like, so, does the NFL contact Nashville or now you just said we chase stuff like you guys go out on your side and try to get the draft to Nashville. Yes, that's how it happens. And is that is that stated with past events that have happened or how do you push?
Like, let me, I'll back up. So kind of we used events to think that's how we can He's Nashville up. So we were doing that pretty well, but on a medium scale and literally started looking around with draft makes sense for this time?
Let me let me sever there what we're qualified as a medium scale?
Yeah, what's a medium scale?
Because you've talked about the five year what was it the five year surge kind of Nashal when you're building the music city and then in sixteen you're like quoted saying, you know, we're kind of at the you know, we're kind of on the back end of that five year plan. But then twenty seventeen happens, and then that's when was that five year thing kind of a medium scale or like yeah, yeah.
Yeah, NHL All Star Game would really be medium Women's Final four. Medium didn't have the huge viewership or the huge payoff. But you build your track record, you build your experience. We produced all the pred parties watch parties for the Preds during the Stanley Cup.
Run unblievable, the downtown stuff.
Yeah, NFL or NHL, the irony. I get a call from the Prince Fire Marshall says, our plaz is to crowded. The league won't let us have a quote watch party. Would you help? I go, well, I don't work for the damn NHL. Call it whatever the hell we want. Yeah, we'll do it. We'll go across the street. So we threw a party and we go all right, this work at a screen so we would describe it as we fed the beast. Wasn't our idea, but we have enough sense to know what people like beer, music, sports, So
we always had music. We always had beer, and that's the crowd crew. We kept throwing up a screen. Then all soo, we go, oh shit, this big. So we moved into Broadway. Then we collided with CMA Music Fest and now it's a police Public Works Mayor's office. Preds CMA. We're all around the table going this is about to blow up. And HL is going, we don't do watch parties. It hurts our viewership. That's at the beginning. At the end, they're going, we do it again a concert? Could we
televise this? And then now they love watch parties. They call them watch parties and Edmundton, uh, Calgary like city's call and think about Canadian city calling redneck Nashville. I'm calling myself a redneck? Are not Nashville? And what'd you do? How'd you do that? I go, we fed the beast. We didn't do anything. We put it out there and let the public make it happen. And but round about story. On Game six of the Stanley Cup the next morning, I sent a picture to the NFL and said, we're
just practicing for you. We're waiting on you. And all that.
You said. When you say you said the NFL, that's a you said, it said Roger Goodell? That or who I said?
Peter O'Reilly, who is the was the senior v now his executive vice president over club business and all events. So Super Bowl, combine Pro Bowl, right anything off the field. This guy's in charge so email him. I same a picture and he goes, we're watching.
Yeah, but that's awesome.
Back in the twenty eleven, I called the Titans and said, let's go to New York. Huh, let's go see the NFL. I think we should ask them to move the draft. So think about I'm talking about eight years ago and they want we don't move the draft. You should it'd be big. And of course they patted me on the head. My way, right, Yeah, you were that.
You were one of the first people to say had this innings this Indians take a tour.
Could argue that we might have been the first to knock on their door and say we wanted And then I laugh. I go when they decided they took well, when they took it to Chicago, we were I want to bid. So Peter O'Reilly actually goes, we're going to Chicago, La, we're not bidding. I go, oh, I know, I want a bid, but I go, can I send you a proposal? He goes, we're gonna go to Chicago, LA, I use it against them. I don't give a shit. Yeah, let
me put Nashville in front of you. I said, Okay, it wasn't I didn't put a lot of work into it, but I send him my proposal.
Little blueprint is something. It is a quick little deal.
Think about us, and then we wanted to get it before they formalized the process. I missed that. Yeah, and that the RFP was a bitch as you can in the NFL. I mean they're serious. Yeah, it was hard. It was really hard.
So coming out of the draft. Okay, so you got the draft in Nashville, and I've seen comparisons on the service level of like you know, in social media and news about how well Nashville did compare to like Arlington, and the likes of oh we smacked him up, and Nashville has been the best. It was the best one.
So they got Butcher lap. I'm sorry, they got.
A shirt sped up that water the confidence.
Sorry they got Butcher slapped baby.
I don't normally do that, but I couldn't tell you that you love it.
You just you just swinging big right now. You got that biggest balls in this bus.
Manes slapped him up.
Man, So you did you expect it to be five hundred thousand plus people?
No, I would tell you incorrect. We told the NFL and with police and said, we do one hundred thousand a day. Easy. Yeah, so we thought three hundred thousand, and we were prepared for one hundred and fifty thousand a day, so we off the record with cops. We would go, we'll have one hundred and fifty. I said, at least Thursday night, probably with Tim McGraw on Friday night,
but let's use one hundred. Manage expectations exceed and then yeah, you know I've already said ship Ibout shipped myself firstday night, dude, how good. It was a good chip.
The smoothie didn't have to go back for second Friday morning.
He's taking that morning. Should like you.
Gotta be sitting there like I'm just a fucking stud.
Really lucky. Great. You know Citi's Police, Cities, public works, the stuff we did, the city did for the NFL. They go, we've never had a partner like this. And of course we brought well, Tim brought himself to the takeable, but we said we want music.
So when you so Fireworks two years ago or whatever, a year before the draft start, you called me and you wanted me to do THEO the video with Kings of Leon for the draft and I saw Tim McGraw and Eddie George do do a similar video. Did Tim put himself on the table around that time or was he like because you're your buddies with Tim right, I wasn't feel like I am.
Now.
Yeah, the media got when that we were bidding, we were gonna put we've been shortlisted, and all of a sudden, Tim's manager emails me out of the blun goes.
Said hey, if you get this, Tim wants in. So I'm like, wait a minute, Tim wants in. So first I asked could I use him to Could I say? He's on our host committee. So when we went into pitch, I went in and said, yeah, we got the mayor and the governor, and we've got Amy and Steve Underwood, but I have Kirk Hirstreet, Eddie George and Tim mccrath and the NFLF Taylor. There's a room of twenty staffers and they're gone. I said, we don't have a host committee, but if we did, here's who would be on it.
And they're looking at really, yeah, I'm not making this up. Uh. Then, when we knew we were going to get it, when I called you and the Kings and I called Eddie and Tim and said, would you do to the video because part of our stick was we're gonna have big names announcing this with you. We're gonna have more people know about it in the NFL. I got a good follow up story on that.
I didn't get the call.
So Tim, after he does the video, goes, I want to play.
Okay, Yeah, that's it, that's okay. Anything else, Tim, do you wanna do you want to play?
Oh?
You want to Okay?
So then I had to you know, in my head, I go, I don't have a ton of money. So the next day is agent calls me and says, Tim said, he talked to you. He's serious. He wants to play. Fine, okay, does he want a big play or a big pay If he needs a big payday, I'm probably not the guy. Yeah, but if he wants a big play, I'm all in. I'll take care of it. We'll cover expenses. And he wanted to play. He played for free. He deserves all.
He played for free.
And no other city's gonna get an a list act to come out.
No doubt. You know. Do you think La or something like that would get would be able to get an a list guy, because I think everyone lives there. But the thing is the thing that's interesting between there's New York, right, and there's La, and then people in New York and La. That's it. Everything else is just there's the plane you have to take to get to the next spot. But Nashville. The thing about Nashville that I think this city has that other cities don't have is a feeling of pride
and family. I listen to podcasts all the time. I listen to people talking They're like, man, get me the hell out of La, or I wish I didn't have to be here, but I have to be here for my job. Like people come to come to Nashville and it's like you want to be here, and it's and it's like I just think.
We help each other. Yeah, and it really it's a foreign concept, even to the NFL staffers. They were going, y'all are just different. I said, look, you know, we're not pushovers, we're not stupid, but we're gonna partner with you. You're not just coming in and doing your event and leave him. We're gonna be part of the event. And you start going, we'll a fireworks. You know, you need a house band. You need uh the part where I was going to say, you need to hyke this thing up.
So I said, we'll have thirteen fourteen artists post on social media. If you picked Nashville and you announced that, we'll get in they late one day, they go, we want this in writing. I went, what we want you to We want a letter and I'm just business. Yeah, I'm going I told you it's in our bit. What do you no? We'd like for you to spell it out. So I go, what damn, that's a different animal. If you're going to make me name everybody in a letter and put my signature on it, that means I have
to ask. And I so I woke up at five am one morning. I mean it woke me up. I'm going, shit, I don't have much time.
I got it right, make a decisions.
I'm going back to that conversation about a good ship code, and I'm texting managers and agents, gone, will you do this well? Keith, Urban do well, Kingsleigon, Dude, We're gonna have a message. Would you post this? Would you announce it? And I got fifteen yeses. That's awesome morning, And I put it in the letter. I told the NFL. You're talking me off.
How many people did you text?
Oh, by fifteen and then I got eighteen. When we did it, we had eighteen artists post. That's what ninety million impressions right, and the NFL is going. We never had anything like this. Yeah, you've never been to Nashville.
Nashal is always like the people here, they can't wait to have.
Something to root for, it get behind. It's like when the president's dying. Yeah, they're like they're flooding the streets of Broadway to watch do these watch parties like the musician, like the music industry, Like you just said, you come in here and you're getting, You're getting everybody.
Everybody's on board, dude.
Yeah, yeah, to your point about New York, everybody loves the town. Everybody's pulling for the town. I'm not asking for me. There's no nothing in it for me. Hey, would you help us announce? Hell? Yeah, they jump all in.
Uh.
Same thing happened with British Air. Yeah, you know British Air. Never they said one of the great comments, they go, we're not a very cool airline. We think maybe Nashville could help us with that.
They really said that said well, I remember the.
Head sales guy from North America said that.
I remember we were and it was like March, and it might have been either a few months or a year before, I don't know, but it was when it was when Megan Barry was the mayor and it was the three of us at that King of the Kings of liand concert, and you guys were talking about.
Oh yeah, they're coming.
Oh yeah, he was there. Yeah, that's I mean, you just you're making the city run. Well how did how did it all? So you got here a name in anyone and you you graduated from Vanderbilt, but I left, you.
Left, and then the job brought me back.
So how did you get the job?
I think because Vanderbilt was on my resume. Really, you know, we weren't much of a destination. It was all controlled by Opera land. That's not a bad thing, but so they wanted.
And that's was a music park.
Well there was a theme park, it was a TV network, a hotel, uh, the opry. So they just had That's kind.
Of what their economy was.
And then and then back in the nineties and even like the two thousands, Broadway was like a scummy kind of.
Area started turning.
Yeah, it was, it was, it was wasn't great the boot Barns. It was a lot of No, there was a lot of stuff going on there.
Yeah, when you came, there was no There's no Nissan Stadium, there's no Bridge Stone Arena, there was none of that stuff.
There was the Renaissance Hotel and the old Convention Center about it. I've been recruited and I'm embarrassed today, no offense. Like I recruited hard rock, but they were like less than ten in the world, and I wrote the CEO of letter. I'm like, I'm that guy that goes, why not we need something non country? So I wrote the CEO of hard rock a letter and said you should put one in Nashville. Yeah, everybody laughed. He wrote me back, he goes, I want to come, I want to come look,
And we became great friends. And when he figured out what Nashville had, he goes, yeah, we should do that.
How did you sell? How do you sell place like Nashville to him when it wasn't what Nashville is now? Because anybody I could sell Nashville that day right now?
Yeah, like, how do you actually get into the nuts and bolts of your hustle as far as making this city happen, because you're known as like the guy to create.
The city, the music city.
There's a lot of people involved, but you're one of the You're obviously one of the headliners.
Like what is I'm aw crazy person that'll go where nobody else is want. Nobody likes to fail. I don't like to fail, so they don't want to take chances. My boss, we were part of the Chamber of Commerce back then, and my boss goes, why are you going to write hard rock? I said, because all we got is country. We need something that we're going to promote music, and uh, just chase it and stay after it. Tell the truth, you know, be honest with and honest. It
is different than tell the truth. I think maybe from your soul. Just hammered away. This guy, Art Lovett was his name, and he said, I want to come out on the middle of the week when nothing's going on. I was easy because nothing was ever going on, and we ran around. He didn't drink. I took in the tutsis because he started talking about, Yeah, we think we can do this and we'll put you know, Dolly partner here or we'll put Charlie Danns what I got Dolly
and Charlie. I don't have Jimmy Hendrix, and you know with the Nashville side of rock. So we went to Tutsis and we're sitting down and I literally come with me. It's three o'clock in the afternoon. I get a beer, he gets a diet code and all of a sudden he's looking around and Tutsi's was just one level back then, yeah, and he goes, we can't do this, this is real.
That's it.
Thank you. Don't do what we do. Do what you do. Give me a stage book, live music that did in the country and you'll do well. It's still one of the top performing hard rocks in their system. And when they opened, if you've ever been in one, and like I said, there weren't very many on the back of the menu New York, London. They put Nashville on the back of every menu nationwide, and of course now there's too many of them now it's not cool, and yeah,
it's just a less than ten in the world. It was a stamp that's a Nashville does music.
Would you say? Would you say that was like the start of how National started to progress into what it is.
You know, I never thought about it, but yeah.
When when did they? When did they come?
In ninety four, I was three.
I remember going to the Memphis one because Memphis has a hard rocks all the Elvis Presley theme stuff.
That was really cool.
I was like nine years old too, so that was probably back when the hard rock was a little cooler than what it is now.
But it had an edge to it. The grand opening Vince Gill, Melissa Ethridge, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt Man. It was the most fun party I've ever been to in this time. Really to this day, to this day, no Way rocked. Of course, maybe I overserved myself. Maybe they weren't cell phone to the cameras.
Nashville man over serving as a Saturday man. Well works around here. This town. This town runs on alcohol and live music.
Man.
It's but somehow like as crazy as it is on Broadway, It's it's like it's hell together. It's like it's like an understanding, like you can come and get crazy, have fun, walk through the streets. All you want to go to Broadway have a blast. But it's like there's not like if you go to New Orleans go to you go to Bourbon Street, like when someone says, hey, you go to Gotta what, don't go past Dolphin Street, chaos, don't go don't go two blocks this way to it. You
go to Broadway. It's like you don't have fun because he's one of the most fun parts about Broadway is when you go down Broadway, take a left on Second and then you got that Johnny Cash Museum where you go to a right, there's like a little like a little jazz bar hanging out or stuff like that. There's so much more to do then that was on Broadway. I was at a laser tag place, like, how the hell do you a laser tag? That place is pretty coola fitted in there, man, it's crazy.
And the other spots are far off, like Midtown.
Yeah, Midtown's right right down.
I mean everything is like they called the twenty minute City fifteen minutes city.
You can get everywhere and.
Do let's think about I don't. I may be off one, but during the three days of the drive, fifteen arrests, and one was that's impressive on my mouse Houston, Texan? Who was I would say, out of our footprint, right, And so I don't count him. Yeah, and another arrest happened side. None of them are major.
Yeah, so I think I got arrested three times since I think I've arrested three Dosin's I've been here, I mean fifteen in the draft. It's pretty that damn thing, I think.
So all right, lock it up, jus, what about the what about the two thousands?
Hold hold on, let's let's name what he Doess we're in ninety four right now, so we're just you get the hard rock, You get the hard rock to come in and playing in Hollywood? What so plain?
In Hollywood? We did not chase They chased us. Yeah, And we told them unless you do something authentic, it's not gonna work. Right, And they got mad at me, came and had a giant corporate meeting to chew me out because their business was dying. Yeah, I can remember y'all like this. I looked at him and said, your food sucks, your service sucks, and all your memorabilia is the photographs. We called them, son of dupe. They were the same pictures in every zero originality. Yeah, so I go,
what do you expect change that? And you got a shot. Well, they didn't like my answer.
But those as Butcher slapped, put that on and I get the hell out of my so so play in Hollywood. We're done with that. You so, what was next in ninety four? You're getting close to that ninety nine, two thousand.
And ninety seven, ninety nine started the conversation. In ninety six, I guess. So. I got a random call from my buddy in Houston. This is one of those This is part of the story I normally leave out. They said, would Nashville be interested in talking to it? An NFL team wouldn't tell me who? Okay, sure, he says, well, these this team tried to reach out and they talked to some people in Nashville and they were told no. I go, well, that's bullshit. I don't know who they
talked to, but bullshit. So for three or four months, back and forth, one day they call and go, I'm sure you figured out who we're talking to, and I laughed, I no, I don't believe you. So I haven't given it one thought. So literally, well once every couple of weeks on the phone for two three months, and then they go, well it's the oilers, And I go, well, now I really don't believe it. So what do you want? Well, they want to meet, and this is that where I'll
say my radar is decent. They go, we want to meet. We don't want any politicians, we don't want any media, we don't want to meet in Nashville, and we don't want to meet in Houston. All those things that you're serious. So I putter get the right people together. So I got mayor of Reticon at the time, his personal attorney. I knew I could count on him and quiet confidence in the head of the chamber. And I didn't even tell the guy Reticent's attorney. I said, I need you
to go with me tomorrow. Tomorrow.
Think about what I'm saying, really Southwest American America, American hair.
Yeah, and met in the Admiral's Club and it was, you know, analog phones. So I called him and I'm like, should I don't know who's listening to this, So I'm not telling you what we're doing. I need you to come with me.
Is it that close to the vest? All this stuff nobody knew really.
Like literally, I was the only person that know what year is this? I think it was ninety had be ninety three years ninety six.
So ninety six, you're flying to Chicago hair with the mayor's attorney to go meet with unidentified people about the possibility of the Houston Oilers who go and the nineties were a damn good football team. I don't remember, honestly, I didn't watch the level.
Wall they hit a little slump of the astrodome was a dog. Yeah, So the mayors are trying to Byron Trowker, good guy, he I said, I can't tell you, just gotta trust me. Think about that. Yeah, delay your trip. He was leaving town for us. I'll have you back.
So we get on him thinking maybe you won't have him back. Yeah, Well that goes back to trust and honesty. I gotta getta get him back, and I did.
Did you? But we get on the plane and he goes, where are we going? I go, we're going to oh here, we're going to meet with the os And he almost got off the plane. He was like, what you're wasting my damn time. He was pissed at me in a good way, but I'm going, no, no.
We got a hold on one second. We got this is it. But experience when you're when you're on busting with the boys. You get at least one of these every single time you're on the cast.
Baby, that's the offensive line of the thing.
That's just moving down the tracks. Baby, that that four, that fourth quarter Johnny Cash in that place. Yeah that I hear that training coming, it's rolling round. That gets me so fired up. Half my teammates like this is stupid. They don't like country music, but they don't know about the man in black.
Baby, So I would prefer God's gonna cut you down with Johnny Cash.
Did you hear me? Yeah, we'll talk about I gotta get to that a little bit.
It was a pretty cool moment. I bet I owe Marty Stewart for that.
That is pretty damn alright. So so you fly to a hair and so he and your boy here is like, I don't know, man, I'm not I'm not doing this. Yeah.
Uh And we left and they went they're playing us, No, they're not. So I had to come back.
And why did he think that they were playing.
You to get a better deal out of Houston? They said, they're not serious. Yeah, we should talk, and it was you know, at that point, my career was way bigger than any influence I had, So I had to keep it alive. My main role was don't walk away from this.
What do you lose?
What? Yeah, so you go meet with Bud Adams. What as long as you're not spending any money? What what difference does it make? So I convinced them to me. Then it took a life of it.
And that's all your concept of not fearing failure, that's what you're talking about, And.
That's the worst case. I'm going to make a friend and I'm gonna learn something. Yeah, that's kind of if you're not getting in my wallet.
Yeah, let's talk, no doubt. But I think I think that's one thing that's important for anybody who's listening to and they want to be successful is everybody has ideas, everything has things they want to do, but everyone's afraid to fail. There's always that fear of well, what if it doesn't work out, no question, But if if it doesn't work out, then you lose nothing. And it doesn't matter what age you're at. If you if you decide to go do something, go do it and you do.
Everyone like I've failed a hundred times, I've given up sacks, I've had shitty games, I've they're there I've got hurt, I've done all those things.
You're holding penalties alone, perfect, It wasn't as much holding as it worst personal fouls.
But I killed some games. You killed some games. And this day and age journalism all that everyone's list, everyone's got Twitter, and that you're gonna get put to the cross. Dude, You're gonna get destroyed with those types of things. And that's that's in a smaller scale than the things that
you're even doing. You're trying to take it, franchise people families and move them not across the country but states away, and and and turn a city into something that was really I don't know, and ruins like it really wasn't it very much with the Nashville. Nashville was you know, you know Cooksville, you know Cookville. It was Cave Creek, Arizona. You know what I'm saying, Cave Creeks where I'm from. But that they there's one strip that goes down it.
Everyone's pretty happy with what's going on. We're not building any any things. There ain't no large attractions coming to camp Hollywood. Got none of that about table. We do have a lot of heart baby there.
And yeah, you're you're talking about the scale he's on.
But it's still the fundamental, the fundamental thoughts of just what's the worst.
They can have?
Failures inevitable, no question.
Hm. Visual we use at my office, and it's ten years now. Hotels came to us and said, do for and we'll get to do for New Year's Eve what you did for July fourth. And I'm like, what, God, now we're dead on New Year's Eve? Why you create something I don't know anything about New Year's Eve? July fourth already existed when we took it over. We just put it on steroids. So today, if I showed you the picture of the stage from the first New Year's Eve event, you would die laughing. I would fire myself.
See if you can find that picture.
I may have it on my phone.
I will look if you had this little monitor up here, it might be on the.
Thrown up But it's this little dinky stage. I couldn't get anybody to play. I couldn't get the media to buy it. It's cold, nobody will come. What what are we doing? I go, what's cold in New York? But to your point about both your points about failure or t we went back then New York's the gold standard. We're not. I don't want to know what Atlanta does. I don't want to know what New Orleans does. New
York is what we're going to chase. Last year, two hundred thousand people watching New Year's Eve NBC and C and in here. It took ten years, but we have a pretty credible event. We could have quit after year one, fifteen thousand people.
You're pribacing there looking at like, oh man, this is embarrassing.
Oh my god. Definitely you're looking back on the first year we dropped the guitar and I got blanked, got stuck. It didn't really get stuck. The operator was drunk, mister Q and it was midnight and we told him just stop. But and it got stuck the second year, so I ate crow. I had to do them May of Copa and you're standing up in front of five TV cameras and people are just grilling you. Finally went, look, anybody wants their money back, I'll rEFInd freedom.
Yeah, I got nobody.
I have embarrassed myself, my family, our city. I get it. Okay, didn't do it on purpose, but we also didn't quit.
Yeah, and that the music no pun intended, went back to the board, went back to the meeting, and you're still preaching the same gold standard regardless of what.
It was, and you know it works. Yeah, stick with it and learn from your mistakes.
When was that New Year's event? When was that New Year's Eve?
The first one? What I did?
Fifteen It would have been oh way, oh wait baby, what that's that early? Huh? I thought i'd have been sooner than that.
Yeah, that's what I would have thought too. By that time, July fourth.
We've been doing for fifteen years. But it was, like I said, it was going right.
It was just made it a better and it.
Was small, be called ampees quilting bee. It was a very home spun cute.
Yeah.
Fifteen minute fireworks show, one shell every twenty seconds. Oh there's nothing now, it's sixty five thousand shells.
Over thirty that's amazing. That's awesome. Yeah. What does that cost?
He said, Oh, can't talk about the event itself.
Concert screens, fireworks two million to put it on. But we can sell twenty thousand hotel rooms. Yeah, twenty million is spent. Uh, and we get international pr out of it.
Solid return on investment there.
Yeah, talk about the adversity.
Well, yeah, we got we had it. We were selling getting the to the Titans here.
Yeah, I'm going to a second episode.
I'm sorry, We'll keep you here all night. This I mean, this is this is stuff that you don't want to get that you don't want get to hear this that people just say, hey, oh that's cool. Yeah, the drafts coming or fourth of July is pretty cool there, you know, but they don't get to see like how this whole thing gets done.
No, and the behind the scenes.
The sausage.
Yeah, the meat, baby.
The meat. That's one way to say that.
Our boys, our boys here always send us notes. They said something about downtown tornadoes in the late nineties. What's that about?
So I can tell you it was ninety eight, the stadium was under construction. Yeah, the tornado blew through downtown. It was the same year the theme park closed, and uh the seventeen year cicadas came out. So we got our asses kicked business wise, mainly because of the theme park. But our slogan was cicadas, tornadoes and theme parks. Oh my, and uh it it did some serious damage.
Yeah, across the board, no doubt.
Somebody died at Centennia Park a tree, I got a person. It was a pretty devastating outing, and but it gave us a chance to rebuild. Knocked over a crane in those where the stadium was being what's.
The process of coming back from something like that, Like when you go into those next days, those next meetings, those next like ideas that you.
Have to controlling the pr spent and the media runs wild, like one of one of our employees family was in Europe, and in Europe the arena had collapsed and so they were panting. Family was worried with staff over there. So was that you just get they run rampant with misinformation right now you're trying to undo it. The flood would probably get to that in twenty ten. Yeah, was way worse than the tornado. But you just have to say
we're okay, you know this and this is all. Yeah, we have some damage, but we're gonna build our way out of it, build your way out of it.
Yeah, that's awesome, and that's len nineties.
I'm going to get opportunity build out of it.
Yeah, but there's that part, like the two thousands, is when some stuff's coming together, like you have the late naties. You bring the team in, you're doing all these things. The tornado hits, you're kind of rebuilding. Was that two thousand stretch kind of.
Like, yeah, ninety we got our asses kicked. We were coming out of it in one and nine to.
Eleven hit right.
Yes, my friends all said you should go ahead and leave. Change jobs. No theme park, oppery Land was building hotels around the country, so yeah, more competition, and the word was nobody will travel for music, So why the hell are you going to stay?
Go?
I like a good fight. I want to stay butcher slat. Yeah. It was a gamble, no question. Then the recession hit this town like everybody, but on top of them, Yeah, we got the flood. So you're trying to weather significant recession and you get hit with a thousand year of flood. So you're just getting everything like bring it. Yeah, but you know it's that don't back down, stick to your guns. You gotta work a little harder. You know, we're there, and there were like five hundred of my peers around
the world. I don't know of any that didn't lay people off during the recession. We didn't lay anybody off. We broke ground on the convention center, and we actually added people, really tightened our belts. We spent less, but we built up. When the recession ended, we were stronger than Ball.
That's awesome.
I've got a I've got a question, so Zach, for when when the floods hit in twenty ten, like and when the when it Nashville had flooded. I guess what was kind of your thought press process of when the floodwaters receded, like how you were going to go about things?
Great question. Let me back up, but I'm a buffet fan, buff of both the arena that Saturday.
Oh wait, wait, we're not talking warm buffets, sorry, Jimmy, We're talk about Jimmy buffeting, Warren Buffett. I thought we were.
I have a Warren Buffet, the whole buffet, Chinese buffets, Warren buff Jimmy buffetsfet.
It's raining like hell on Saturday, and the mayor calls and he goes, are we okay for the concert? Should we cancel? I go? Let me call you back. So I checked around. People were downtown arena with staff, hotels were full. Mayor, I think you create a bigger problem if you cancel, because people are just gonna be angry. They're already drinking. That's control.
I'd be a riot.
So he said, can the police chief and I address the crowd. You're the mayor, you do whatever you want. But I got it set up for him. They did that. Nobody was paying attention but the mayor. It was the right thing to do. So they warned everybody, when you go home tonight, it's likely to be different. Well it was. The people got home the next day, all all help
pro clues. So to the point of that question, first thing, you go literally, you your stomach's in your throat, and you're looking at these pictures and you're seeing trucks flip down the interstate or I watched a portable school building slide off an embankment onto the interstate, and it's like, we're in trouble, Like this is this is not a drill.
Yes, I don't know if we're going to be all right.
Boys, So you start assessing. Going back to that media thing, you make sure you know everything accurately. You know what's damaged, what's closed, what's okay, you know what resources do we have. Well, our office was without power for about a week. I got I got ill make y'all laugh with that. So first thing in our office, we rallied the troops, brought in a generator, and we're like, we're not gonna be judged by what we do. We're gonna be judged by what we don't do. So we flipped the script on
that doesn't matter what we do. People gonna be why didn't you do that? So it's like we can't leave anything to chance. But we, Uh, everybody worked remote. Our PR person was stuck at her house. She had power, which good to leave. She was flooded, so she was locked down. Uh, so she's working remote. We borrowed on office from GAC Great American Country at the time. We put some people there. We borrowed an office from the
convention center. But I first thing we do. Our computers are running, but the rooms getting really hot because we're got no power. So I'm like, we got fixes. So I sent one guy out to buy dry ice and fans and said, I we're going to get a generator.
So I called Ferguson Kitchen bath lighting think that they sell plumbing fisure, and I said, I need a GD extension cord, like I need a hundred and they maybe one hundred and eighty feet, so our parking garage had power and there was an underground way to get to and I finally had to put two electricians on the phone because I don't know what that I'm talking about,
but I need power. So I ran this one hundred and sixty foot extension cord from our parking garage to our computer server room and we're able to power fans. And then we put coolers of dry ice and opened up those bags so it brought the temperature down to write below the computers, but shut off so we could function. So the first thing was how do we communicate? Because if that goes really screwed.
Holy shit.
So yeah, my pride and joy was thinking of dry ice and a homemade extension course.
Up there.
You know, when you run something over one hundred feet, you know, power just diminishes. So the cable's got to be massive. But that's over my head. I don't speak electricity or engineering. I could just think of ideas and find the people to uh to do it, and then I'll leave up finished with this story. I get a call from the Hilton and he goes, can you come
down here? And they're flooded and the arena's flooded, and the symphonies flooded, and the Country Music Hall of Famous flooded, and there's a giant hole where the new Convention Center is and it's flooded. Every single one of those are pumping water. And the guy from the Hilton his credit, goes, come here and take a look, and so I go down there with him. I think we went up on the roof and you watch everybody pump water into each other, and he goes, can you help? And I quickly realized
what he was saying. Nobody's doing. They'll be doing this for the next six years. So we call the convention Center and said, I need you to turn off your pumps. You have a three story hole in the ground, and if we can send the water there, we got a shot. Of course, first thing there, a contractor goes, we're on a deadline. If we don't finish in three years, we got penalties. So I'll take care of that. I'll figure
that out for you. I'm making that up. No, and then they agreed and they turned their pumps off, so now we have place to send water. I think it was down to that kind of it looked like the Keystone cops out there. We're all pumping water each other and panicing.
That's crazy.
It's nuts.
Never even this is the actual first time I've ever heard of this this. Yeah, it's two and ten, right, Yeah, guy was here until fourteen.
It was bad.
It rained for what three days straight?
Yeah, we got and you got to be sitting there on the third day, like, fuck, man, is this thing ever gonna stop? Flooded?
The flooded Opry Mills, Opera Mills was completely underwater.
Opera Land Hotel had four feet of water in it. The Grand o Opery House had more.
Than historical because of this of significant historical.
Some photographs and stuff like that. No buildings or anything like that.
Nothing was unsalvageable.
But that was crazy and everybody was panicking. But we went to work. Yeah, Carl Dene was mayor. To his credit, he goes. I get a text from him two days in. He goes, what do we need to do to help your industry? And our industry was dead? And I set him my list of about ten things. I know he didn't think. I'm literally we're texting, Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll do all of it.
He was all over It sounds like it sounds like National has had a good string.
Of mayors and everybody came together. Everybody worked together. Natural strength is in that. Yeah, political leadership, good business leadership.
And then we need we need business leadership. On traffic.
Now, we got to fix traffic to hide those highways and stuff. But the next year, so after the flood happens, you know, you we start to recover from that. That's when you build what is it, the Music City Center.
It was under construction. It opened in thirteen.
And that was under scrutiny. Correct.
Oh, I got my ass kicked all into this county. Yeah, you want to do what It's a disaster. Nobody open Nashville. National is not a destination. Nobody will come. Conventions are dying, and the city will have to bail this thing out. Let me describe, let me answer those National is not a destination. We've been named the top destination in the world for six years in a row by Lonely Planet, Traveling Leisure Conde ass.
Oh, yeah, Nashville's a spot now mixed uff.
We're the seventh busiest convention destination in the US. There's over one hundred million dollars in reserve for the convention Center's funding and all that development around. So you can't find the critics today, but they kicked my ass for two solid years.
You had like a five year vision and people will talk about from like what from twenty eleven to fifteen or sixteen.
Yeah, here's what we're going to do. It's another great story. I took Carl Dean so it wasn't really wasn't approved yet, and I said, look, we can sell it ahead of time. We can sell it before it opened. We can get business. So we flew down to Orlando and pitched the Academy of General Dentistry. It was Nashville or Toronto, think about in two thousand and two. Didn't tell the mayor who we were bidden against, because I knew he wouldn't understand Toronto.
It might scare him. So we went and Steve Turner, one of the best Nashvilleians, philanthropist, just great guy, developed the Gulch, led that he wanted to come see. He's with us.
The Gulch was nothing before that.
You bought the land and turned that.
Into that place is a destination.
Though, he says, we get on a plane to come back, he goes, thanks for letting me come. It was really and we booked this piece of business. Remember what I'm saying. I showed a picture of an aerial footprint with a white square where this building would be if it was approved, and he goes, it was pretty cool watching y'all sell a building that doesn't exist on land you don't own without a design. I mean, we didn't have a picture of what it might look like. We're down there selling.
So the Dennis booked us, and then I said, mare, give me the key used to the car. Let me go sell this thing. Let me wheel and deal a little bit. I'll have to kill.
Let me butch slap these focus man.
We put a billion on this tea real quick, give me the keys pace. Butcher slapped tea.
Butch slapped they put this t on.
If y'all weren't crazy, I wouldn't talk about some of this stuff.
But y'all are crazy.
Yeah, man, no one's gonna believe it. But it's your words, dude.
But the yeah, the five year thing that's kind of I'm thinking, is that your medium scale stuff that you refer to, because obviously seventeen has been the biggest because you were bringing.
Some events and certain things here.
Seventeen took it to another level and because of the watch parties, right, we entered a consciousness globally goes Hockey in the South fifty thousand people in the street watching TV.
Yeah, hockey in the South, that whole concept in general, you're just like, yo, I'm like, like the Minnesota north Stars or whatever they are, that's a hockey stage. They're trash, they're bad and then the Predators they're bad ass. I wish I could say we'd they're badass many Hey. I talked to Amy a little bit about I was like, I told we heard and I were talking a little bit. We're talking about the Predators do and She's like, we need to get some of that stuff going like that.
The interaction all like all that. It's hockey culture in generals is awesome. It's like way more close and you're in an arena. Everyone's packed in together and there's smaller crowds, but it's way it's.
Amplified seventeen thousand capacity. Yeah, it'd be a pretty rapid crowd.
Yeah, no doubt.
Yeah, that's true too. How much of it depends on the performance of these.
I think I was at that first season in nineteen ninety nine.
Yeah, it was nuts.
It was more fun. I went to every playoff game. I consume more jack and coke than I knew. It was human, like, let's go. Yeah, I had two cheers joined the game. I guess I could do it. I yelled at so you couldn't understand it. But when we had the ball, it was gold. Motherfucker can say that on this Yeah, I.
Would say, like, and when we were when we were on defense, that's how I am when they're on defense.
Get that motherfucker.
Yeah. Yeah.
Hey, if there's two things you didn't know about football, it's get that motherfucker.
And mother Yeah, don't get tackled.
Yeah, but flapped that motherfuckers man.
So but he was wide open.
And I also thought I was invisible and so kind of a couple of years into that because it was a great run, I would be out, might come and go. You sit in section one thirty nine, don't you?
Oh my a little bit?
Yeah, y'all have fun. Okay, I gotta I gotta clean this.
No more chance.
But I made sure I didn't cuss them front little kids, and I yelled at where like my group, we all knew what our cheer was. But I wouldn't offense the clown believe in that. You know, if kids are around, be respectful, be respectful. Visiting fans, we want to kick your butt. We want to send you home loving us. So, you know, broke and reasonably.
Happy and a little bit hungover. But yeah, I'm not. I'm kind of not like that at all. But I'll be honest. I like, I like my fans out out of hand. If I can get a streaker at every game, i'd be happy. You know, there goes another one that there he goes and I just think, like, like, Ohio State, we're school in America. They're fans are psychopaths, I would think. Any I think it was. I never played at Wisconsin ever,
even played Wisconsin, never played them. Oh yeah, weird. I missed one game in my career and it was against Wisconsin at home the.
Jj W.
So so what's up. No, I don't like jj W. He's a phenomenal football player. I don't like him. But yeah, the fans, Dude, if you have like a Michigan license plate, I don't Ohio State game, they'll tip your car over. It's that. It's like, it's crazy.
All the time.
It's like they call it the game for a reason. But I kind of like, as much as I hated it because I played for Michigan, I kind of dig that like that around. You gotta watch you gotta watch out. You're gona play the Titans now, Yeah, like, hey, it's a great city to go to, but don't be wearing different jerseys.
And the ship in that when you play there, like on the Skins playing the Eagles, like the Eagles are in.
Yeah, intimidated to go to Philly or Oakland.
Yeah, Philly's awesome to play it, but it's because they hate.
You so much. Oakland gets serious now too. There's there's a there's a video last year I think it was or two years ago, Donald Penn some guys him on them on to get him to hit him so that he would be able to assume or whatever. And literally guy had a video on Instagram saying, now I'm gonna get Donald Penn to hit me and sue me. And then there's a video of him him filming Donald Penn tell me he's trash blah blah blah, and Donald Bank gets out of his rolls Royce. Yeah, he start like
getting after him. Dude, he won't walked away. Luckily, of course he did. I would want you to, Yeah, for sure. That stuff.
Man.
People people talk all the time.
People want fan base, butcher once. It's like Nebraska. They're like guys who play there, they say it's weird. I mean, you played there. People say it's weird. You're staying in the in the tunnel and fans like are trying to say, hey, good luck out there, had a good game, guys.
The thing is, but that's kind of like a mental thing, like you shart walking through. I'm gonna have to fucking kill these guys. And there's like this little kid like go get him seventy seven.
I hope you safe.
I guess, okay, maybe I won't kill him, but I'm gonna try to hurt him.
I get. I don't know, you're like trying to jogging out there. But I spent six years in Broode Yeah, bat a lot of night games and Tiger Tiger.
I dated a girl, A dated girl from Baton Rouge. She went to l s U and I saw I was down there whole bunch. That stadium is awesome. It's loud, it's I've never been to a game. But like what I've heard, it's incredible they have they have open container law there too. Like in Louisiana, you can go through a drive through and get you can get decorators. Be open. No, as long as the uh, that little paper of the straw is on it. If you get pulled over, baby
and the cops like, hey, what's in that? Oh there's a there's a piece of a straw. It didn't hit it, okay, it's it did did you open it? You promise? Okay, I get it because the pieces of the straws there, and that's I think you.
Can pour a little out right here, so you can make one.
Before they tightened up and they renovated obviously with security. But pre I'll say not eleven. I had a buddy that would like grill out. Let's say they're grilling stakes for a game at Tiger Stadium. Well then he he had ten tickets, thirteen people, so he would bring three extra stakes, hand them to the ticket usher. Huh, and all thirteen would go in. So no, tell him what the real attendance number.
Yeah, mars pissed.
Oh yeah, but they just snuck people in all day long and there were benches, bleachers, so you could cram in. Now it's more seating and tighter control. But they're crazy good, crazy good crazy.
I kind of dig that. I dig I dig lsu. I think that's a I never offered by any SEC schools, but if I could. Oh yeah, here's the video of Donald Penn. See this guy's filming them from behind and Donald's he's in the car. And I don't know if he had a good gamer bag game. I'm assuming if you have a good game and the guy's coming at you, you're probably like that. Yeah, so he might. He might have gave here.
Look, he's the fan is giving putting his hat down, like here we go about to get snatched.
You know, Donald Penn's a stud dude. He's been playing the league for a long time. He was undrafted.
Guy, I don't want you to hit me.
I don't want either of you to hit He's doing it for that, he's doing it for her.
He's trying to get some he's that that paper enough money. He's I'll tell you what. Yeah, Hey, you like you like the way your face looks?
Yeah?
You want to do some of these dudes out here because pens. I mean, if this thing loads well enough, we have good wife. He comes out. Man, he's a big dude. He's way he's way bigger than me. Man, and he's got some power behind him too.
He would have killed this guy for sure.
Yeah.
I got a lot of respect for this guy.
Man.
He's he was in Tampa forever, right, it was like Tampa for ten years and then he was at the Raiders.
Spectree or yeah, I have no idea.
Yeah he's he played Tampa for a little bit. But I will say, well, got to get back to that bringing the Titans over here. You you tried to whirl when you're trying to take us not down the road. But I'll be hold on, I gotta be right back. I gotta pee real back.
Go ahead, But you know I'll talk.
You don't have a bathroom on this point.
Hey, But I think I think our listeners would probably be really mad if we didn't ask you the status on MLB and World Cup stuff too, the inside track.
Well we can it's I we I would think I would be disappointed. I mean, you got such a good following for the sounds. It's like the city of Nashville would absolutely be obsessed with an MLB team, Like, is that even is that conversation even happening.
The conversation is happening. So there's a local group. This guy's been very public. John Lower, I think he's done a great job. He has Dave Stewart and Tony Larus and some other involved and the commissioner two years ago throughout Nashville as a past possible expansion city. I think it's not think it's a bit premature.
Yeah, we have to take care of in my last first.
The the league is not ready to talk expansion and they don't want to talk about moving until they deal with Oakland and Tampa Bay. Yeah, they have two weak franchise.
But it kind of goes back to your your process of everything you've kind of done. You put the bug in people's ears and not you specific obviously your team or the city of Nashville.
The thing I think and John, Laura and I talked about.
It, Taylor's come back in the old bus Boys My Puppies.
That was quick too. Does that mean something?
I had a I had a not the biggest piece butch, but the hole is huge too. It's just it's like not the most small bucket, and I just you know, Okay, not the most.
Impressive piece, but it performs.
Yeah, I know, Zach's doing the notes over here.
Hey Taylor, we're actually he's catching us up on the whispers of mlbts possibly expanding here in the like you know future.
It's kind of premature right now.
So what it would happen to the sounds though without sounds would go away if that happened, right well, so would you use a sound stadium?
And I'll never understand when we built it. We didn't build it to expand it. It's capped out. The thing that's key and airs and John Lord and I talked about it, so he not speaking out of school. But I'm also not up to speed as much as as he is. I think these kinds of things you got to keep quiet. You got to work it and work it and work it before you talk about it, to maintain some credibility, to get your ducks in a row, to not let anybody. There's gonna be other cities that
want a team. You won't give anybody any advantage. So I think we would be a legitimate contender. Expansions, according to the league, is at least five years away, but we should ready.
I think I think the National's proven that you're in contention for whatever you want right now. I think truly Nationals truly put themselves in a position where whatever we want we could probably get first divest because Nashville does it well. I mean they're starting to the leader in arms and you're no. I think they've proved with the draft. I think it's like, oh, they can handle themselves taken at five hundred thousand and have no problem. You said, you, well,
we're capable. We can do one hundred thousand and maybe one fifty a day.
And it's like he was talking, it'll be important to take care of the MLS team that comes in because that will also be a decent measuring stick.
You know.
Yeah, that's gonna dictate World Cup to a degree. Yeah, it's gonna do about that.
Not even soccer World Cup either, I knowing, like, yeah's the World Cup and you know everybody, you know, all the soccer fans, they just go nuts over.
That kind of.
It would be draft like because they care as much about outside the state, you must they do that. They want to know that the city can put on an event because there will be people from all over the world whether they go to that game or whether they're teams in it, or they just want to be part of it and party in the street. To your point about describing Broadway, Yeah, we can party in the street.
You can party in the street. Baby is there here? There's not open?
You can if we permit. You can't carry out of a building, but I can sell it in the street. Or whoever gets to permit?
How many? How many get out of your free Monopoly cards do you have in your pocket that maybe.
You know, this guy could could kill people, he'd be all right.
You know the body for the boys, get a couple of you know, hey, if.
I've ever my main, we gotta because it's terrible man.
Nathan. Nathan's a mutual friend from Kings of Lea and we're just gonna need to know each other at food and wine festival. Maybe you're one event. So it's five years old and we're drinking rose out of a bottle. It's at the end of three you and Nathan. Yeah, we're at the event, swinding down DJ spinning, people are dancing, We're chugging wine out of the bottle. And he looks at me and he goes, if I ever get caught with a dead hooker in the truck of my car.
You're my first call.
I'm just like, I don't know what to do with that. Yeah, I mean thanks, Yeah, don't call me.
You know what you said, you know what you said. Naything, call me because they're about to get Butcher slapped.
Shirt here.
So we started then and then he goes and then when you run for office, I'm I'm gonna run your campaign. I won't be involved, of course, done. You have others, but insanity to that point. So when you talk about, uh, I'm calling you if I'm in trouble. So I mentioned July fourth, when July fourth was starting to get big. He's a rookie. I look over and I see this and I recognize him. I see this giant human being talking to the security guard and just kind of pointing a little bit.
And you know the worst part about this is is like two years later, Butch came and spoke to the team and told them the story. And I actually never told you they did that. But Jack Coughlin was like, yeah, I heard a story about you the other day.
I did.
I spoke to the rookie, and he spoke to the rookie, don't be that guyous.
It was sad like wearing this guy out and he's saying, I'm supposed to be on I'm on the list. I'm supposed to be back to stage and I'm watching and I go around and listen. Finally go help me out here. So he's saying, I'm supposed to be on the list. I go, well, it's only one list, it's mine, sir, shirt.
Hey, Taylor, Hey, take this T shirt.
Short security guards, this small guy. Were you rude to him? Of course hindsight, I'm going you're a dumb ass. Don't go what a cost him? He's been drinking. Maybe, I don't know, definitely, yeah, he's like so I put his his his future at that point, for the future of the night, in the hands of security guard because no, no, I was polite. So I called the guy over because I'm a big sticker. You rude to security, rude to the people making hourly wage, I'm a dick.
Oh so you're you're a first And Menia thought, is this asshole?
Yeah, what are you doing to the guy? And the guy said no, he was really polite, and I was like, okay, So then we actually walked backstage. There wasn't anything going on, and then I tried to hook him up at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. We had all the models in town for an event, and that's when we started getting to know each other better. And he was like, I'm with the Titans, Like I know who you are.
Quit doing this.
Your ass is gonna be in more trouble telling people who you are. Dude.
Since that day, since that, I don't I want to tell people I do not just and everyone it's clear do that anymore?
I agree.
I just got to Nashville. I thought I was a big swinging dick and I realized my peeper just rested gener my sack.
Dude, I was not.
I am not that guy anymore. I guesse it was back but I really don't remember that night fully so, but I remember it was I was on like it was it old Hickory and I was walking into Zoe's kitchen. Do you remember this walking to Zoe's kitchen like a month like a month, Yeah, I just got out of camp. It was like September and Brentwood and You're like, hey, I'm like.
The fuck is this guy do?
What what's up dude, because you don't remember me, do I was like, no, I don't with your wife. No, No, I wasn't my now wife.
It was.
Yeah, that was my rookie year, so I didn't even know tailor. Then I was thinking somebody else, but it's okay.
I'm sorry, no different girlfriend model.
And so I was sitting with a lady and You're like, you don't remember me, and I was like, no, I don't. Oh god, what's gonna and you like, I'm butcher and you you storm my party on fourth of July and I was just like, oh my god, these three swimsuit models I'm with are going to be so embarrassed for me. And that's my T shirt. Dude, I was That was probably one of the most embarrassed I've ever been. You're with your wife? Yeah, And we sat down and talked and since then things have been good.
Things have been good, dude, all in all.
The security to say it was your being an asshole, I know.
And if you did, you did, would you?
And I thought here in this town too, I threw I didn't throw a pups this up, but I watched one the guy that had to melt down on a r Kelly no local pulsul.
He just got accused of all kinds of stuff. Well, he was berating a cop. Actually the year of the King's Lean played New Year's Eve and I no grabbing him. And I'm the only person you can talk to like that have had it. I don't give a ship to me, cust me, yell at me, don't hit me, but don't hit me.
Got this pretty face.
Yeah, but you're not going to talk to the police that are working their ass off for you know, security, or just anybody that's yeah, you know, literally helping make the event happen.
That's yeah.
Respect is definitely I.
Follow on my sword for the people that are working their.
Butts off, that's awesome. Respect is definitely a thing that I've had to learn over time.
And that was thirteen or fourteen.
Yeah, that's July fourteen, fourteen.
Yeah, you're come to July fourth this year.
I you know, I don't know if I should even come. Man, I don't know.
I want to.
I just want a Butcher Slap T shirt. Man, I want to but Butcher slap. I want to pass tense one like it's already happened. I mean, I mean, yeah, I looked like an asshole that night, but it definitely got us.
Here, got us here, got us here. I'm a fan.
I'm a fan as well, dude. I appreciate I appreciate you helping me out with a whole bunch of stuff too. But is the man, dude.
But I'm learning a lot about you, and I love it. I love this. This is the first time meeting. I'm buzzing with the boys.
Man.
This is an honor for you. Of all the things you've ever done, this has got to be like the top five.
This is up there. Yeah, I don't get to get on a school bus with on inside there you go. Yeah, you know when my name had a beer sponsor.
We had we had a beer sponsor.
Yeah, I I do want Yeah, matter of fact, we had. We have Budweiser sitting on our thing. But they're not a sponsor.
Bud wise Are offered when.
It was the local distributor, Yeah, Ajax Ajax Turner offered.
And then they the man sitting on the couch right now.
Yeah, they said, any any live events.
I told him, yeah, right, we're all we got to buy a tow truck and so we can't keep it in like Butch taught us keep things tightening our circle.
Yeah, don't.
This thing.
No get it can get towed like no one's business. I bet though.
Our goal is to get it moving because we think it would be awesome, like we think of going because Dale Earn hearts the theme on here. So say we road tripped to North Carolina where he lives and do a bust with the boys there. You know, road tripped all these different events. And then also you can think of stuff. We can think of constant things. Dude, if this thing gets mobile.
Bring you down for July fourth, if we if we get July fourth, if we get the bus, if we get towed over there, you let us hang out.
We figured something out. I cancel my Yeah.
I don't want to spot. I want to be on Broadway first. I want to be in front of the stage.
I just hanging Butcher slap ts across the That's definitely a good thing.
That's the coolest thing anyone's ever said on this earth. Jesus didn't say anything as cool as that. That was wicked man, That was right.
Quick question for me.
I'm sorry, since we're on podcast, Go ahead, we're on.
Since we're on a NASCAR bus there we're on kind of a Nascar.
Zach is a big Nascar.
If he didn't listen episode zero zero zero, big NASCAR fan. But what there's been some talk about NASCAR coming to Nashville. There's been some pros and cons to it. I know Nashville speed there, there's some rough spots with that. But but this might not even make the podcast, but kind of for what I want to know, what do you think of that?
I think NASCAR would be stupid not to bring a race back to this market. I think they abandon their core audience in the South as they started doing Vegas, in Dallas and wherever. To their credit, I think they recognize that. So first thing they're gonna do is bring their awards. We here in December. We have it for two years. Going back to that chasing events, They're gonna bring cars. They're going to create a fan facing event
which will help us build the momentum. But at the end of the day, there's an issue over how close one of the buildings being developed at the fairgrounds is to the speedway. If they can get it moved a little bit, then I think a race is eminent. If they can't get it. Then there's concern that the buildings too close to the track, And I don't understand how if the building's not on the track, not going to
be too close to the track. So I'm stupid in that regard, but I do understand that that is the biggest issue right now.
Yeah, man, that would be crazy.
And Bristol Nascart when you bring the red nextport to the red neck city, which is where it's not ours.
Myself red neck man? Look at you just at first off, it's hot on this bus. How are you not sweating?
He might be thinking about it.
Man, that'd be awesome. And you said December, so that like first week.
In December, you're actually I don't know when this will air. So I could say they're coming tomorrow to work on planning their awards week, huh. But when this airs, I might have said they were just here.
Yeah, so they're either here or they're coming tomorrow.
Yeah they were there, just here or they're coming tomorrow.
That brings an event in December too. Like you just think in Nashville.
You think of all these things that going throughout the year in Nashville and it kind of gives you know, insight on what the next what the future looks like for the city, because it's like, take, for instance, I'm in an uber right and you're sitting here talking, yeah, you know, people to kind of fill me in on the market, the industries and things, because it was my first year here and guys like, yeah, the city's just exploded the last five years, and we don't know if
we're in the we don't know we're in the seventh inning, the third inning, the ninth inning, if we're on the back end like that. You bringing up NASCAR in a December thing just makes me think, like, you know, the future is bright for the city of Nashville.
You know, I think we're in charge of that week in Nashville. Yeah, I predicted a slow down or a flat name for the last three years.
That in that year you're saying like like, Okay, we need to be prepared.
We're gonna left off.
Right, We're not gonna do But but then twenty seventeen happens.
My industry, So the hospitality industry, we are one hundred out of one hundred and three months have been the best respective month in the history of the city. So best January ever, best February ever, we've done that one hundred out of one hundred and three times.
Wow, that's.
That's half years.
That's the years.
Yeah yeah, yeah, take off, yeah and a half.
It's insane. So we're the and we're the top performing hotel market in the country over the last ten years. So we keep raising the bar. And my board, I answered to a board of directors, they just called me a sandbager. I said, can I just be wrong, you know, quit sandbager? Yeah, I'm wrong. It's okay.
Well, you drive into the city and all you see is cranes in the city, like, oh you crazy stuff getting built out. But people like Taylor was talking about earlier, the track, like the traffic, the highway systems, and.
That's definitely gonna that's gonna slow the growth of the city down.
For pains or but they're better than the other pains.
Yeah, no, yeah, you would rather have I wish somebody would use the damn highway to get here, you know. Yeah, there's that for sure. That yeah, that definitely that pains me. Man. I hate driving this damn traffic. I can't stand it.
You that's the luxury of being able to at least time your travel.
Yeah, that's true. I mean I'm up early and the drive home is a little tough because I get done on like five thirty.
Taylor is moving a little south though, so that you're gonna be on that highway.
We're building in Forest Hills, and it's a pain in the ass.
Man.
It's I mean, they they're they're being okay, like we're kind of we're moving forward, but it's I've heard a lot of nightmares for hill you're talking about in Forest Hills, you're talking about comptent of state. Yeah, I'm coming about comptent of state. You got to cut that. Yeah, we got to cut all that. Fuck, we're not going I got people showed up in my plot of dirt, dude, So all right, put a gate up. I'm putting gates up, man,
I'm putting gates up. I have a security post, but I don't even want to security guard because I feel like in my head, every security guard's fat. And I'm like, you know, if I just have a camera, if I just have a camera that gives me at least one hundred yards from that gate to my house, or you can I can quit myself enough. Just throw some bows out there.
You should bring one in every October for like spook season. Just have somebody dressed in like a Michael Myers outfit.
That watches Dude, I'm gonna have some Halloween parties at that house. I love. I love Halloween. It's my favorite hall spooktober Dude. I think we had to work on events for Halloween. Man, let's do it.
Come on new.
That's terrible too.
That's the.
Sound of something or Jason worries one of those. I don't know, but I love, uh, I do. Halloween's my favorite. I love just getting if you go into the King's uh Halloween parties.
Three or four. I never would wear a costume, and I got shamed, as you should, Yeah, I say you should, And so I've gone all in that.
You got What were you last year?
Last year? I was Gorsic?
What's Gorsage?
The Supreme Court? Just oh yeah, so I had buttons made with the scale of justice. Said I like beer. I had a beer hat. Sonny was dressed like a Heineken beer.
Yeah.
Uh so I had my my beer with me, beer with me?
What else?
I did two or three things the year before, watched David Pumpkin on Saturday. Yes, I was a skeleton from David Pumpkin, that hair, standing up and dancing all the time. Yeah, and I stayed in character all night and people were just like, you're out of your mind.
I love what it's your Halloween costume, but you decided to be the side skeleton character. The best part was there a David Pumpkin, so people would.
There were other skeleton, but there was no other David pump that's right. And it's such a tightened flamehead wig that I got it one game. Huh, braided white, but the blue showed through, so it made it even funnier. I didn't get all the way white, but my suit glowed in the dark, and it was skin tight, yes, body suit. So you had to work out a little bit before you had gym a little bit, but.
Then was natural.
I go, how do I pee? You just gotta take it.
I go, that's bullshit, Yeah, I'm operating. So I went and got stick on vel crow and then I got scissors and I cut a fly and I put.
On the feet black.
Its black underwear. But I made myself a peehole.
Because I ah, you that thing on and off. No absolutely happened.
So I been a new costume. I love David Pumpk.
I would have I would have gone buttons like you know how that those those long John's. Yeah, but I was got a front patch man with little buttons on there.
You had to make he had the improvise.
It was Halloween Day and I went.
Thing. I'm like, like I said, Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I Halloween. I always like the Holy Ship. I gotta dress up. So I was a penalty flag last year.
Yeah, because I don't remember us doing anything.
Yeah, because I was at the with but me and were at the at the party at the Kings of Leo.
The year before.
Yeah, I don't remember.
Yeah, it is it was like a kind of an exclusive like just like like a close friends and my best friends kind of thing.
I appreciate.
Clown up the joint there.
So two years ago, maybe Taylor had a few epic penalty games.
So I thought this was another gonna be another beer story. I'm like, I'm looking like an a a candidate, right.
Jared and Nathan and I were together and what was working on by a shipload of a little flax And when he comes in, Oh, I bought the case. I left him at home. We were already. I mean, I still have them in my garage.
Oh, we'll get him on that. We'll get him on that much of my new best friend.
We'll get him on that. That's hilarious. Man, Oh my god. Yeah that that hallowing part is awesome, so much fun.
It's pretty epic.
Yeah, dude, I'm fired up. You came on.
I'm honored.
This was awesome.
Like I'm first season.
Yeah, first season.
I knew you'd be awesome.
I read some of your stuff, like you know, how you've built this thing, how you built the city. Yeah, okay, true, fair enough, and Taylor says a lot of good things obviously, but like I'm pleasantly surprised how much of a boy you are.
I say that in a way of like the boys, Like you're a boy, like one of the boys. Dude.
Well, and I've enjoyed it, like I knew it be insightful, but you brought some enthusiasm, some you raise some hell.
Like you said, we got a shirt coming now, but slab.
But I'm working on. I'll come back with the shirt, but you need to have me back on. I'm gonna bring a bottle of commemorative Jack Daniels with the draft loggoing graved on it, I'm in it and a T shirt.
You need to come on. We need to kind on like a Friday or a Saturday, pop in a couple of these.
D that's we can do that.
Do you ever? Is it a regular night that you take this or we try to do usually Tuesday or Wednesday has been making a consistent thing for us, but it's kind of all over the place right now. We're just trying to stack pods. Man.
Yeah, a lot of a lot of his based around the old boy he U.
His family's in Canada, so he'll come through the week you know, play ball, do the pod, go home on weekends.
Some weekends he'll be here.
Though, So you know, we're gonna try to figure stuff out and kind of yes, stack the library with pods.
Season you a brainstorm, either some locations or some ideas or people sponsorship.
I think it'd be awesome to get this bus mobile.
See, that's what we need to brink truck noise in the chit chain.
Yeah, oh nothing, pink, what are you chewing? Juice? Please?
Okay, stop juice. That's why this board the entire time.
That's you know, we're still we're we're in the we're in like a thinking process of changing our production company right now. But it's it's it all.
I'm impressed with the air conditioning and the gear.
Oh that's Jeff, thatst This has nothing to do with them, that Jeff, that's our guy.
Not hey, hey, hey hey he said the gear though? Was that?
Oh you like this?
How did you get those chairs in the door?
Side door, got the emergency door, You got.
Some sound panels up on the side, like we did this.
You should have seen you should have seen this place before when we got it. Man, it was a it was a rat's nest. There is literally rats nests.
I might have a Nashville neon time.
Let's go, we'll put it right there. Yeah yeah, actually that'd be a better spot anyway. I gotta I gotta no bad days sign.
I got a in here somewhere, and that was like a mini one that hangs.
Yeah.
Yeah, she's just gotta get that family photo.
No comment about pole dancing at all. We're not going.
Yeah, that's one thing I did about Nasville, not all the strip clubs. I'm not a ship club guy.
I don't know.
Do not like it?
You'll laugh at this. We had a fair number and we took them out. Then it was the wildest thing. Really, you would think the convention Center would have added more. Yeah, we probably wiped out five or six and maybe one or two came back.
That's good and it's weird.
It's the whole, the whole process, the whole courting process. When you walk in there is uncomfortable to me.
You sit there and the crowd that brings in, the crowd that's sitting into like it just brings in, and.
All of them there's like that they're just throwing one. I just don't like it.
Is there a good cigar bar? There's one?
I don't go to a lot. There's one on Church Street by five o five across the street five oh five like that, and Mans the liquor store by Zoe's and Brentwood. They used to have a smoking room. I don't know if they still do.
Not a big I'm not a big cigar.
I like cigars. I like the vibe. But it doesn't sound like there's one. It sounds like there's for a little and there's a bus.
Stop doing it. A buddy of mine had a rolling like a mobile scar bar.
That's a nice little move trailer. Definitely. Ben Jones had a clich shoot thing and you got to a certain like station and he had they had cigars that you can go and they divvied up give you some free ones, and there's like a Nava nas navash Nashville Cigar Club or whatever. But man, they I appreciate your time on your busy schedule. It sounds like you're just moving and grooving out there, and we'll definitely have to have you on again because I feel like I'll come.
Back in East Drop.
There's so much.
Yeah, there we go.
He said that exact. He'll just be bugging you up with NASCAR questions the whole time.
We should we should figure out a way in December when that car comes in this bus all to come downtown a minute.
I'm in it tomorrow because the fact as long as.
You don't change it, oh, we're not changing anything exterior.
At least until after December.
It yeah, oh yeah, totally. It will make it. We felt about just taking it in the was it the end ground?
What's it called infield?
Infield? Excuse me, Zach, I am so sorry, I'm so sorry.
Yeah, somebody from NASCAR reached out and wanted to have us on the infield, but they thought it was mobile.
They're like, you know, brain to the infield. We'll get you guys. Guess like we'll We're at the red carpet and we need to get this thing rolling. I love it.
We can get it.
Let's go. I'm gonna buy a tow truck. I'm gonna slap on the top of it's gonna say Dad, and then we're gonna call the bus Will because I carry Will.
And got in every episode with you know people.
Get this damn thing off. I'm out of here.
Hey Will throwing this T shirt butchered.
Thank you very much, Thank you.
Fun