Ep.234 It's A Beautiful Day To Be Alive (ABOVE THE LAW Band Members Quiesean Wilson and Michael Lawsage)

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Where'll you be going?

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Next listen. Damn, son, where'd you find this? Go on, make it happen. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

SPEAKER_07 0:11

Welcome to Malina Michelle. I'm Michelle, the office DJ. I know almost every song, every genre, and probably a little gossip about the artist, too. And this is Steve. Steve loves music too, mostly because he has no idea what the words are. But he stumped me today on a Hank Williams Jr. song. Hank Williams Jr. Dinosaur. I'd never heard of it. Or I'd heard of it, but I didn't know what you were saying.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

You're like, I've never heard of that.

SPEAKER_07 0:37

Well, maybe it was just the way you were singing.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

And it's about a bunch of people, a bunch of musicians that go into a bar and they're hearing songs that they don't identify with at all, and they say they feel like dinosaurs. But it's actually the music that's changed to the detriment. Well, not the artist.

SPEAKER_07 0:52

In my defense, I thought a cat was being run over.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

That's a good Hank Williams Jr.

SPEAKER_07 0:57

Hey, we cannot do this without our sponsors, 100%. Deep Eddie Vodka tasting room.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Deep Eddie vodka might be gone from dripping, but it's still available on shelves all across the state. Deep Eddie Vodka is a true taste of Texas.

SPEAKER_07 1:11

South Star Bank.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

South Star Bank isn't just another local bank asking for your business. They understand Texans and what they need to be successful. Stop by today to see how they can earn your business. Black Slate. Ask for Kim.

SPEAKER_07 1:25

Ask for Kim. Black Slate Construction and Black Slate Roofing.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

When you need a new roof or a remodel, it's no time for amateur hour. Call the real pros at Black Slate Roofing and Black Slate Construction. They know how to do it right the first time, every time.

SPEAKER_07 1:41

And the one, the only Mallet Integrity Team. I would like a shiny, meaningless trophy. I want a meaningless trophies today in studio.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah, today we're joined by two of the driving forces behind one of Dripping Springs' favorite live bands, Above the Law. Michael Lawsage founded the band more than a decade ago, and alongside lead vocalist Keyshawn Wilson, they've helped create a musical experience. Now I'm messing it up, that's become a Thursday night tradition for countless Hill Country residents as the house band for Hudson's On Mercer. Welcome to the show, you guys.

SPEAKER_07 2:31

Welcome, welcome, you guys. We so appreciate you being here. And uh sorry about the my dyslexic uh time, foo pa. But uh so Michael, I met you um, I guess a couple of years ago at 12 Fox.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 2:49

And uh you you also have a company where you you have a bus and you drive people around. It's called Drive in Austin. Is that what you're driven ATS? Um tell us about that. How'd you come over here to to Little Old Drippin' Springs? Because you're from Dayton, Ohio.

SPEAKER_05 3:06

I am, but I've been in Texas uh since 1980.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 3:10

And uh lived in Dallas and in South Austin. And uh I kind of got off the road as a manufacturer's rep in the furniture industry in 2014. Uh moved my mom to uh South Austin and decided to get off the road and I wanted uh kind of you know retire, but uh do some fun stuff, and I started working for some other companies um doing wine tours in the Hill Country. And uh then in 2020, moved out here, my mom passed away, moved out to dripping, and then my son, uh who's a lawyer in Houston, went and invest in the tour business. Uh uh. So we bought a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter together, and um and I took off and now you drive bachelorette parties all around the country.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

I do tours and I bet you got some good stories there.

SPEAKER_05 4:00

You know what? A lot of great stories.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yes, you do. Keyshawn, where'd you grow up and how'd you end up around here?

SPEAKER_04 4:05

Uh I grew up in West Texas mostly. Okay. Actually, no, I grew up in West Texas, but my mom moved us to Austin, Texas when I started seventh grade. Okay. And so I've been in the Austin area off and on for 30 something plus years.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Okay. Tell me about your both of your music careers. How'd you get into music? What what inspired all that?

SPEAKER_07 4:25

I I read that Keyshawn, uh, your family, uh your father, your uncles, your aunts, um, I did a little deep dive stalking on you. And then you started in choir and you heard them sing, right?

SPEAKER_04 4:37

Yeah, I heard them sing. Well, it started with my dad because he was a pastor and he had a gospel quartet group called The Wayside Travelers. And so I would hear them sing all the time, and then you would find me singing in my little jump rope as a microphone and playing my guitar as a broom. And so I started singing from that.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Keep going.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

And uh but I've been singing since I was.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Somebody was singing in the background.

SPEAKER_04 5:03

I don't know if the listeners could hear it, but somebody was. Sorry, Keyshawn, go ahead. I started singing when I was three years old. And so I think the first time that I was even leading an adult choir was allowed to lead an adult choir, I was like four singing in front of people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

So it's been in your blood since you were itty bitty.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

Oh, yeah. And if you get together with my dad's side of the family and it's like family reunion, you hear some beautiful music until you get my siblings up there, and my siblings get up there and they try to sing with me, and it is not pretty.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Well, how'd you guys get together and start above the law?

SPEAKER_05 5:37

Um, we met a few years ago at barbershop. On Sunday nights, they have the picker circle there. Um that was the first time a few years ago, and then uh in January of last year, um Keyshawn came to me and said he'd be interested in playing with uh Above the Law.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 5:56

And uh I absolutely said, Oh my gosh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

What were you doing at the time, Keyshawn?

SPEAKER_04 6:03

Um, I have been in several bands for years. So my main band is Uptown Drive, and we play corporate and wedding parties. Okay. And then I've been with a band called Soul Sessions probably for about five to six years now that I got with them when it was COVID because there was no music playing.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 6:22

And so he had Jamie had this thing called Soul on the porch. And so a friend of mine introduced me to Jamie, and it's been going on from there. But I've been in cover bands for years, probably since 2009, 2008.

SPEAKER_07 6:38

I want to know about the Michael Jackson tribute band. Is that is was that there's not a Michael Jackson tribute? Look, I said that's what whatever I found on on the internet, which you Wikipedia is sometimes wrong. You would think with with your name that you would be easy to find. And it was a lot of social media posts, but then I saw it was like really, really old. It said Michael Jackson tribute.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

It is a Michael Jackson tribute, but Uptown Drive does the Mac Michael Jackson tribute. Okay. So it's a whole thing with a suitcase and lights in the suitcase and fog in the suitcase and all that sort of stuff, and pull out the jacket, spin around, do all the are you Michael in that? I am Michael.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Oh, I'd like to see that.

SPEAKER_07 7:19

I would like to see that.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

You gotta have a party and book Uptown Drive. Well Uptown Drive. You know, I do.

SPEAKER_07 7:24

And I also I I read that you had the honor of singing the national anthem for an honor flight at um Austin, the Austin Airport. So tell me how you got involved in that.

SPEAKER_04 7:36

So my friend Chris, he uh introduced me to honor flight Austin, and because a guy who was singing the national anthem wasn't able to make it, so he threw the opportunity my way, and I took the opportunity, and ever since then, I guess they kind of like me, so they kept me. That's great.

SPEAKER_07 7:56

So wha tell me about that experience a little bit. So I know I've been there at the airport a couple of times when I guess it's the Southwest Airlines terminal that they're that they're doing that. And um these amazing war heroes and they're in their 80s and 90s, and they go to DC and they see all these these um monuments and they're treated. I think it's like two weeks, they're treated to like a whirlwind.

SPEAKER_04 8:19

There's only a weekend.

SPEAKER_07 8:20

Oh, maybe oh that one's only a weekend. It's only a day, actually. So they go for the five.

SPEAKER_04 8:25

Yeah. Yeah. So But they get to see all of the monuments and go see names of their friends and so are you singing before they get on the flight or when they're coming off? I sing before they get on the flight.

SPEAKER_07 8:36

So tell me about what that looks like, not the participants, but the just the regular everyday travelers as they're so for the regular ever everyday travelers, um they'll just be sitting around the airport trying to do their thing and they'll make an announcement talking about the honor flight.

SPEAKER_04 8:52

And then you have all these veterans and volunteers who are helping them out. And then you have also have the Austin pipe and drum. So they'll go down and they'll go down like kind of like a parade.

SPEAKER_06 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

And so everybody stops and they line up on the aisles, and you hear you see tears and clapping and people saying thank you for your service and everything. And I feel kind of weird sometimes because I never actually served in the military, but they still want me to walk in the parade and people are saying that.

SPEAKER_07 9:21

But you are serving them at that moment. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:24

I am, that is true. But it it I just feel it it's a cool experience.

SPEAKER_07 9:30

I bet. I bet it is. How hard is it to sing the national anthem, though? I mean, you know, I mean, like for the most part, we all know the words, right? If you're an American, but how hard is it to actually sing it?

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Well, if you start on the wrong note, you you have nowhere else to go. So uh it can be hard, especially if you start on the wrong note. But um one of my vocal teachers when I was in high school, she taught me the national anthem, and she said, You better know every single word of these, because if you have to sing it, you do not want to embarrass yourself for this country. Yeah so I know every single word of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Yeah, well, and you and when people do mess it up, it gets out there. Everybody watches that for weeks up. And it's funny. Yeah, no kidding. So you guys are the house band, a house band at Hudson's on Mercer.

SPEAKER_04 10:16

Correct. We were the house band in Hudson's. Oh, not anymore. So every Thursday of last year we played there every Thursday of last year, so we were the house band. The house band of Hudson's is back, so we only play two Thursdays out of the month.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Oh, okay, okay. How'd you like doing that? It was cool. It is a great venue, and oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_05 10:35

With a sound system, and and you we have so many uh supporters. Yeah. You know, the people, the friends that come supporters.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Yeah, there's some great people there. Do you guys have a song that you played together that you want to sing for us?

SPEAKER_04 10:48

Yeah, uh I have a friend of mine who's a songwriter. He wrote a song called To Step Beneath the Stars. His name is Kyle Walters, he lives in Houston, Texas, and he's an incredible songwriter. He found me after myself and Vaughn wrote a song called Cake and Eat, which was my very first country song. And uh he found me after I released that and was like, hey, I'm a songwriter. I just wanted to see if you wanted to check out my songs and give me a shot. And since then, he has sent me probably three or four albums worth of songs that I could actually that I like and will record eventually.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

So when that when a songwriter sends you the song, they send you the lyrics and the music? Yes.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Okay, and then so how he sends it, he sends it because he writes the lyrics, he doesn't play music. He writes the lyrics and he puts it in Suno to see what it'll sound like, and then he sends it to me, and I'm like, hmm, I like that. And then I take real musicians and we recreate it and make it better and humanize it. Okay, and we go and record it.

SPEAKER_07 11:54

So I would love to hear it.

SPEAKER_04 11:56

Yeah, this song will be coming out hopefully at the end of June or early July. All right.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Bonfire burning nice and slow. Two young lovers, wild and free, nothing to do, nowhere I'd rather be. I take your hand, pull you close. Let's take it slow. See where it goes. No neon lights, no smoke, feel by just you and me, staring up at the stars. Pull you close to spin you around. Two of us together to step beneath the stars. No neon lights, no smoke, few bars, just you and me, staring up at the stars, pull your clothes and spin you around. The two of us together to step in neat the stars at midnight road with nowhere to go. Full moon fading nice and slow. Raindrops sparking light in your face. Just a little rain. Right time, right place. Let's kill the lights. Let time move slow, and I'll spin you around. Neath that midnight glow. No neon lights, no smoke few bars, just you and me, staring up at the stars. Pull your clothes to spin you around. The two of us together to step in, meet the stars. No neon lights, no smoke few bars, just you and me, staring up at the stars. Pull your clothes to spin you around. The two of us together to step in. Need the stars Poor Swing Creak and babies in day. Moonlight reflects the life we've lived. Years may pass, but we're still here. Memories we share are crystal clear. I pull you close, your head on my chest, images of yesterday, in a life so blessed. No neon lights, no smoke field, bar just you and me, staring up at the stars. Pull your clothes to spin you around. The two of us together to stepping in the stars. No neon lights, no smoke field, bar just you and me, staring up at the stars. Pull your clothes to spin you around. The two of us together to steppin' Neat the stars. Two stepping, two stepping, two life. Two stepping, Neat the stars.

SPEAKER_07 16:05

Thank you for sharing that with us. That was beautiful. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 16:10

Wow, that's good. Hopefully it sounded good. That sounded great. It did sound very impressive.

SPEAKER_07 16:16

That leads to one of the questions that I have that when I was seeing you and I was stalking you, and I was looking over and over on your social media, something that you say all the time is it's a beautiful day to be alive. When did that become your thing?

SPEAKER_04 16:30

It actually became my thing a few years ago. I would do it. And then just recently, uh I felt like the Holy Spirit was like saying you need to start doing that again because it's actually touching people. And I I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and keep telling me, hey, it's a beautiful day to be alive, and that it has helped them through some situation that they've been going through.

SPEAKER_06 16:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:53

And it helps me because you know, everybody goes through stuff, and sometimes you just have to be reminded you're still alive, you still have a chance. Like it's beautiful for you to have an opportunity to have a beautiful day.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

We're blessed with every day we get. So not everybody gets more. So sometimes that it ends abruptly. So um, Michael, uh, and both of you actually, what uh Keyshawn, what made you want to perform with with Michael?

SPEAKER_04 17:23

Honestly, my wife was like, hey, you need to reach out to Michael Lossage. And um he's an amazing guitar player.

SPEAKER_07 17:29

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

Yeah, so and I've seen him play with other people, and I was like, and he's always asked me, he was like, hey, because the first time we met was at a barbershop. And he was like, Man, you you have a really great voice. I would like to do something with you. And I was busy doing all my other stuff, and my wife was like, You need to reach out to Michael. And so I reached out to him and he was happy to take me on.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

And he was like, not only yes, but hell yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah, tell us about your music.

SPEAKER_07 17:59

Don't you participate in like the picker circle or something like that at 12 Fox? Don't they have like a little like night with it?

SPEAKER_05 18:05

You know, they did it on Thursday nights. Uh-huh. And then we picked up the every Thursday night gig. So they they've moved that um to, I believe, the wine house. They're doing that on Thursdays there now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 18:17

So the reason why I asked that question is about five years ago, it was right on the tail end of COVID. And um, I had my son's rehearsal dinner there, and you guys were supposed to play. And I had hired a mariachi band. I don't know if you remember this or not. It was a long time ago. And uh, you guys got up there and y'all, the mariachi band was there, and you guys I can't remember what the other guy's name. He looks like Jerry Garcia that plays Raji. Yes, Raji, Raji. Yes, and that was so cool. And so we had all these Californians that had come in and they were like, is this just like a normal Thursday in Texas? Like, yes, it is.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

I do remember that.

SPEAKER_07 18:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 18:58

Yeah, the first person who like invited me to the picker circle was Jason Spencer. And he's a harmonica player. Um, he's the one who introduced me to a lot of the musicians that were actually out here in Tripping Springs because he saw me at last chance when it was still a bar.

SPEAKER_07 19:15

Oh gosh, yeah. Before it was uh, gosh, what is it now? It's like a uh boutique or something, right? Yeah. I danced out there a long, long time ago, like 93, 94.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 19:26

Back when it first was a bar. Actually, I was wearing kids and I was jitterbugging, and the guy that picked me up, my shoe fell off and it hit somebody in the head. It's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

That does not surprise me at all.

SPEAKER_07 19:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

So, Michael, I we never heard your music background. How you got into music?

SPEAKER_05 19:43

Oh my gosh. Um, started when I was ten years old with my brother and my cousin in Dayton, Ohio. And uh, we had a neighbor that owned a pawn shop across the street. So he uh his son played guitar and there was a lot of guitars. We would go down there. And uh we ended up and my father um renovated our basement. Um I mean, it was eight-foot bar tile floor, you know, acoustic drop ceiling for parties for. And uh that was um our jam room where we really learned. I mean, we had, you know, full drum kits and bass rigs and electric and you know, loud until my mom opened the door and said, That's it, no more.

SPEAKER_07 20:23

Who'd you listen to as a kid? Who was drunk first?

SPEAKER_05 20:26

Led Zeppelin, really uh Beatles, Eagles, I mean, a little bit of air pink flow, it just you know, all of the good stuff. All of the good stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

That's the classic stuff right there.

SPEAKER_07 20:36

Well, and then this transition now that you are you're playing mostly country music or gospel music, which I've I've heard you guys play that as well.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

So you're playing everything. Yeah, we play RB, soul, funk, we play hip hop.

SPEAKER_07 20:52

So what's the request that you're sick of hearing? That you like free bird, free word!

SPEAKER_04 20:57

I'm sure you're we don't even hear that anymore. People will be yelling free bird, and then they would be surprised if we actually did free bird. Yeah. So what's replaced it? Um my gosh. Nothing. No. Oh no, okay. Do you believe that has replaced it?

SPEAKER_05 21:16

That's one lady that does that. Yeah, Jessica. Is she really? Jessica.

SPEAKER_04 21:20

She will always come in and she'll be like, hey, can you play a believer that is? I don't know. She's a daughter.

SPEAKER_05 21:26

Oh, she's sure, that's right. Yeah. But Jessica's the daughter of uh that owns Time and Doe. Yes, Jessica. Yeah. And every time she comes in.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

So we'll do like a little snippet of it just to give her a little taste.

SPEAKER_04 21:36

And she's like, no, keep it. No, we're not gonna keep it. We're not doing the whole song. It's a great song. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:41

Uh I did I do I remember correctly? Did I hear you guys play Chris Stapleton?

SPEAKER_04 21:46

Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:47

You did, okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:47

Mm hmm.

SPEAKER_07 21:48

Yeah, I think I remember Tennessee Whiskey. Yes, that's right. I think I remember. It was Tennessee Whiskey.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Yeah, because when they have the house band on Thursday, they had All Star Night. And so the first time that me and my wife came. Down here, we were visiting our friends, and they brought us to Hudson's. And they asked, they're like, Hey, is there any song that y'all want to hear? Is there anybody in here who wants to sing? And then my friend, me, I don't say anything.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

My friend Fox was like, Let Keyshawn sing, let Keyshawn sing.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

And I had on my hoodie. And I put my hoodie on my head, and they called me up. They're like, Is there a Keyshawn out there? And I got up there and sing. So Tennessee Whiskey is her favorite song that I do. So every time that every time that she hears me play it or she's at the show, she'll always record her. So she probably has 200 songs.

SPEAKER_07 22:37

That's probably where I've where I've seen that first.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

What are your favorite songs to perform? The ones that you always look forward to?

SPEAKER_04 22:44

Colors by the Black Pumas. Oh yeah. Lose control.

SPEAKER_05 22:50

Lose control. But we get the crowd going on. Suspicious. Because we will all jump at the same time, and I last for maybe 10 seconds. And and then Keisha will have her drummer uh up the beat. I mean, to where it's like like so fast.

SPEAKER_06 23:08

And you get bras thrown at you.

SPEAKER_04 23:11

We get every we try to get everybody out there dancing and then uh everybody starts bouncing, which is fun to watch everybody bouncing. Everybody looks forward to that. It's like one of our most popular songs, I guess, that we play. It really is.

SPEAKER_07 23:23

I want to talk a little bit about um the Dripping Springs community. You know, we have the Songwriters Festival. We really with with Hudson's, with the addition of Chad and Natasha to this community, it's amazing. But we really have kind of um embraced singer-songwriters or just live music. Um tell me about why that you think dripping springs is unique in that sense.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Is it because we're an offshoot of Austin or is it I think it's because we're an offshoot of Austin, but also the community. Like we all support each other. And that's the way it should be. Like we did we went to Al Monty's show and you had twenty different musicians in there. And we all took a picture to ended up taking a picture together. But like they would call different musicians up to sing or to play, and the fact that everybody supports each other and pushes each other to continue music and will come to your show and support you is an awesome thing.

SPEAKER_07 24:22

I think music is the great um just connector, you know. It doesn't matter, you know, red and yellow, black or white, and what exactly and who you vote for. Nobody cares. Play me a song.

SPEAKER_04 24:33

It breaks barriers.

SPEAKER_07 24:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Oh my gosh, it does.

unknown 24:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

And it penetrate penetrates deeper than what you can imagine.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Mm-hmm. It's pretty wild music, this special thing. I think about it all the time. Uh that somebody can sing a song or play a song, and it just touches you. And and you can hear that song over and over, and every time it does that same thing. It's pretty special. And then and you guys have to feel blessed by being able to do that for people, to give that to people.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

It's a gift that God gives. And so, yeah, it's definitely a blessing to be able to touch people with the music that we do in any type of form or fashion, however, it makes you feel. We don't do any songs that are negative.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

So hopefully it's making you feel positive or might make you feel sad. It may feel make you feel love, butterflies and flutteries. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 25:23

That's okay. Can you create a song that's a boo Steve? Yeah. Let's do it. Boo Steve. Michelle.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Boo. Steve.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Michelle messed up again. That's a hit. Yeah, that's a hit. That's a number one hit. Uh Michael, you're uh you're you were just saying, I think you're 71 now? Yes, sir. And you were just mentioning jumping up and down on stage. How much of uh how much of the music that you both do is not just the song part? The physical? Yeah, the physical part of performing. Because you can't just stand up there and lean into a I make them performers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:01

Yes. Yes. I I I I may I um I push them to the phone.

SPEAKER_07 26:05

Are you doo-wapping? Doo-whopping. Doo-woping.

SPEAKER_04 26:08

There's some sliding going on.

SPEAKER_07 26:10

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:10

So the physical part is when we do a private event and I have to bring sound systems and carry them from.

SPEAKER_07 26:19

Oh, you're a roadie too.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

I am a roadie also, and that is oh my gosh, that's that's the hard part. Um, but you know, it keeps me active. Yeah. You know, and uh I'm pretty healthy, so hopefully I'll stay that way for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

But Keyshawn, how do you come up with the first of all, the energy, but the ideas for how you get the crowd going.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Besides the Honestly and truthfully, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Is that right?

SPEAKER_07 26:47

Hey, that's like me. That's how I did it my life.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

Every show is different. It just happens. Yes. Like I could end up laying on the floor doing this or something. Really? Yeah, you never know what's gonna happen. You should come and see. Yeah, I will I will.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah, the music just the music speaks to you and you just realize what you want to do.

SPEAKER_04 27:04

You have a start moving.

SPEAKER_07 27:05

That's you have a choreography appointment right after that. What is that for?

SPEAKER_04 27:09

So what do you So my band Uptown Drive, we are adding new elements to it because it's a big production type of deal, right? So we are doing a boy band melody. And so we are going to be uh I can't give all the secrets, but there's gonna be some good choreography.

SPEAKER_07 27:28

When are you when do you perform with that band? Are you on a a house band or you played corporates? So we've got a crash, you know, like an IBM conference or a wedding. Or throw a party. Yeah, well, there's that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:41

And then you get the whole shebang, lights, camera, action.

SPEAKER_07 27:45

Are you able to tell us who like um have you ever done like a celebrity wedding or celebrity kind of event in that sense?

SPEAKER_04 27:53

Um we have not done a celebrity wedding, but we've had celebrities in the crowd. Oh, okay of weddings. Okay. So we had Jane Lynch at one. Oh, really? Yeah, we had um Jessica Simpson at one.

SPEAKER_07 28:06

She was married at Riverbend. Um when she was married to Nick, they were married at um in Austin at Riverbend. So she has some Austin connection. Okay. See, there's my little gossip thing.

SPEAKER_04 28:15

Oh, there you go. And we had uh Glenn Templeton, I think that's who the guy from Twister.

SPEAKER_07 28:23

Oh, Glenn Powell.

SPEAKER_04 28:24

Glenn Powell. He was in one of those um weddings.

SPEAKER_07 28:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Oh, and what's the favorite place you guys have ever played? The place that stands out.

SPEAKER_04 28:33

For us?

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:35

Ooh. Everywhere. Everywhere you always have fun. We started playing a neon Armadillo. Oh, that's cool. Okay. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_07 28:43

That's a cool venue. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 28:46

Great stage.

SPEAKER_07 28:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:47

Hudson's is always one of our favorite places because that's where we started the whole thing, pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 28:54

Um Hayes City store is a lot of fun. Oh, yeah, because Travis wants us on Saturdays every month. He uh loves our band, Travis and Tanner.

SPEAKER_07 29:04

I saw you at Whiskey Ridge, but you weren't performing, you were sitting there watching Brad Thomas play. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

Yeah. And I normally don't have opportunities to go out and see my friends who are musicians because I'm usually booked, but I'm in like three different bands.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

So how do you keep up with all that, Keyshawn?

SPEAKER_04 29:22

My wife is really good with it.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:24

Yes. Like she keeps you booked. She stays on me about putting everything on the calendar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

How how are you booking stuff? How is it just word of mouth people call you? Are you advertising?

SPEAKER_04 29:40

Some people call me for above all things. They don't really call me for cell session stuff or uptown drive stuff. We have booking agents for that. And for cell session, Jamie Cameron, he does all the booking for that.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Are you to the point now where it's not so much you trying to get your name out there, it's more people recognizing you and coming to you and saying we want you to perform? That's a pretty good place to be. Yeah. How about social media? Are you social media fans?

SPEAKER_04 30:05

I'm not a big social media fan, but my wife is very good at social media. It's a necessary one who is doing all of our flyers. That I just a beautiful day to be alive. And I need to get on there and do more singing. But I'm I'm self-conscious when it comes to my singing. Sometimes I'm like, that sounds like crap. But um people seem to think it still sounds good. No, you sound.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, you sound great. It's funny though that you could stand up in front of a room with 200 people and no problem at all, but then you don't want to shoot yourself on a video where it's just you and maybe one other person. It's it's strange how we have that. I do the same thing. I I can sit here and do this podcast on YouTube, doesn't bother me at all. But if Michelle points a camera at me and asks me a question, I'm like, I don't even know. Yeah, I get locked up.

SPEAKER_07 30:59

I'm gonna I'm gonna do that more often. Well, no, you're welcome. Michael and Keishon, we don't want to seem like we're rushing you guys out of here, but we don't want you to miss your your appointment. Um, I'm gonna say it's a beautiful day to be alive, and thank you so much, you guys, for blessing us with your presence here today. Would you like to just play a little something to take us out of here?

SPEAKER_04 31:21

Well, thank God for blessing us with the opportunity to be. Oh, it's great. Absolutely honored to have you here. Hopefully, we can do it again in absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 31:28

Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Well, next time you're releasing a song, let us know.

SPEAKER_07 31:32

We'll get you in here and yeah, we would love that. We'll get a little bit more in depth. Alrighty then. So we're gonna hear Michael and Keyshawn. My dog has pleased.

SPEAKER_05 31:44

I do want to say one last thing. That's that Keyshawn has been such a blessing to me in many ways. Uh the music, of course, but also um I am now uh attending Foundation Church.

SPEAKER_07 31:57

Oh, right. He's brought you to the Lord.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

A lot of our friends, my gosh.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

I just get goosebumps because that's so important, and it's something that's uh really um giving me so much love. Nothing greater than that. Nothing greater than that.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Sitting in the morning sun. I'm sitting with the evening comes Watching the ships roll in a watch 'em roll away again. Now I'm just sitting on the dock of the day Watching the tide roll away. Sitting on the dark of the day, wasting time. I left my home in love dripping. Cause I have nothing to live on. And it looks like nothing's coming my way. So I'm just gonna sit on the tuck of the day, watching the tide roll away. Oh, I'm sitting on the tuck of the day, wasting time. Looks like nothing's gonna change. Everything still remains the same. I can't do the same people tryna tell me to do. So I guess I'll just remain the same. Oh Sit in here, rest in my bones In this loneliness won't leave me alone. These two thousand mounds I roam Justin make this dark man now. I'm just gonna sit on the dark of the day, watching the tight go away Sittin' on the dark of the day Wasting time I'm just sitting on the duck of the day, wasting time I'm just sitting on the duck of the day, wasting time, that was for blessing.

SPEAKER_07 35:07

Oh man, that was amazing. Beautiful surprise. What a beautiful surprise.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Real quick, where can people hear you coming up? Where are you gonna be at in the next week?

SPEAKER_04 35:13

We will be at this Thursday. Okay at uh 8 30 to 10 30. Okay. So come out then. Uh we play Hay City on the 28th.

SPEAKER_05 35:22

27th last Saturday.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Okay, 27th. Hey City store.

SPEAKER_07 35:26

And coming to a wedding and corporate venue near you. Yeah. If you would like to sneak into a place, contact me at 512-4296.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Thank you guys very much for your day. Appreciate it. Thank you for having us with your bed.

SPEAKER_07 35:40

Our pleasure. Vodka-flavored vodka, how boring.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Deep Eddie vodka, we say, why stop there?

SPEAKER_07 35:47

Our vodka is made with real fruit, handcrafted right here in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

We've got bold cocktails, refreshing mocktails, food trailers on the weekends, and plenty of local events.

SPEAKER_07 35:59

So come sip something with a little more soul than just plain vodka.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room. Live here, sip here.

SPEAKER_07 36:07

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Deep EddyVodka Tasting Room.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

South Star Bank has remained true to its Texas roots for over 100 years. A commitment to the people and communities they serve, along with flexible financial solutions, allow their clients to shine. Mortgage loans, checking accounts, or complete business solutions. South Star Bank is your financial partner. South Star Bank, trusted by professionals, backed by tradition, built for Texas.

SPEAKER_07 36:38

SouthstarBank.com. Member FDIC, an equal housing lender. NMLS 410624. Texas weather doesn't mess around, and your roof takes the hit.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Hail, wind, heat, it all adds up fast, which is why you know what to guess when it comes to your roof.

SPEAKER_07 36:55

Black Slate Roofing handles everything from inspections to full installs.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

They keep it simple, they keep it honest.

SPEAKER_07 37:02

Repairs, replacements, whatever your home needs. Done right with no shortcuts.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Because your roof is your first line of defense, and it better be a strong one.

SPEAKER_07 37:12

Black Slate Roofing. Done once, done right.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

Black SlateRoofing.com.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

This show is brought to you in part by the Mallet Integrity Team, serving Dripping Springs, Austin, and the surrounding areas of central Texas since 2004. When you need the best real estate advice and service, give them a call at 512-829-2062. Or email them at malletintegrity team.com. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

And we're back. Michelle pushed all the right buttons, so here we are again, whether you like it or not.

SPEAKER_07 37:48

Hey, you know, I found something out about our guest when they when he was leaving, um, Keyshawn Wilson. Um, amazing voice. Oh beautiful, beautiful voice.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

And Michael was a heck of a guitar player.

SPEAKER_07 38:00

Absolutely. But um Keyshawn was on American Idol back in the early days.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

Like 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_07 38:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

And I guess Simon didn't let him pass the first or second round, but he was there. He's got a great voice. Yeah, he was amazing. Yeah, I'm surprised I haven't heard of him before. But I really enjoyed that time with him. We were a little crunched uh on time because uh Keyshawn had to go to uh choreography or something.

SPEAKER_07 38:24

Uh and somebody messed up the time. It was probably me. Michelle.

SPEAKER_06 38:27

It was probably me. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

It was Michelle. Hey, uh we forgot uh during uh our our uh thing. You okay over there, Mallet? Yes, I know. I got a lot, I got papers coming out. My you know what here. I don't know where everything goes. My stack of stuff, as as Rush Limbaugh used to say. Uh we forgot to uh talk about our listing of the week for Mallet Integrity. Yes, yes, 345 Morning Dew Drive in Round Mountain, Texas. We've had this listed for a month or two. Uh really cool house sitting on three acres out there and a little gated community right off of 281. Uh has a little dry creek down in the back. Uh metal roof. It's a cool place. 20 about 2,500 square feet single story house.

SPEAKER_07 39:13

There's plenty of room for um for expansion. And you know what?

SPEAKER_01 39:18

And there's guest quarters.

SPEAKER_07 39:19

You said 2,500. It does not.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

The first time we walked through there, I figured it was 3,200 square feet, but no, it's 2,500 square feet.

SPEAKER_07 39:26

With the guest quarters, which surprised me when I was walking around.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

So anyway, 799. How can you beat that? Get three acres out in the hill country, easy access to Marble Falls and Blanco. I mean, shoot, can't go wrong. So give us a call.

SPEAKER_07 39:39

Yeah, it's really good. Uh what's the number? 512-829-2006.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Uh I want to do uh yeah, well, I want to before we do that, I want to, you know, it's been kind of surprising this whole podcast where we figured, you know, Todd would listen and my mom would listen, and Holly would listen to like Dana Dana's here. Yeah, yeah. Dean Dana would listen, and uh, you know, we'd get 10 or 15 people at a time, and it's really grown up way, way beyond anything you and I ever imagined.

SPEAKER_07 40:08

Obviously, it's because of the star of the show.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Me, of course. Of course it is. Yes, yeah, truly show without without Steve Mallet. Michelle's just been riding on my coattails this whole time. But you know, it's I want to give a shout out to Latra who just followed us today, a good friend of ours, known her for years. But the fans have been really cool. But what's been the most fun for you and me is the haters, hasn't it? And we have a new one. We do. And we're not gonna we don't we're not gonna throw anybody under the bus. No. We're not gonna say who they are.

SPEAKER_07 40:41

So we're gonna call Even though I know I I know who this person is.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

We're gonna call her Miss C, the chef.

SPEAKER_07 40:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

And I know she's probably mad already because I misgendered her or whatever, or didn't use her pronouns properly or whatever. But uh you know, she said some really hateful things about us online, which you and I both giggle at. But I first of all, she said everybody listens to you, which I say thank you very much. We love that you're pointing out that everybody listens to us.

SPEAKER_07 41:10

And thank you, and nobody in their right mind would be would step behind our microphone. And you know what I say? So thank you to all to 234 crazy ass people.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Crazy people that sat in our chair. More than that, because sometimes we as of today, we you know, we've had two people in here. And you know what's funny is contrary to what she says, they say, contrary to what they say, uh you know, we we do want people with opposing views. That's the thing we like the most. Come on, tell us. You know, Carrie Naprokowski came on, she doesn't see the world the same way we do. We loved visiting with her. I I consider her a friend. I really do. Yeah, I know. I and I I enjoyed every minute with her. So we want people with opposing views. So we're I'm gonna just throw this out there, Miss C, the chef. Come on the show, tell us why we're wrong, tell us why you think we hate on people. I uh we've never done that. I have never made anybody, and you've never made anybody uncomfortable sitting in that chair.

SPEAKER_07 42:12

No, and you know what, you may have a a perception of who we are, and uh um that's okay, that's your perception. But uh I I kind of stalked um social media posts that this person has done, and um they have a long history of um they're mean and trolling, and you know what I say to that? You sound fun. That's what I say.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

I guarantee you if you come sit with us, we'll find some common ground. Guaranteed we'll find some places where we believe the same. And I bet we can leave with maybe, maybe at least a handshake, maybe a hug.

SPEAKER_07 42:48

I would hope so. If not, um, you know. Yeah, and speaking of speaking of cats, uh Well, wait a minute, before we do that, and oh man, that was a great segue. I know I was gonna be a segue. I was gonna say, speaking of cats, what we like to do is lead, lift, and inspire. And that is also what Lisa Sullivan loves to do with her WOW awards that she is promoting right now, celebrating the women of Dripping Springs who lead, lift, and inspire of our community. She's gonna be having this award show August 27th at 11 a.m. in Dripping Springs. It's the WOW celebration luncheon. But what she is inviting people in our community to do is to go nominate somebody here in the community that you think l inspires you and lifts you up.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

I wish I'd I think you all should go nominate Michelle because one of the categories is crazy as a loon and speaks her mind every time. Isn't that the name of the category?

SPEAKER_07 43:47

Yeah, it's yeah, it's crazy as a loon. Corner Crazy. Therefore, my Instagram, corner crazy. I think it's oh, it's the Trailblazer Award, the Connector Award, the Boss Lady Energy Award, and the adorable badass award. It's adorable.

SPEAKER_01 44:01

Isn't that crazy as a loon? Isn't that that category? Yeah. I think you're you read it wrong.

SPEAKER_07 44:06

That's crazy as a loon. Yeah, that's the Michelle Lewis Award. But you know what? We just uh we love Lisa Sullivan. She is the happiest person in Dripping Springs.

SPEAKER_01 44:13

She brings a smile to your face every time. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 44:15

And you probably would see her drive by because she has all the sweet little flowers and cute little cutsy things all over her car. But um if you get a chance, go over to uh go to happiness. Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, Lisa. I need my glasses for this. Happinesselement.com slash wow w o w and there you will find the link to nominate somebody in dripping springs. I encourage you to do that. And thank you, Lisa. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

There's some great women in this town. So you've got lots of people that you can nominate. Make sure you do at least a couple, because there's plenty out there that need to be recognized.

SPEAKER_07 44:51

Absolutely. So uh meow.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

Meow. Okay, my that was a good segue to my kitten fishing story. That is kitten fishing. Okay. When I first read this, I was like, uh, because you probably had this image in your head, kitten fishing. It had it's nothing to do with probably what popped into your head.

SPEAKER_07 45:08

I was like, Holly is going to be so mad at you.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Well, yeah, I know. She probably has cringed when I said that. Kitten fishing is the PG version of catfishing.

SPEAKER_06 45:18

So dating apps. Oh, is that like fishing for younger people?

SPEAKER_01 45:24

People on dating apps are finding themselves sliding into the realm of what they call kitten fishing, which is to be less less than dishonest on your profile. Less than honest on your profile. Meaning, so I'm I'm 5'11 and whatever and a half, and but I say I'm six foot two. And I, you know, maybe I've gained a little weight and I'm 220 pounds, but I say, Yeah, I just broke 200. Or and I say, uh, yeah, I I graduated from Yale, but all I did was take an online class at Yale. You know, it's that. It's Okay.

SPEAKER_07 45:59

It's just embellishing. It's right of like your resume that you that people will do, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:05

So it's stretching the truth truth about yourself on a dating.

SPEAKER_07 46:08

I never do that. Well, I don't get on a dating app, but I never stretch the truth about myself because you can't make this crap up.

SPEAKER_01 46:15

Yeah, that's true. But you know, the people are saying they're fabricating these these profiles because it's marketing. You're on a dating app, you're marketing yourself. But all the experts are saying, don't do that because you you show a side of yourself and you are setting yourself up that when you meet another person and you sit down with them, they're gonna be disappointed. Because, you know, if you say you graduated from Harvard or whatever, and you sit down, you start talking, you find out, they're gonna find out you lied to them on the profile.

SPEAKER_07 46:46

I think they'll be disappointed anyways. I think they would just be disappointed. I think people just like to live in just wallow and swopiness.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

Well, I definitely want to date somebody like that.

SPEAKER_07 47:00

Great.

SPEAKER_01 47:00

But uh, you know, where do you draw the line? If I'm if I'm 5'11 and I say I'm six foot, is that okay?

SPEAKER_07 47:07

No.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Well, no.

SPEAKER_07 47:09

You see what I mean? Okay, if I'm I'm gonna get out of measuring tape on a date.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

You might. I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 47:15

I probably would.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

But if I if I'm 200 pounds, is it okay for me to say I'm 180? What about what about filters? We've been seeing this a lot in our world.

SPEAKER_07 47:25

That's a lot of women, but I'm starting to see men do it too. Doing filters? Yeah.

unknown 47:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

See, I think that uh do they look better filtered?

SPEAKER_07 47:34

I don't know. I mean, I just think it's weird. I'm sorry. I just think it's weird.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

But I think don't I on at least on the men's side, I think men are more attractive when they've got a little bit of weather to them and hardness. And why do I keep doing that?

SPEAKER_07 47:52

I keep what were you saying, Steve?

SPEAKER_01 47:56

Do you know what I mean? You're you know, you're I don't know. You've been around the block a few times, not stood on the block, just been around the block. You just get a little bit more. I just you know, I I could see I could see how people start to fall into that trap. But I do think the filtering of women, especially middle-aged women that are 50-ish years old that are trying to make themselves.

SPEAKER_07 48:22

I I've seen some I'm 50-ish years old. Look.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

You get what you get with Michelle. Look.

SPEAKER_07 48:27

You get because because that's what you get.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

Yeah. That's what you get. You know, I I remember somebody uh uh years ago that took a picture, a group picture, and somebody said, Oh, let's redo that one. That's a terrible picture of me. And the person taking the picture said, That's what you look like. That's that's you.

SPEAKER_07 48:43

That was a photographer that we had at group show. I was like, that's actually what you people look like. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

I just, you know, if I meet somebody and they're heavily filtered to look 20 or 25 years younger than them, I'm gonna be instantly disappointed.

SPEAKER_07 48:55

We've talked about that a lot, though, the filtering. And and obviously it really bothers us, but I think I think when you're going into a dating situation and you're two strangers that are meeting, why wouldn't you want to be as honest as you can to get because wouldn't you want it to be reciprocated? Don't you want the person on the other side to be just as honest to you?

SPEAKER_01 49:15

Yeah, you're starting off a relationship built on yeah. Yeah, I know. And it and relationships should be built on training.

SPEAKER_07 49:20

And then you're not gonna get are you gonna get pissy when you find out that I mean, if you as a woman, if I said, okay, I'm uh, you know, 135 pounds and I say, Oh, I'm 125 pounds, and I gave you a picture that was 10 years old.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

That's another thing that people do. Their pictures are old and outdated.

SPEAKER_07 49:37

Don't look at our real estate budget.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

I wish there was a another article I didn't get get a chance to read it. I think it was called Goblin Dating. Goblin dating. Not gobbling dating, goblin dating. And it's where you show up on the first date and you're your absolute worst. You dress like Adam Sandler? You just rolled out of bed, you maybe smoothed your hair down, threw some water on your face, brushed your teeth, you still got your sweats and your t-shirt on, and you show up with I wouldn't be that brave. Well, I wouldn't be that brave either, but that's actually a trend. People are like, I'm I'm I'm not sure I want to waste time with this person if they can't put me up put up with me at my absolute worst.

SPEAKER_07 50:13

Todd, thank you so much for being married to me. Aren't you glad you don't have to be on the dating apps?

SPEAKER_01 50:18

I would be the worst. I I d I would hate my life if I had to be on dating apps. I would be the worst. Thank you, Holly, for being my forever and everything.

SPEAKER_07 50:26

We are just thinking, oh, and and by the way, by the time this airs, it will already have passed. But happy Father's Day this weekend. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 50:33

Happy Father's Day to all of the Father's Happy Father's Day to everybody out there, all the men out there, the dads.

SPEAKER_07 50:38

I I know we didn't have this um scheduled, but you know, our podcast, our guests were a little bit short. But I wanted to ask you when you think of Father's Day, are you thinking of you being celebrated or celebrating your father?

SPEAKER_01 50:53

It's funny, it's both. It's I mean, I don't ever feel I it's weird. Father's Day is a weird one for me because I don't feel like I need to be celebrated for being a dad because being a dad's one of the coolest things I ever got to do.

SPEAKER_07 51:09

Oh, hell no. If when it's Mother's Day, you better come out with all like fireworks.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

Yeah, well that's different. I mean, I'm not saying it wasn't hard on many different levels, many different times, but yeah, I mean, it's I guess it's mostly about my dad at this point, which is probably has changed because up until my dad moved here a couple years ago, I didn't have a very good relationship with him.

SPEAKER_07 51:30

So I'm I look at it because I have a husband who's a father. So he's not only is he being celebrated, my father has passed away, but then I also have a son-in-law who is now a father now. So it's like I I guess I just celebrate all of them and I'm doing that. I'm very proud of him. I'm very proud of the men in my family and um how they have stepped up and they are just good husbands, and Jacob is a good dad.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Yep. They're they're good role models for raising kids and having raised kids. They've done they've all done a great job and will do a good job.

SPEAKER_07 52:04

Yeah, but I just wanted to stop and say, real quick, you know, happy Father's Day, and I hope you have a nice day. I'm sure it'll be great.

SPEAKER_01 52:10

I get to see some of my kids and hang out with my dad for the day.

SPEAKER_07 52:13

That you know of. You have any other kids like, I hope not. Well, you know that I am from the good old Krapus of Christie, right? Yes, yes. So Corpus Christi, I went to high school there. I think I've I lived there when I was in fifth grade, fourth grade, something like that, um, all the way up until first year of college. Went to Del Mar. We like to call it Del Mar High School, Del Del Mar College. Um I went to Carroll High School. And uh um I the most iconic thing in Corpus Christi is the Harbor Bridge. Believe it or not, Steve is not peeing in a cup, he's pouring it. And I can totally hear that.

SPEAKER_01 52:50

Did you hear that? That was not me.

SPEAKER_07 52:52

It was the water effect.

SPEAKER_01 52:53

That was not me peeing in my diaper.

SPEAKER_07 52:54

The water, the water effect for the Harbor Bridge. But um, you know, they redid the Harbor Bridge.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

Yes, I saw I saw it in the making.

SPEAKER_07 53:02

Okay, so it it was beautiful before. I'm gonna put it on. There's a picture that I have. Okay, it was beautiful, it had this like kind of iconic architect.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

It's funny how yeah, the new bridge makes the old bridge look small. That was not a small bridge, the old bridge.

SPEAKER_07 53:17

It makes it look teeny tiny. Well, this bridge, the new bridge, has been named the scariest bridge in Texas, according to a news survey of more than 3,000 cyclists across the country. First off, don't why are you cycling across the bridge?

SPEAKER_01 53:33

I rode across the old bridge on my bike a couple times. Uh I'm and I'm not sure I'd ride across the new bridge, and I know Holly's not ride across that new bridge. It looks very exposed.

SPEAKER_07 53:44

Well, it it says that when you're driving across it, it feels like you're kind of driving into the clouds, and the harbor bridge rises about 205 feet above the ship channel, making it one of the highest roadway experiences in Texas. The towers near soar near 538 feet into air is. It is it makes it the tallest structure in South Texas. I did not know that. When you're climbing it, there's a lot more sky than pavement in front of you. So with people with fear of heights, report that the bridge feels exposed because of the massive open views of the bay, downtown skyline, shipping channel. Look, um, I had a childhood friend that this is awful, that passed away at um pass or crossing the South Padre Island Bridge in from Port Isabel in the bridge collapsed. And this was gosh, 20 years or so ago. Um, and so when I go over bridges like this, I don't know, it always makes me think to this, but it's also the winds in Corpus Christi. I don't know if you know that Corpus Christi has some of the strongest winds um because of the way they sit in the Gulf. That's why the water is so churny and unky. But the winds unky. Yeah, unky. I just made it up right now. Unky. It's like yucky and unky. Okay. That's unky. Winds can make the experience more dramatic. Cyclists and pedestrians often mention feeling exposed because of the height and the openness. Looking down isn't for everyone. You're staring at giant cargo ships, the port of Corpus Christi, and a long drop to the water below. The old harbor bridge had a reputation of being even scarier because of its steep grade, reverse curve, and lack of shoulders. I do remember that. I mean, of course, this is that's the bridge I learned how to drive on, you know, like on a dollar. I'd have a dollar of gas in my little Toyota Treselle.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

But when you got to the top of the bridge, you could coast down the other.

SPEAKER_07 55:37

You could coast down, and I trust me, I think I did it a couple of times. But Techstot took all of that into consideration as safety concerns when they were planning the replacement. It's the new bridge is beautiful when it's lit up at night. The project itself had years of delays, redesigns, public debate over engineering issues. And for some Texans, knowing the history made the crossing feel a little bit more dramatic. And so in 2026, the new harbor bridge was actually ranked, again, the Texas Texas's scariest bridge.

SPEAKER_01 56:06

I believe that. I I can't think of a single other bridge that is as tall as and as steep as that. I rode my bike over the old bridge for the Conquer the Coast uh ride a few times. And going up from whatever side this is, uh up to the North Beach. North Beach side. Uh it's pretty steep. It's a pretty good hill to get up there. But uh that fell that feels more uh well, it's not as high for one thing, but it also feels like you're more protected on the old bridge versus that new bridge. I think that's I don't I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to ride my bike over the bridge.

SPEAKER_07 56:42

Doesn't it look like another iconic bridge though?

SPEAKER_01 56:44

Does it look like like another bridges in Europe are built like that with the two main towers and the cables holding them up?

SPEAKER_07 56:52

Like these V little towers.

SPEAKER_01 56:53

There's some bridges in Scotland like that too. Uh there's one going out uh north of Edinburgh, I think.

SPEAKER_07 56:58

You know that it's been probably 10 years or so since I've been to Corpus? No, no, no, no, no. Let me think. Eight. I probably went on a fishing trip with Todd, so maybe eight years.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

Good for you.

SPEAKER_07 57:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:11

You're welcome. You know what? I love going down there because Holly has family, and I love every single one of them, and I love visiting with them. I hate Corpus Christie. I don't, I don't know how people live there. I know they live there because that's where they, you know, they've been there so long, and that's where their friends are, and their churches, and all, but I just I every time we go there, I'm like, damn, I can't wait to go home.

SPEAKER_07 57:32

What is it that you don't like about it? The humidity?

SPEAKER_01 57:34

Well, the humidity, there's no real lounge landmarks. You get, you know, down in the city part, and all the roads, they're all, you know, perpendicular, they're all straight, they all look alike. Yeah, I don't even know what that is.

SPEAKER_07 57:49

Oh, you haven't seen that? It's like down water when you're like trying to go up SPID.

SPEAKER_01 57:54

You know, I know you get go down, is it orange that runs along the the uh bay there that you know ocean drive? Ocean drive, sorry. Uh I you know, there's only a couple things I like about it. I do like Ocean Drive, but man, uh when I did the Conquer the Coast, it's like 65 miles, 66 miles. Oh, look at that. Nueasis County Courthouse. Yeah. Is that how you say it? Noasis?

SPEAKER_07 58:16

Nuasis. Look at you.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

I almost said Nucis. Well, uh, I mentioned uh the bridge in Edinburgh just a second ago, and I've got a story out of Scotland. It's when criminals are so stupid they become memes. There's this this politician, this 61-year-old Scottish politician politician, Peter Morrell, Murrell, who was the he was the chief executive of the Scottish National Party, which is the Scottish National Party is a political group that's been dedicated to independence for Scotland. Okay. So they're still tied to England in some ways, and they want to be completely independent of uh Scotland wants to be completely independent of England. But this guy uh last year was charged with uh embezzling five hundred thousand dollars of party funds. And the when they did the investigation, they directly tracked what this guy spent this half a million dollars. It was 400,000 pounds, which is about $500,000. There it was a list of 627 things that he spent this half a million dollars on.

SPEAKER_07 59:31

Did he get on my TMU account and order?

SPEAKER_01 59:34

Possibly. So I I wanted to go. The reason it's become such a target of these memes is because some of the stuff that he spent money on is completely unimaginative. I I don't even know. The first thing that jumped out at me was uh these were things that he stole before he started stealing money. He sold from the Scottish National Party headquarters, two toilet seats. Oh, used toilet seats. Oh, okay. Seven vacuum cleaners.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:01

What the hell do you need seven vacuum? 108 rolls of toilet paper and a, I guess, a case of Nescafate gold blend coffee. So he stole that from the headquarters before he started studying.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:11

How did they know he stole 108?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:12

I guess he brought it on cameras or something.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:15

Like each day he would shove a roll of toilet paper.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:17

Yeah, I I have no idea. But this guy, I mean, he's a piece of work. Wait till you hear some of the stuff. This is the money they tracked it. And this these are I've the list is six six hundred and thirty-something things long. These are some of the things he bought. Um three Wosthoff manicure sets for $300. 300 pounds, that's about $400. Wursthoff? Wosttoff manicure set, $400. Joseph Joseph bread bin, $60, 60, 60 pounds. Beatles special edition fountain pens, $1,500 pounds.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:52

Oh, he does he take an Ambion and and Amazon and a hair.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:57

Yeah, yeah. A fluffy lounge suit called the slouch pouch for 100 pounds.

unknown 1:01:04

I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:05

This is so he stole this money. Uh let me go through a couple more because I want to ask you $1,000 worth of candles.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:13

Legit.

unknown 1:01:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:15

Uh a Celestron telescope for $1,200, Grand Theft Auto for PlayStation. Oh. Yeah. Two Heli Hansen men's vests for 150 pounds, Avon Skin So Soft for 60 pounds.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:30

That's for mosquito. He's getting on he's on TikTok. Is he on TikTok? Oh, he's on TikTok a bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:37

He bought a Jura Giga 5 Chromo Coffee Machine for 3,300 pounds. That's a $3,500, 3,800 pounds. What's it called? A Jura? A Jura. J-U-R-A-G-A. G-I-G-I, no, it's two words. G-I-G-A-5.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:56

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:56

Yeah. High-end coffee machine.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:59

Oh, they sell it at um uh William Sonoma.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

Oh, there you go. Yeah. Two this one's cracks me up. Two Fuelis pepper and salt grinders, twenty seven hundred dollars. But he also bought a George Foreman grill for 50. Check this out. Eight umbrellas for two thousand pounds. What kind of umbrella?

SPEAKER_06 1:02:25

Oh, for outside, maybe?

SPEAKER_07 1:02:26

Like an outside umbrella?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:28

There are, I mean, it's Scotland, so everybody needs an umbrella. But the list goes on and on. Uh a oak library ladder for a thousand pounds. Uh a United Kingdom silver proof coin set, 625 pounds. So, my question for you you and I joke around sometimes because we're embezzlers. Yeah, we accidentally use each other's other's credit cards, and uh, I've I've bought some stuff on Amazon accidentally on your card. If you embezzled $500,000 from me, what would you spend it on? First of all, you can't get $500,000 from me, but what would you spend it on?

SPEAKER_07 1:03:02

Well, I wouldn't, I I don't think I would nickel and dime you. Like if I'm gonna just go out and I'm gonna go out flaming, yeah, like I might as well just buy a can you buy a beach house or a lake house on a not for $500,000.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:17

I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:17

Or like I could buy an RV or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:20

And then I could go live out in the woods. I mean, if I'm a hermit.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:24

Okay, do I know I'm gonna get caught eventually?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:27

This guy got caught. Eventually. So that was what my first thought was. If I'm gonna start stealing, I'm stealing a lot of money. I'm not stealing $500,000. I'm stealing five or ten million dollars and I'm gone. I'm I'll buy my Porsche 9-11 Turbo S and I'll drive it to whatever. I don't know what islands are out there in the Caribbean that they can't extradite you, but that's where I'd go.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:49

Steve, this is where my embezzlement money goes right now. Um, I think it was two weeks ago I ran out of staples at the house. And I I took a I took a little sleeve of staples home.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:02

From here? Yeah, from here.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:04

I did.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:05

And on that note, but I actually integrity team is no more. We're out of staples.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:11

But I actually stole those staples from somebody's office that they left.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:16

So we're off stable.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

Well, you know what's funny is if you did take them from us, they're all staples from a business that I closed 20 years ago. It was at uh I leased out the office space, and when the the previous tenant was there, they were a real estate company and they left all their office supplies. They left like a pallet full of staples. So if that's probably the end of them right there.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:42

Uh you know what? I I cannot think of any I don't think on those levels, but I think I would think big or go home. You know, think big or go home.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

If I'm gonna take a chance, I'm going to jail. I'm I'm going big or I'm not.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:56

My my stepfather, who was in the CIA, said, if you ever go to jail, go to federal prison.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:01

Right.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:02

He said, if you're ever gonna steal something, rob a bank. Don't don't stick up a Maverick market just to rob a bank.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:09

Yeah, I don't want to go to jail. Yeah, I want to go to where they feed you and put you up and you have a TV and I would, yeah, I would like to have a place.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:17

Maybe we could have a podcast in prison.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:18

I'm sure what would we call it? Behind the bars. Oh, behind the bars. Malad and Michelle, behind the bars.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:25

But would we be able to like would we would we have to sit with like something between us because you're in the midst of the prisoner?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:32

We would instead of headphones, we'd have phones. Oh like we'd have to talk on the phone.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:37

Oh, that's that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:39

How are things going home at home, Michelle? How are the kids?

SPEAKER_07 1:05:42

I would like an apple pie with a file in it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:45

I would. Please. So uh yeah, we just kind of went down the rabbit trail down that way. Um, speaking of uh nothing.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:55

Speaking of super, the super El Nino is here, is what they're saying. Have you heard of this?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:01

I have heard of it. I don't know what it means. Okay, so explain this.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:05

So NOLA, the what is it, the National Oceanic and what is it? Is it NOLA? Uh National No NOAA, National Oceanic Association. Atmosphere. Atmospheric Association. Says it could be one of the largest El Nino in 200 years. And what we've been already observing with all of this weather of the last two months has just officially become official. It will likely become the strongest El Nino event in recorded history. Above average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific will have global impacts on rainfall, droughts, heat waves, and they are now officially warm enough for the El Nino to be declared. For Texas, here's the big impacts that are kind of we're going to look at down the road. The extra rain that we've been seeing all of the spring, which I love it. My yard is just glowing. Our lakes are loving it.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:53

I can't remember last time, the middle of June, my yard was still green.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:56

It's going to be beautiful, but apparently it's going to help keep temperatures more manageable this summer, not talking about the humidity. But the El Nino does not have that much effect influence on our weather in the summer, which believe it or not, just kind of manages it. But warmer weather, it's in the Pacific, more moisture in the atmosphere, more moisture moving into the southern U.S. along the Pacific jet stream. I saw, I saw a graphic that said kind of up in the northeast and northwest United States, there's really not going to be a lot of change. Where you're going to see the most change is around Houston, kind of around Corpus and Florida is really hurricanes are going to start picking up. Some of our biggest floods in central Texas have occurred in El Nino years. Most recently, and notably the 2015 spring and fall of 2018. The strength of El Nino doesn't directly correspond to bigger floods, but a strong El Nino increases the odds of above average rain occurring. So here's the thing they they're predicting 63% of it becoming a super El Nino. But I'm starting to see the tinfoil hat people come out. The preppers. Okay, here's the preppers. The preppers are coming out, and this is what they are saying. They're saying, okay, some of this is you should be doing this already. Clearing your exter, your exterior drains, your gutters, and stuff like that, doing a landscaping check, make sure your trees are trimmed and so on and so forth, having backup power, whatever that means, especially if you have um health-sensitive people.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:28

If you got to have electricity no matter what, make sure you have a generator.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:31

Yes. Um surge protector, they're talking about because especially with all of the storms and the lightning and so on and so forth. Um and in your emergency kit restocking one gallon of water per person for 72 hours. They also said if you have the money, get a straw, one of those straws that has yeah, the it's a filter straw.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:50

Sawyer makes them. Uh and then you can suck the water out of your toilet tank and drink it. So you got that to look forward to. Toilet tank. Hasn't gone through the toilet yet.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:02

Let me let me just tell you right now, I will be emptying out my liquor cabinet. I will be destroying my liver before I drink out of a toilet. There's that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:12

Not the toilet, the toilet tank.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:14

Hopefully, we'll be having damp in the winter, we'll be having damp, chilly, dreary weather. Think Seattle, think Portland, Oregon.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:22

Wouldn't that be nice?

SPEAKER_07 1:09:23

Wouldn't that be nice? But the biggest thing is turn around and don't drown. We're having a lot of rain going on right now. I don't know. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:30

I mean, did you see the videos from uh Barton Springs? Yes. The last couple days? So, you know, we walk down the stairs there, and then there's uh like a pool deck on each side of Barton Springs, and there's a wall that's maybe three feet high, and that walled it was covered with water. And so not I mean, that's four feet, five feet above the creek, and that move that water was moving it and it looked gross. They got we got a ton of rain.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:58

I like the I like it when it rains like at three o'clock in the afternoon, it just kind of you know, surprise little downpour. Yeah, and then it just kind of goes away and everything perks up.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:08

But yeah, it's I don't remember last time we had this wet of a spring. Did you know I checked the Lake Travis water levers, it's still not full. It's about eight feet below full. Really?

SPEAKER_07 1:10:18

Maybe it's maybe gone up uh Lake Travis water levels. 82.3 percent full. See now that's different than oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:29

So uh do this Lake Travis 671.61 feet, and full is six hundred and eighty one, I think. So it's ten feet perfect.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:42

Where'd you see the full? Like where is it?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:44

Um it's not on there, but I I the yeah, there you go. Lake Travers, Lake Travis is considered full at 681 feet MSO.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:54

We rose today 0.13.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:57

So it's still got a ways to go to be full, but look if you look back at like uh last year, um just click on Oh look at that.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:06

Most like so what did they say 2018 seven? We were in the sevens, like in 91, 710, 1957.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:15

Uh like 2021, just to see for granted.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:19

What was that?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:20

Uh 662.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:24

Yeah. Look at that. So this is the lowest. Oh, here's the historic lows. So it was six fourteen was the historic lows. And then closest to that, right here, 2020, 626.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:36

I well, when we went down there around 2020 when we were coming out of COVID, it it I couldn't believe how low it was.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:42

It's a lot higher now, but you know, you know, the only thing I miss about COVID, like truly, honestly, is like when you'd go to the parks or you'd go to the waters.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:52

Nobody was there.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:53

But it was just it just seemed so clean. There wasn't any trash. There wasn't it was just it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:59

I miss the masks and the idiotic. I miss those little circles that they stuck on the ground everywhere. You still see them. Maintain six foot of distance. Because some scientists came up with that, Michelle. That six foot was if you were six foot one inch away, you would never be sick again in your life. You still you still see those. I know. They're still everywhere. It's like that constant reminder, like, oh yeah, six years ago the government got freaking insane.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:28

You know what? It was great for people that didn't want to wear makeup. You because you didn't have to you didn't have to, because your makeup would end up all over the mask. That's the biggest thing that I hated.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:37

Not if you wore the uh lace mask like you did.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:40

Oh, I did. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:42

Sorry. So hey, if you would like some uh freeze-dried bananas, bananas.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:48

I'm not even sure the deer will eat that.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:50

We should open it and see what it tastes like.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:52

I don't know how even these freeze-dried time for you to figure out how to get into it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:57

Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:57

You're right.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:58

Well, thanks everybody for joining us today. We hope you that uh you enjoyed visiting with Michael Lausage and Keyshawn Wilson. And I'm sorry. Yes, Keishon Wilson, and we will talk to you next week. Thanks.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:13

From rodeo clowns, teachers or doctors, and everyone in between, Texans have one thing in common: hard work, deserves smart banking. At South Star Bank, whether you're buying your first home, building a dream ranch, or just managing daily finances, our 16 branches across Central Texas are here for you. Southstar Bank, trusted by professionals, backed by tradition, and built for Texas. Southstarbank.com, member FDIC, an equal housing lender. NMLS 410624. Your weekend doesn't really start till you're with Deepetty Vodka.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:47

The tasting room in Dripping Springs, where the Hill Country gathers.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:50

Sip real fruit vodka, handcrafted cocktails, or a mocktail if you're keeping it light.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:56

Food trailers on the weekends, a family-friendly vibe, and you've got your new favorite hangout. Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room. Sip local, sip real in Dripping Springs.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:07

Follow Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room on Facebook and Instagram for what's pouring and what's happening.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:26

When you need the best real estate advice and service, give them a call at 512-829-2062. Or email them at Mallet Integrity Team.com.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:40

Ever had a contractor disappear halfway through a job?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:43

Or leave you with work that just isn't right?

SPEAKER_07 1:14:46

That's where Black Slate Construction steps in.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:49

They fix bad work and actually finish the job.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:51

And here's the difference.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:53

They're also master electrician licensed. So whether it's cleaning up a remodel or installing an EV charger or upgrading your panel, they do it right, start to finish. No shortcuts, no second guesses. Call Black Slate Construction or visit black slateconstruction.com. Even we're surprised by what we say sometimes.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:17

Big mouth, small town. Follow us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Leave us a review or email us at Malitamichelle at gmail.com. I'm surprised we haven't been canceled yet.