Bared again from What The Pod Was That and the All About Nothing podcast for Ever Play Sports and Social League. Fall registration is open now for a bunch of leagues including Wednesday and Thursday kickball at B and M avenues in West Columbia, Tuesday Super Recreational Kickball at B Avenue in West Columbia, Indoor Volleyball on Mondays and Tuesdays at Tri-City Leisure Center in West Columbia, Softball on Sundays and Mondays at Pacific Park in Columbia, Tuesday 10-week bowling at Balero in Casey, Wednesday Soccer in West Columbia, Kickball on Mondays at the Casey Tennis and Fitness Center. Registration for all fall leagues is open through August 21st except Tuesday bowling at Balero. Registration is open through August 5th. Also registration is now open for three to four person teams for the eight masters of putt putt at Frankie's Fun Park on Friday, August 23rd. Sign up now as this event will sell out. Register by August 22nd. It's a lot of fun and if you're in the Columbia area you should definitely sign up now. So check out EverPlaySocial.com for details and registration. Ever Play Sports and Social League, play. Socialize and have fun. - Hi, it's Ani from the Welcome to Wonderland podcast. Are you looking for the perfect blend of nostalgia and patriotism in your wardrobe? Look no further than ZJZ Designs available now at zjzdesigns.com. Their exclusive t-shirt collection features stunning designs like the iconic Plymouth Barracuda print taking you back to the golden era of muscle cars. Show your love for your country with their bold patriotic heart designs that stand out and make a statement. From car enthusiasts to proud patriot, ZJZ Designs has something special just for you. Head to ZJZ Designs and elevate your style. Visit zjzdesigns.com or check the show notes. - The All About Nothing podcast may have language and content. - That isn't appropriate for some. - Listener discretion is advised. (upbeat music) - Welcome, Nothingers, to another episode of the All About Nothing podcast. This is episode number 218. The next episode is 219. So if that lunatic that's speaking to you in this voice says 218 on the next episode, he's an idiot. And it's 'cause we definitely record these in order. Which we don't. I am Barrett Gruber. - I'm Zach King. - And we are going to introduce again our guest, Stephanie Morton, on with us just a few weeks ago. We're gonna talk about all of what's going on including an article that was published recently in the Nashville Voyager, right? So we're gonna talk about that here in just a second. Real quick, please subscribe and share the show. That's how we get new listeners. Also, if you could please consider supporting the show financially by visiting our website and clicking on the support link. And if you can't do that, please drop us a review. Hit the five stars, give us a thumbs up. Or leave us a comment. All that helps drive our show higher up in the ratings on all of these podcast platforms. Real quick, I wanna thank Eric Barnes from History Man Podcast. You can check him out historymanpodcast.com and thanks to broadstreet.net. I assume that the check is in the mail. John Coase's junior broadcast and media relationships manager also wanna thank him. His book, "Play by Play" from The Miners, available now. You can check the show notes for links. And also check out the Columbia Fireflies. The season's coming to an end here in a little bit, but they still got a few more homestands. So go ahead and check out a game including Saturday, September 7th. It is going to be the Harry Potter night. The first thousand through the gates get their own Harry Potter scarf specific to the house that you're in. I found, I took a test. I'm a Ravenclaw. It's true. - Cool. - Strike me as a Hufflepuff. - You're Hufflepuff? You have Hufflepuff? It's hard to say. - I like the way the Hufflepuff sounds. (laughing) - Yeah, I guess it's either what? Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor. - Gryffindor, yeah. - So, but that's gonna be Saturday, September 7th. So check that out. So, Soda City Comic Con, August 24th and 25th, Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. But you wanna check out SodaCityComicon.com, but also wanna remind everyone, Zach and I are gonna be live at Transmission Arcade on August 21st, six to seven, 30 PM. So come out because we're gonna have some trivia. We're gonna do some giveaways. We're gonna talk to some guests. They're gonna be, actually, I'm hoping we're gonna have some of the vendors, maybe a couple vendors that come out to the Comic Con so we can talk to them and see how it is they do what they do and why. - I will be leaving Barrett and Brock at the table and have a microphone with me while I try to take some pinball-high scores away. - There you go. - Also eating some wings and drinking some beers. - There you go. So, make sure to check that out again. We'll be at Transmission Arcade August 21st. That is literally next Wednesday. So we've now dated the show. That's it. We now know where the show falls in the worst timeline. Welcome back to the show, Ms. Stephanie Morton. She is, of course, Nashville songwriter, tour guide, retired teacher and according to the Nashville Voyager, a rising star. So congratulations, Stephanie. That's awesome. - Thank you. - How long? - Actor. - Actor, that's true. We're gonna talk about that too. So just to remind everybody about Stephanie, music runs in your blood. Your grandfather played fiddle with the Buffalo Bill Cody band show, right? Distant cousin, the Patsy Cline. Also, your mother and father also played and sang in choir. Very cool. You play a varying level of different instruments, the flute, guitar, mandatar, which I feel like we discussed the mandatar. - We were discussing, Barrett and I were discussing. I was like, I've never heard of a band guitar. I was like, eight streams. What is this? - I made a guitar recently. - Yeah. - From the fun? - I think my roommate and her friends are having a good time with it in Nashville right now. - There we go. I was like, dang, now I gotta get a mandatar. I've never played a mandatar. - Yeah, they're both just hybrid guitar instruments that sound like mandalins and bangers. - Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. - For the faint apart, who don't really want to learn the banjo and the... - Listen, we had a family reunion slash birthday for my grandmother, she turned 80, considered a couple of my great uncles. And so my cousins play bluegrass. And so we come from that kind of thing. My one cousin's up there with the mandalins just sounding like a professional. And I'm up there, like, all right. - Yeah. - I was like, I kind of learned mandolin. Let's do this for mandatar. It sounds like the, you know, the great, the great come together of the two. So I'm gonna have to check out. Check out. - Yeah, absolutely. - Well Zach, Zach, do you want to plug your cousin's band? Or no, I guess you're... - It's your uncle's band. Yeah, your mama's new boyfriend. - I don't love it. (laughing) - Yeah, they've been playing for like 15 years now. They were voted by the best band in Raleigh. Yeah, they're awesome. - You also play the spoons. - Yes. - Is that just at picnics where you've forgotten the guitar? - Or is this a... - Okay, all right, all right. - Yeah. (laughing) - How'd you guess? - The spoons are wicked. My grandfather could play the spoons and you're just going like, whoa. - Yeah. - I started seeing Abby, the spoon lady do that a long time ago and I said, I want to do that. So I just started picking it up. I don't play exactly like she does, but I do play enough where I can drive people insane with it and some people actually want me to drive people insane with it, so you know they'll ask me to join in. So yeah, it can be a plus and a minus depending on where you are with it. It's a lot of fun. - When you can do the solo from Spoon Man by Soundgarden. - I know I was saying I exactly are letting you know. - That brings me to the last one as far as, or the last one listed in the article, Harmonica, which I dabble in a little Harmonica. - Oh gee, really? - A little bit. I can play, I practiced for a long time the opening to Blues Travelers. - There it is. - Yeah, it's always, it always comes back to Blues Travel. What was the, what was the runaround? I can play the first couple measures of runaround. That's it. - That's awesome. - That's as far as my thought goes. - Anybody inspired you. So you know, you're getting inspired to do that. - John Popper. - You're going to inspire somebody else. - John Popper inspired me in other ways too. - I am working my way to getting that back into my life. I have several friends that are in Nashville that we're kind of, kind of grow together in Harmonica. So yeah, I'm-- - I never was able to get it. That's awesome. - It's an awesome way to accentuate your playing. So yeah, but you got to be able to just accentuate it. And I think that is, you know, something that you want to just enhance. Some people use it all the time. - You say Blues Traveler, when I think of Harmonica, I think of Aerosmith and Steven Tyler. - Steven Tyler can play like, oh my God. - Yeah, absolutely. - Chills. - I play the didgeridoo. - Oh, no. - I play the didgeridoo, it's right over here. It's right over here in the corner. - You have a didgeridoo and you can make it make a noise. - I can, I can, Zach, Zach talk. I'll be right back. - Oh, this is cool. - I couldn't tell you if you can do it. - I just had to do that. (laughing) - Oh wow. - Hold on. - He's playing like the horn of Gondor. - Hold on, give me a second. (laughing) - You would use your wife and kids still running. - Yeah. - I can't. All right, you know what, that's it for right now. - Oh my God. So if you ever need someone who can pretend to play the didgeridoo, bear it your guy. - You know what, before we get done with this episode, I'm going to pull it back out, we're going to try again. - I definitely need that on my next album. (laughing) - For real. - It could open just like with the bear. - Now I'm going to do it again. (laughing) (laughing) - All right, but you didn't. - Did you read that? - Did you read that? - We're going to clip that. That's going to be part of the promo. So one of the things that I don't think we talked about, Stephanie, when you were on last time, we did, I think we talked about it a little bit, and I don't know how far deep you want to go into it, but in 2023, you did have a traumatic incident that really derailed you. We didn't talk about what that incident was, and I don't want to put you on the spot, you can say no. But-- - It's a big year. - Yeah. - In fact, I flew in last week, and I saw my doctor the day after during the hurricane, during Debbie, and I saw my sepsis doctor. So I was working on my home, doing some renovation type things, and apparently I had an issue where I developed sepsis in a scar that I had since college, that grew inside my leg, that it was, it's a long bizarre story, but it grew around my leg, and it was something that had supposed to have resolved itself, and it did not. And so I had a burn on the other leg that we thought had resolved itself, had not, and this scar had burst inside my leg that nobody had ever known, that it was, anyway, so I was rushed to the hospital twice, the first time they thought that it was sciatica, and then it never went away, and so the second time this thing had burst into my leg, and so the hospital, I'm not gonna name the hospital, but the hospital saved my life, and I'm very grateful for that, and the doctors that were there saved my life, and I was in the hospital for almost two weeks, and so I decided, the night they told me I was gonna die, I was by myself. - Goodness. - And now we'll start tearing up, I was by myself, they kept asking me, do you have clergy, do you have a will, do you have this, do you have that? - I didn't know what was going on, everything was happening so fast, I had four blood transfusions, I had all the stuff, I had bleeding on the stomach, I was losing all my faculties, and all this, everything, and they said, you know, I said, I don't have any of that, and then I started thinking myself, I said, okay, what's the worst case scenario I could say right now that's gonna relieve me in my pain, I said, well, God's gonna let me live because he's gonna move me to Nashville. - Oh boy, and you should see the looks came out of all these people's faces, and it wasn't the doctors, it was the nurses, and they were like, oh, okay, yes, dear, you're going to Nashville, that's right. And so the whole entire time for the first three, four days, they're like, but you're going to Nashville, right, so yes I am. So by the time I got off the cardiac ward, I said, well, I better start making plans to move to Nashville at this point, actually. So they're talking, they move me to the infectious disease ward, and have no idea how I got the sepsis, but I had a scar from here to here on my hip, and I was gonna be fine, I was gonna have a port in my arm for about six weeks, and they said, you're gonna get out, but you're gonna have this port in your arm, and I said, then I can move to Nashville, and they said, yeah, so I get on the horn, I start getting an apartment, everything, I start making plans to get out. - So they, you kinda, sorry, go ahead. - Oh, I was just gonna say, so they had no idea what it was, I mean, as far, I mean, obviously a scar with sepsis, it's usually because something has gotten into the bloodstream that now is-- - Yeah, I burn my leg on the spring prior on a grill, and it looked like it had healed up, but it was pretty flaky and it hadn't healed up. - Gotcha, yeah. - So, you know, it looked to me like it was healed up, I think I probably should go and burn it, and I'm talking about more stuff. You know, I'm probably one of the people that I will be the last person to go to the doctor. - Same. - And so they were gonna cut my leg off, literally that night. It was either my leg, my life, you know, it was like, Jack Sparrow doing like this with somebody's hand in the movie, and they told me if they cut my leg off, I wouldn't have been able to sit down. So I walk with a limp, so, you know, if you read Nashville, Boyager, it talks about that. So everybody in town knows how I walk, and people are used to helping me up and down the stage, but it doesn't stop me, I keep going. I was just in Shabuzzi's video, and, you know, I do acting. It helped me, I'm gonna be in a movie called, it's called Dating My Past, and so when I walked in, I walked in with a crushes, and they're like, "Oh, great, it's a hospital scene." And they used me as an extra walking through a hospital, all through that, yeah, it was great. And that movie will be coming out on Amazon. And so, you know, the people, you know, you work with people like that, they have such compassion and care. And so I'm about to, Scotty McCreary's got me, I made the final, final, final cut to get in his video. - Okay. - This weekend. So it's about-- - North Carolina, boy. - Yes, it's about summer love. So, you know, I'm gonna be getting my hip replacement, I've already gone through the gamut, and a conveyor belt, so I'll be getting the hip replacement in November. And in my boss with the herst, you know, driving the herst, you know, it kind of adds the creepiness, walking with the cane. But when I was doing the whole Shabuzzi deal, I was on, I mean, I rested for two days, it was so hard after that. I was on my feet for 13 hours, and they were so nice and gracious. But there was a scene where at the beginning of the video, the girls are walking into the, into Lucky's. And so there was a scene where the motorcycle comes through, and then we all start walking around. They don't show that in the video. - Okay. - But they wanted me to raise my cane. So I worked out, so I'm like, 'cause I've got two little girls, one girl beside me, the other one. I'm like, "These are my granddaughters, "you're not gonna let them in. "You can wait all night, I'm holding it my $20." Then I'll be raising cane the entire time. - I raise a cane, man. It's so, you know, I played it to the best of my advantage. So now I gotta reinvent myself again, because once this goes, I lost 20 pounds the last time I saw you guys. - Oh, that's great. - So now the next three pounds will come off. And now I gotta reinvent myself again, and-- - I will message you separately to see how to do that. - Yeah, I was gonna say, I think I found your 20 pounds. So, congratulations. - But I mean, I get to play the grandma roles, and so, 'cause I am coming up to that 57th birthday in two weeks. So-- - Honestly, that kind of shocks me. You don't come across grandmotherly to me and Finney. - No, and for me, it's hard to believe that you taught for 20, 27 years, right? - 28 years and 20 months, yeah. - 28, you taught for 28 years. - Yes. - And then just decided, I mean, you retired, and good job on retiring, prior to certain individuals that are running the state now. But it's good, good, because it's just amazing. Like, I can't, when I think of some of the teachers that I had when I was like in elementary school and high school, I wanna say some of them were in their upper 50s when they were teaching, and they had been teaching for, some of them 20, 25 years at that point. And as far as I know, a lot of them are still, some of them may still be teaching. - Well, I started out with a master's degree. So right when I got out of Carolina in '89, I went and tried to become a interior designer, and then Hugo hit. So, I kinda left and went to grad school. - Not a lot of interiors left after Hugo. - Yeah, I was in World Beach, too, so-- - It's not too soon to tell that joke. - There's another story there, but so I went back and went to grad school, and did the 19 month I got out really quick, and I worked at the Children's Center, and I worked with a lot of international children, just loved it, and started out Bamburg, and worked in Bamburg County, and did more older high school and middle school, and then went to Charleston. And so, started out with a master's, went 23 years old or so, and then got national boards really early. You know, I think really early, and so that's when it just came out. So that stepped with me for 20 years. - Yeah. - I won't even be down with national boards until this November is gonna run out. - Oh. - So, yeah, so once you have that, a lot of people retire and don't have that advantage. - Yeah. - Some people go back to get their master's plus 20, and then they have their national boards. Those people are doing really well, but in that way, I was able to, and it was like, I had a conversation with my mother, and everything that she was able to do for me, and putting me in tap at two, and being enquirer in the church, and doing all these things, I'm able to go back, you know, some people are like, "Well, yeah, I did that as a hobby." But to go back and say that to do the things that you did as a hobby, and come back and try to, it still is a hobby. - It's like a serious hobby for me until I cut something. - Yeah. - Yeah, I got a check from Shabuzzi. I'm, I've never a hundred-something dollars, but the memories are priceless, the friends I made from that. The people that I work with in that video, the things that they have done, and they have worked on, the projects are amazing. How I got in that video is amazing. So-- - Yeah, tell us a little bit about that. Tell us how that came about. - So, I'm just freelance. So I do freelance acting. I started here in Columbia, doing some experienced Columbia videos, doing some things with, let's see, oh gosh. They're gonna get upset. One of the pontoon, Bentley Pontoons. I started doing things with Bentley Pontoons. - Awesome, Pontoons. - Yeah, and I started doing things with them, and then that grew into Brookdale Senior Living. That was my first national national national national. And then I didn't do anything, and then I started doing stuff, "Well, no, wait." And then I started hosting, and I started hosting for Desert Mean Cupid. It was a dating site. And then I started hosting for, it sounds weird, but it was legit. It was like hosting stuff downtown in Columbia. - And then I started-- - And then I started-- - Given the cards out for the speed dating and stuff. - Yeah, so much. - Oh, interesting. - Yeah. And then I started hosting for High Point, for people out of California, and do High Point furniture, that was fun. And then I got sick, and then I moved to Nashville. And then I started going through my backstage and my casting networks and actors' access. I'm not in SAG after. And so, if you stay that way, then they kind of find you. And then you get sometimes better cuts and pay and that kind of thing because you're not the union. - Yeah, I think that's the thing about SAG after, though, is to be in SAG, the amount of money that you have to pay or promise a percentage to. - Yeah. - 'Cause I got the email. I don't remember what it was I did, but I got the email one day saying, "Hey, here's the application if you wanna join SAG," after doing whatever it was I did. - Yeah. - And I start, I don't remember what it was. - Well, what did you did? No, no idea. - I had no idea. - What did you get yourself in, do you know? - Yeah, I have no idea. - Where did you walk across the street in a commercial? And they were like, "God damn it, send him the..." - I don't know if it was an extra or something, or it was a speed. I don't remember. Honestly, whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it got cut. But I got the email as like, "You can join the SAG." Honestly, when I saw the email, I was like, "Oh, I wonder if this is how I get into the writer's guild," and it wasn't. - Yeah, if it's like, if it's something that might get you into IMB or whatever, but I mean, I apply for a lot of things and some things I don't. So anyway, I just applied for this, and this is what happened. It said, "Video shoot, you didn't know what it was for. You don't know who it's for." It just says, "Video shoot, Nashville." And I'm like, "Hot dog, you know, it might be Miranda, you know, I don't know." So I was sitting here, pins and needles, and it said, "I got through." And I was like, "Wow, this is cool." And it says, "You're not gonna know until this certain day." And so I was working, and I had this tour, and then 10.30 at night. It was about 10.45, maybe. And we were at the cemetery, and I had my hearstful of people, and I'm looking at my phone about to get out and give my last little speech, and then it comes across. And what was crazy is my, one of my main co-writers, Gino Virgia, who I mentioned a lot, Gino and I have been studying Shabuzzi's work, 'cause we had just written a song in light of Shabuzzi's work that we'd been studying, and it was called, I think our song's called "Parting the Glass." I'm not sure. I think we're changing the name of it. Anyway, so it was something like that. And so, all of a sudden, here's this guy that we'd been studying his work for two weeks now, Shabuzzi, would like you to be in his video. Please make it to Lucky's at this time, blah, blah. They send it that way, because they don't want you putting it all over Facebook and everything that you're gonna be in Shabuzzi's video, and blah, blah, blah. So I was like, "Wow." And it said, "Be there, wear these things." One o'clock, PM, be it Lucky's, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was close set, so you can't take pictures, and then, you know, whatever. So you get there, one o'clock, you gotta sign all these papers, and they take pictures of you front and back. You know, it's very amazing experience. You kind of feel like you're in prison at first. The way they're taking your pictures, like a mugshot and-- - That deserves that. - Like your life away, that kind of thing. And you take your purses in. They treat you very well. They're all very nice. - You can't do it. - Lots of snacks and water and things like that. Real booze, no, you don't drink real booze. It looks like we're drinking real booze. I don't know if you've seen me in the video, but it looks like beer splashing on me. - Yeah. - Yeah, it's all tea and things like that. Like, I mean, I could tell you the secrets of the video, the bar scene, the fight. We were all sitting around pondering. What are some tricks that we can do? And the guys go, "Oh, let's fight." Okay, and then everybody's, they're that good. It makes it look like they're fighting, you know? And in fact, that splash was not supposed to happen where I am up front and center. I am really surprised. And so that was a moment. And my mother has not seen the video and she probably won't. But yeah, it just, like Tanner, the guy, the main guy in it that falls on his head, Tanner and I are gonna go sing karaoke in a couple of weeks. Yeah, he's my friend. But there's Disney princesses in there. There's people that were in Nashville and there's people that were Titan's cheerleaders in that video. I mean, there's people that were like a major car commercial. Just some really cool people that I can't believe I was associated with and got to be in there. So it's really neat. And because of that, I got some callbacks to do that audition for some other things and some waiting. But yeah, Scotty McCreary, I'm, I'm a, I can't totally say what the whole project is, but yeah, I found it. Do y'all want to see it? - Oh, yeah. - I found the still frame. - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - Show it to us, Zach. - I'm in there four times, but. - I'm gonna, I'm gonna try and play this again. - Just don't put the bad word in it. - That's right here. - That's, yeah, there I am. - Can't do it. (laughing) - There I am. - There we go. That's the, and it did, I won't play it just for copyright reasons, but. - I play the sophisticated gal, yeah. (laughing) Yeah, that's what they call me. Yeah, the directors are great. - Which, which one of those were your granddaughters? - No, they were, yeah. - Oh, they weren't in that one. - She's, yeah, she's really cute. Like the two, well they, I just said they were, they got tickled, but I called one of them, she has a really big afro. She's like, we're pals on Instagram, and she's gorgeous. I called her one of my granddaughters, and then there's another one. She's really, really pretty. She looks like she would be her sister. She was my other granddaughter, so. - That is nice. That is really cool. That is really cool. Yeah, it's, it's, it's such a unique. I have, I have seen, I have seen music video productions, because one of the, one of the places I worked when I lived in Atlanta was, that was a next door to wait. It was a TV station that I worked at, but it was next door to a production unit. And there were, there were seven. Oh, now, now I remember. I'll have to tell later. Anyway, so the production studio that I work next door to did music videos for artists that were out of Atlanta, but because they needed an actual like studio. There wasn't, you know, there wasn't the pine forest studio that they have now where Marvel does all their stuff, and Tyler Perry's got his big studio down there. But they did, they did some music videos out of theirs. And it was, it was a really unique experience to be able to watch what it is they do. And, you know, sometimes they'll shoot the entire music video from one perspective or one point of view. And then they'll shoot, they'll shoot the entire song again from another perspective. And then, and then that way they can clip it up and put it together. Yeah. But that was digital. So this was back in the, this was back in the, in the late 90s. Digital wasn't 100% available like it is now. So there were, they were filming it on, I guess it was film. They, they felt a lot of it on film. And then that film had to actually be spliced and whatnot for the, for the end results. We did, I was there when we did a movie with Dana Kamakayla. And, oh, Zach could help me out, but it's the, the guy from Star Wars that was Lando Calrissian, Billy D. Williams. It was a, it was a Dana Kamakayla and Billy D. Williams movie. And it was, it was just a really unique experience to see the kind of stuff that they did. And I'm just this video disc jockey on a, on a closed circuit television for the cable system doing mornings and afternoons and whatnot. So it was, it was a unique experience. So to be able to be a part of that, that's really cool. It's, it's, it is, it's, everybody was so professional. Shabuzzi is such a genuinely nice man in person. He's very tall and everybody was very respectful of his artistry and making sure that he in Big X got what they needed to get done done. And everybody was such professionals in every aspect. And they just, people were just so kind. That's, that's one of the biggest things about Nashville is that everybody's so professional and kind, you know, and wherever you're going, if you're playing music or you're working on set. Every person that I've encountered has just been fantastic to work with. - Yeah. - But yeah, it, it's just so much fun just to, to have seen that final product come together and just know the work that it took to, you know, put it together and it just, it's, it's a lot of work. - Oh yeah. - Yeah, it was just, it was an honor to be a part of it. So, yeah. - Yeah. - Magic for sure. - So cool. So I want to talk about some of the things you've got coming up, including this Thursday, August of 15th. You'll be at Uncle Festers here in Columbia, South Carolina. What are you going to be doing at this show? - Well, I'm going to bring some new songs. I've been writing a lot. I have not been playing out as much. It's been hot. - Oh yeah. - So I've played recently at a lakeside open mic, which a lot of my friends have been playing at. I recently got a new roommate. So she, she plays downtown. She, she is, she has a band and she plays Kid Rocks and I'll just give her a plug. Star Girl, people go down Nashville. You want to go see Star Girl at Honky Tonk and Kid Rocks and Tootsie's. That's where she's at. - Okay. - During the daytime. Yeah, she plays down there. And so anyway, yeah. So we've been getting ready for her to come in there. We've made a one bedroom work where we've made it into two bedrooms. So that's been a busy, busy time with that and getting ready to do all that. And so I've had a few shows and now I'm back to get into big time show season. And I've been doing a lot of rights. So I've been riding and then busy with all the acting. So getting ready to kick August off with Uncle Festers, which is great. I have been playing there since 2020 and to have been asked by Greg Sword and Celestial Biking to finally play a song right around. He's been just a blessing. I am really pleased that he walked up to me and asked me. So this has been quite a joy to have on the calendar. It's about six or seven songs. The rounds are a little bit different here in Columbia than they are in Nashville. I called him the other day 'cause I wasn't sure 'cause I'm thinking a three hour round. It's about 18 songs. So I have 'em, but he said, "No, it's gonna be super chill. "It's gonna be fun." So encouraging everybody to come out. It's gonna be a time for meeting Greg about six songs per person and it's gonna not be one person at one hour. It's gonna be about two and a half hours or so. More or less and everybody's gonna have time to tell their stories and how the songs came about and where they're at with their careers and that kind of thing. And it's gonna be a special time and I think it's $15 at the door, $10 in advance. I think doors open at seven o'clock. Greg's gonna have things posted on celestial viking. Should be now, I think, like you said, he's a busy man. - Yeah. - This is a lot going on that check celestial viking on Facebook and Instagram. And as soon as he has all that, I will be posting it as well. - Yeah, so make sure to check out Stephanie Morton on social media. So Facebook is Stephanie. - S-T-E-F-A-N-I. - That's right. Morton.com, wonderful people at Broad Street Net. They are amazing what they do. I have shows at Why Not Saloon. - Oh yeah. - That's gonna open up a birthday show, August 22nd. It's gonna be a great one. There's gonna be some headliners there. - Is that your birthday? - That is my birthday, yeah. - Oh, well, happy early birthday. - Thank you. - That's very cool. Yeah, I saw Why Not Saloon, Nashville, August 22nd. - You can get to, all the Why Not shows are televised. - Oh, very cool. - Yeah. So those are all, you can catch those online on Facebook and on, I think, on Instagram as well. - Yeah, I was gonna say, 'cause you've got three shows at Why Not Coming Up. You've got the 22nd, you've got the 27th, and then the 31st. - Yes, yeah, yeah. And yeah, and then I start Jesus in the bar. - Yeah. - Start that. That's a big one. I'm hoping that if I do well enough with that, then I'll actually get to move into a bar, 'cause right now I'm playing like a senior center. - Okay. - You have to move your way up. Just to get into it is really, really good. - Sure. - Yeah. And so, kind of move your way up. It's, you gotta earn your stripes. You know, you just earn your stripes in Nashville, is how you get your way up. - Yeah. - So, and Cumberland, the Cumberland Mountain Songwriters Festival, taking place in Crossville. - Yeah. - So, just as I know about Crossville, because my first boss in radio, the first morning show I ever worked on, was for a guy named James Carney, who on the radio went by Moby in the morning. But he was from Crossville. Oh, Moby was bigger than life. He actually passed away just earlier this year. I think it was earlier this year, but yeah, he was basically the first paying gig I ever had in radio, but yeah, he was from Crossville. In fact, I think at one point he told us that there were billboards at him all over the place because it was the home of Moby, and then I think I looked it up and there weren't any. He was special, but not that special. I'm just kidding, Moby was great. But yeah, so the Cumberland Mountain Songwriters Festival, can you tell us about that, what is that? - Yeah, so this is gonna be like the first festival that I've been to since probably 2016. - Okay. - So, I'm playing early in the morning. I'm lucky to have gotten 11 o'clock spot. It's really hard to get into this festival, I believe. And I'm taking my friend, Martin Abel, he's gonna be playing for me, so I'm just gonna have to just concentrate on singing, which I love, so. - Oh, that's the best, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, so that's good. And it's gonna be at their historical theater there. The, I think it's called the Palace Theater. I think that's what it's called. - Okay. - A lot of the songwriters that are playing, I have a lot of friends that are scattered out during the day, but in the evening, like a lot of the guys that the female male songwriters that wrote for people in the 90s. - Oh, yeah. - Are gonna be like the big songwriters. They're gonna be playing it there. So, I'm gonna be playing there in the day. - Yeah. - And then, and just to say that I'm one of these people, and people are like, well, how many people are gonna be there? Well, like, nobody shut up, or like there was nobody there at that time. I don't care. - It's not about that. - It's not about that. - Yeah, it's not about that. - My name was on the poster, and I said it was there, and I play there. I care less that the frog from Bugs Bunny was sitting there, and the shoebox was open, and he never chirped, or sang, and I don't care. - Was it Memphis J-Frog? I'm sorry, is that? - Yeah, whatever his name was. - Oh, yeah, yeah, I don't know why that. - Well, they are come here, but I don't care. - That's your name, I remember. - Yeah, yeah. - Memphis J-Frog. - I totally get that. Like, every time we played shows, it was, there was one time there was like almost like 1,000 people there. Never got paid for a gig, but I'm like 1,000 people heard me. Then the other time was 100 people. As long as we were there, and somebody heard me 30 people, like someone's there to experience that with you, and you get to be there on the stage and express yourself, it's there, that's what it's about. - Exactly, and it's like if I play in these venues, and I'm playing with some kid, and my name is on that bill with them, then that kid becomes famous, and it's like, "Well, I play with them." - Yeah, absolutely. - And they're, you know, so it's kind of like with me, it's kind of like the thrill of the chase or whatever. So it's like, if something comes of it at my age, and what my experience, going back to what happened to me last August, which the doctor I never said released me the other day, it said I was free and clear to go. - That's awesome. - So now I just gotta get the hip fixed. But, you know, it's, at this point, it's fun. If something comes of it, it's good to be. - Yeah. - But, but going back, yes, I'm very excited about playing Cumberland, I am. And this is gonna lead me to open up doorways, so I can live the hippie van life. Like I see all these kids do on Instagram. - You're right, yeah. - And convert this van, and go around and sing for squirrels and birds, and whoever else wants to hear me. (laughing) And live that wood stocky life, you know, somehow, some way. - Yeah, so real quick, I just wanna give the schedule again because, so August 15th, Uncle Festers here in Columbia, South Carolina, August 22nd, why not saloon in Nashville? August 25th, you're gonna be at Cooper Branch Restaurant. That's also in Nashville. - Copper Ranch. - Copper Ranch. - Copper Ranch. There's only one, oh. Perfect. I am sometimes illiterate. August 27th, Jesus in a Bar program, that's also in Nashville. August 27th, you'll be back at the why not saloon in Nashville. August 31st is gonna be the Cumberland Mountain Songwriters Festival in Crossville. And then, again, August, on the same day, you'll go back to Nashville to do the why not. So, 80, wait a minute, it's August 31st, hold on. It's their, oh my gosh, it's like their, it's like trick era of publishing's second or third anniversary. I am, I didn't eat separate yet, I'm sorry. - No, you're fine. That your schedule, your schedule rivals our schedule over the course of the next week. - And it's starting to get busy for September. I haven't put those dates down yet. - That's great, though. - So just keep checking back, so. - Yeah, it's Stephanie Morton, S-T-E-F-A-I-F-A-N, StephanieMorton.com, S-T-E-F-A. - Do you have to say Stefani into Alexa, Stefani, yeah. - That works. But yeah, so that's, I think that's outstanding. That is really cool. So, you know, and we wanna, you know, wish you all the success as well. 'Cause-- - Merit, thank you, Inzac, thank you. - No, absolutely. - But thank you all so much for having me again. - Yeah, absolutely. - I appreciate it. There'll be new music coming out. I don't know when, but we're gonna work on it. And so hopefully before the new year, you know, once I get this hip fixed and everything, but, you know, there's still all music to put out there and get generated, you know, it's a process. And it's just something that, you know, I'm working on cataloging right now and that kind of thing. - Well, before we let you go, because I don't think we did this the last time you were on, we have our seven questions. - Yes, we did get it. - So, these are just questions that we give to some of the people that call on the show, whether they're celebrities or they're his ex, you know, sister. (laughing) Sorry, Zach. Although I guess we do have to have Shelby on at some point so we can give her the seven question treatment. So the first question is, what was the last thing that you Googled? - Oh Lord, the last thing that I Googled. - Ah, I think car insurance. - Car insurance, interesting, okay. Did you wind up going with a specific carrier or? - Nothing yet. - Nothing yet, oh, see. I was gonna give a plug belt to whoever it was, but they missed out on that, all right. Second one, if you could have one superpower, what would it be? - One superpower, oh, okay. Oh, wow, if I could have one superpower, it would be to make sure that everyone could be happy. - Oh, okay. - We can be generally happy, like everybody could be happy without having material things, just be happy. - So, if you-- - All right, preach your choice, 'cause I'm part of everyone. - Yeah. - I love that. (laughing) - That's kind of like one of the, what's Dr. Xavier's powers? He's got the power of, he can put people's, he can put thoughts into people's heads, so. - One in a time. - That's right. - Like people be happy without material things. - All right. Third question, if your life were a movie, what would the title be? - Oh, Lord have mercy. (laughing) - Oh, Lord have mercy. - Okay, that's good, that's good. All right. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? That's a hard one. 'Cause there's so many good foods out there. What could you potentially single it down to? For me, if I were to choose Chick-fil-A sandwich for the rest of my life, I know I'd be living in agony, because it wrecks my stomach every time. - Oh. So, okay. So, if I could eat one food for the rest of my life, and that would be, okay. So, it would probably be, there's so many of them. So, it would probably be like, mozzarella sticks. - Oh, okay. - All right. - All right. - All right. - Very fair. - That one would probably also wreck me, for if that was the only thing. - You would kill me, yeah. - So, if you were stranded. - I don't think of it like, we get the new choice from it with this magical-ish. - But I haven't had those in probably forever. So, yeah. - Don't do the Burger King ones, because apparently they are, okay. They are fiery mozzarella sticks, and not only will they stop you up, but they'll also release the Kraken. So, that is a plug for- - It's a true talent to do this thing. - Yeah. All right, fifth question. What is your least favorite candy, and why? - Oh, okay. It's a jelly belly, and it's the gross one. There's a gross tasting jelly belly. - There's one called Boogers. - We'll just say it's Boogers jelly bellies. (laughing) - Yeah. - Sounds good. - My selection was like, mounds are all men-joyed. (laughing) - Well, mine was black licorice. I can't do black licorice. - I'll take that over Boogers jelly belly any day. - All right. Number six, what is one strange or unusual talent? - Of mine? - Yeah. Like, let's say you're at a- - This is bad enough? - Well, no, yeah, sure. But, like, what's something people don't necessarily know? You have a talent at. - I wish that I had some music bed. Let's see, maybe do- - Let's see, what can I do that's weird? - Um. - Here we go. There we are. (laughing) - Um. I don't know. I mean, I can cross my toes. - Like, like all of them? - Like, I'm doing it right now. I can cross my fingers and my toes. - Like, like, you can- - Like that, yeah, I'm totally doing it right now. Like, they can see me doing it right now. - I can't, I don't- - I'm trying to do it. - Like, if I do it, like, guys, I'm doing it right now. (laughing) - Like, they can't see under the table, but I'm doing it right now. - No. Tom, you can, you can, we'll not worry about the- - Yeah, I was gonna put my camera under the table but I'm gonna do that. - The problem is, is only fans winds up picking up off of our video, and we don't get an opportunity to sell that. All right, last question. If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive, who would they be? - Oh boy. - Patsy Cline. - Okay. - Dead or alive? - Yeah, dead or alive. You didn't mean the band. - Okay, Patsy Cline's one of 'em. Jesus is two. - Okay. - Okay, and so, all right, so I need one other person, right? And, um, um, everybody's looking at me like, 'cause they're be good. - Ooh, ooh. - This better be really, really, really, really good. So, it would be, I would think, Oprah. - Oh, okay, all right, all right. - I'm a little offended- - But she knows everybody, so. - I'm a little offended that you didn't say Zach or I, but you know. - I'm sorry. - No, no, look, honestly- - She knows she, right? - In writing, yeah. In writing a question like- - No, but her couch. - I feel like- - I'd like to call you up and have dinner with you tomorrow. - That's a echo. I feel like putting a question like that in the set is definitely one that we're just gonna get our feelings heard a lot. - But, but Oprah knows everybody, so she can set me up with even dinner with somebody else. - There you go, that's no. Look, I'm not offended, I'm hurt, I'm not offended. It's- - She knows it's a letter. - Ask me the next time. No, I'm not gonna get asked next time. (laughing) - Well, Stephanie will love you, actually. And that's for, uh, Baron Nada gonna dinner. - So, we asked one question, is a set up question. Anyone else who wants to go on this? - When Stephanie gets picked up by Capitol Records. And I'm just putting this out there because it's happened to me before. But we did- - Blow them to all. (laughing) - Well, so Keith Urban used to be in a band called The Ranch. I think Zach's heard of this story, that's why he's sighing. Have you, have you heard this story? Keith Urban? - No, but I know a lot of people that have - Keith Urban stories- - And Jack's stories, but they have key stories. So, he was in a band called The Ranch when he first hit the scene. - Yeah. - And he played a bass festival at Lake Altoona just outside of Atlanta. And it was with John Berry. So it was, so The Ranch opened for John Berry. And then Jan, when John Berry was performing, we were all just kind of hanging out, I was hanging out with Keith Urban and the other two members of the band, which I can't remember their name. But, so we got through like two songs at John Berry and we were like, all right, well, we've gotten past his hits. That is not a dig at John Berry, it's just that he doesn't sing music that I listen to. But, so we got to like, we got past the second song and Keith Urban goes, is there anywhere around here to have fun? And we were like, yeah, sure. - Is that what he was saying? - Even Busters. - No, it was just- - Is he dancing in the Australian accent? - Is he dancing in the Australian accent? - Yeah, it was an Australian accent. But, so we were like, yeah, we can go to David Busters. We went to David Busters the entire night. We were there till like two or three o'clock in the morning. The entire night he put on his Capitol Records credit card. And like, it was an outstanding night. Keith Urban was such a great guy. And so much more- - Like whack-a-mooruck of his whack-a-wall of a. (laughing) - So, you know, that's what, that's my expectation is once you get picked up by one of these big music groups, - I'm looking for a B.I.G. media credit card to go do that. (laughing) - B.I.G. media. - I just want, I just want a song to get picked up. I just want maybe to be able to, you know, write with some of these people. Maybe, you know, it's a 10 year town. - Oh, yeah. - I mean, we'll see what happens. I mean, if somebody will cut it, we'll see. But I think sometimes, you know, the way my route is going to be to get in there is possibly by getting into these music videos more and more. - Sure. - And maybe that's my journey. - Yeah. - So- - Well, you'd have some Easter eggs. Like, if you get signed, like you want and you explode, they'd be like, "She was in that video." No way. - Yeah, I mean, that's how it has happened for some people. So- - She sat on that chair that Morgan Wallen threw off the balcony. - I was there the night. He threw that off. I was across the street from Chiefs. I was at Garth Brooks Bar at a friend from Charleston in town. - Dang. - And we were coming out as the chair was coming down. - Oh, that's crazy. - I wish that chair landed on me. - Yeah, a lawsuit, of course. - That, yeah. - I'd be on the statue like, "I had some help." - I had some help. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Exactly. - That's great. - You didn't have to give me money. Just sing the song. - Yeah. - There you go. - Yeah. - Then the same thing. - Yeah. - Absolutely. - Get me with that chair. - Stephanie Morton, of course. StephanieMorton.com, that's S-T-A-F-N-I. Morton.com. - Yeah, Stephanie Morton Music on Instagram and on Facebook as well. - Yeah, Instagram. They got you a Stephanie Morton official and on TikTok, on TikTok. - TikTok. - Yeah, that might be changing up some. There's several Stephanie Mortons, but make sure you follow the one that's got Stephanie something off of TikTok. - Stephanie's got with it in a while. - Stephanie's on here telling us she's 57, and I'm the one that looks old, calling it the TikTok or TikTok or whatever. - Dude, you got TikTok, yeah. - All right. - If you're on the TikToks and you tack, then follow and like. - All right. It's hard. It's a lot to keep up with. - Yes. - Everybody links to social media are all in the show notes. So, show, make sure to check that out and go check out the new video from Boozy. - Yeah. - You don't need no mix. - It's, yeah, drink don't need no mix. It's out there now, so go check that out. Stephanie's in there. Her granddaughters are in there, which-- - Yeah. (laughing) - Just check the show notes. We'll have all the links in there as well. So, do that. That's gonna do it for this episode. Stephanie, thank you very much for being on this. - Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Jack. It's always a pleasure. - Oh, absolutely. - It's so much fun. And we look forward to seeing you on again. And because it only takes three episodes before you are a podcast champion. - Yay, that's good to know. - That is what we tell people. They get to buy their own hats and shirts. I'll send you the link. It's great. Links to past episodes, podcast, platforms, merchandise, social media, we'll lower our website, thealabata.com. And you think our financial model will give you away free content and entertainment is silly and you're in the giving mood. Why not become an official nothinger and support the show monthly? Members get early access to this episode as well as exclusive content, or you can make a one-time donation through the same link. If you'd like to be a part of the show, you can call and leave as a message. 803-67-2053, or you can email the show at theallaboutnothing.com. You can join our Discord server. Links are available at theallaboutnothing.com. Thank you, everybody, very much for listening. You all stay safe, be kind and you can keep your hands to yourselves. - The All About Nothing podcast is produced and engineered by me, Bear Gruber. Thanks to Cake for our intro music, sick of you. You can follow everything CakeTheBand at cakemusic.com. Thanks to Muff the producer for our outro music. You can follow Muff on Instagram @Mufftheproducer. Hi, I'm Bear Gruber. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter @BearGruber, or visit my link tree/BearGruber. Want to support the show? Visit our webpage, theallaboutnothing.com, and become a member. There are several tiers available, including memberships that give you early access to episodes, as well as exclusive content. Visit theallaboutnothing.com. To find links to our social media, merchandise, and past episodes, visit theallaboutnothing.com. If you'd like to be heard on the show, you can call and leave us a message. Child 803-672-0533. 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