Dec. 3, 2024

Musical Odyssey: Greg Luttrell's Unconventional Journey from Detroit to Shanghai

Musical Odyssey: Greg Luttrell's Unconventional Journey from Detroit to Shanghai
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Season 5

What does it take to thrive as a musician on a global stage? In this episode, we meet Greg Luttrell—a singer, guitarist, and harmonica player—whose career journey took him from Detroit's Motown influence to performing and teaching in China.

Greg shares how his roots in Detroit’s rich musical heritage and his time at UMass Lowell shaped his craft. He reflects on the mentors who inspired him, the hustle it took to go full-time as a musician, and the leap of faith that led him to Shanghai’s House of Blues and Jazz.

This conversation is packed with insights about resilience, adaptability, and finding joy in unexpected places. Whether you’re an aspiring artist or someone curious about life beyond borders, Greg’s story offers valuable lessons about embracing change and following your passion.

Highlights Include:

  • Motown Meets Metal: How Detroit shaped Greg’s eclectic musical influences.
  • Finding Opportunity Abroad: The surprising twists that led Greg to China.
  • Life as a Global Musician: Navigating cultural differences and building connections through music.
  • Mentorship Matters: Greg’s journey from being inspired to inspiring others as a teacher.

Tune in to hear Greg Luttrell’s inspiring story about perseverance, creativity, and making music a lifelong career.


To discover more episodes or connect with us:


Chapters

00:03 - Unconventional Musical Journey

10:29 - Musical Journey and College Shenanigans

19:51 - Musical Journey and Growth

28:27 - Transitioning to Full-Time Musician

33:35 - Musical Journey in Shanghai Blues Club

40:59 - International Musician's Journey in Shanghai

53:03 - Musical Persistence and Determination

57:51 - Embracing Unconventional Paths in Music

01:02:23 - No Wrong Choices

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:03.005 --> 00:00:05.491
How far would you go to land your dream job?

00:00:05.491 --> 00:00:08.317
Is music truly the universal language?

00:00:08.317 --> 00:00:15.541
We'll explore the answer to those questions and much more, during this episode of the Career Journey podcast, no Wrong Choices.

00:00:15.541 --> 00:00:17.306
Thank you so much for joining us.

00:00:17.306 --> 00:00:23.490
I'm Larry Samuels, soon to be joined by my co-hosts, Larry Shea and Tushar Saxena.

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A quick ask before we kick off - if you enjoy what you're about to hear, please be sure to like and follow our show.

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This helps us grow and to keep bringing these great journey stories to life.

00:00:33.746 --> 00:00:35.310
Now let's get started.

00:00:35.310 --> 00:00:48.106
This episode features a conversation with the singer, guitarist and harmonica player, Greg Luttrell, who has taken a very unique path towards achieving his dreams of being a professional musician.

00:00:48.106 --> 00:00:55.046
Larry Shea is somebody who's been friends with Greg for years and has seen this journey come together.

00:00:55.046 --> 00:00:57.512
You are certainly the right person to set this up for us.

00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:08.391
Yeah this was a great conversation that we had with Greg about his career journey and how he got to where he is today, which is, in reality, a world stage performer.

00:01:08.391 --> 00:01:10.748
You know, some people are just built for certain things.

00:01:10.748 --> 00:01:12.524
Greg is a built.

00:01:12.524 --> 00:01:23.748
He's built to be an entertainer and, you know, through hell or high water, this is what he was going to do with his life and I couldn't be more proud and I love anytime I get to see this guy perform.

00:01:23.748 --> 00:01:25.346
I'm just I'm on cloud nine.

00:01:25.346 --> 00:01:29.328
So super fun conversation and we're going to hear his journey and how he got there.

00:01:29.328 --> 00:01:31.647
So really excited to share it with everybody.

00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:38.614
First of all, anytime you call yourself a professional harmonica player, it is an unconventional journey to success.

00:01:39.641 --> 00:01:41.484
And that is really true in the case of Greg here.

00:01:41.484 --> 00:01:48.028
I mean, you know many of us want to pursue our career paths and have a very linear way to get there.

00:01:48.028 --> 00:01:49.694
This is not the case with this guy.

00:01:49.694 --> 00:01:51.861
There is a lot going on, you know.

00:01:51.861 --> 00:01:53.284
He's put the work in.

00:01:53.284 --> 00:02:01.822
But the one thing you can say about his path to success maybe he didn't find it here in the States, but he found it more on a global stage and that works for him.

00:02:01.822 --> 00:02:03.507
Might not work for everybody, but it works for him.

00:02:03.507 --> 00:02:06.593
It's unconventional and it's really, really fun.

00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:12.207
Yeah, this really falls into the category of, you know, find what you love and figure out a way to get paid for it, right?

00:02:12.207 --> 00:02:13.907
So he was not going to be denied.

00:02:13.907 --> 00:02:19.889
He was born to be an entertainer and I hope everybody gets to check him out based on this.

00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.281
Whether you have to go to China or not.

00:02:22.281 --> 00:02:26.924
Here is Greg Luttrell to tell his own story.

00:02:26.924 --> 00:02:27.604
Now.

00:02:27.604 --> 00:02:33.187
Joining no Wrong Choices is the singer, guitarist and harmonica player, greg Luttrell.

00:02:33.187 --> 00:02:41.713
Greg has the unique distinction of being a blues, soul and classic rock performer who, of all places, is based in Beijing.

00:02:41.713 --> 00:02:43.594
I've never really thought about that before.

00:02:43.594 --> 00:02:44.294
Greg.

00:02:44.294 --> 00:02:45.496
Thank you so much for joining us.

00:02:46.076 --> 00:02:47.236
Thank you so much for having me.

00:02:47.737 --> 00:02:51.959
Greg, this is my buddy, so I'm going to get us going here.

00:02:51.959 --> 00:02:53.084
What's going on, Larry?

00:02:53.084 --> 00:02:54.432
We always say full disclosure.

00:02:54.453 --> 00:02:55.138
This is your full disclosure.

00:02:55.138 --> 00:02:58.448
My guy, my guy, you're going to take the rap for this one.

00:02:58.448 --> 00:02:58.870
Huh, larry.

00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:01.483
I'm going to take the rap for this one, greg.

00:03:01.483 --> 00:03:04.086
No, but I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

00:03:04.086 --> 00:03:07.870
I mean, you know, I even said, can we do this while you're in China?

00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:08.950
Like how could we do this?

00:03:08.950 --> 00:03:12.515
Lucky enough to get a window here, great to talk to you.

00:03:12.515 --> 00:03:18.169
I've always been impressed with what you've done professionally, playing all over the world.

00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.903
Really, I mean, let's just be frank about it, so tell everybody.

00:03:20.903 --> 00:03:22.849
Just start off like who's Greg Luttrell?

00:03:27.383 --> 00:03:29.531
What do you do professionally and tell us what you're all about today.

00:03:29.531 --> 00:03:30.293
Wow, who's Greg Luttrell?

00:03:30.293 --> 00:03:51.473
Well, I've been singing and playing R&B and rock and roll and blues for a long, long time and I came up in Detroit and then moved over to Boston, massachusetts, and I was lucky enough to somehow find my way to Lowell, massachusetts, to go to college with the great Larry Shea, don't say that.

00:03:51.532 --> 00:03:52.854
Another music degree.

00:03:52.875 --> 00:03:57.324
You guys know him too well for me to still call him the great huh, greg.

00:03:57.384 --> 00:04:01.301
Every once in a while I got to pull up my music performance degree just to show them.

00:04:01.301 --> 00:04:06.926
Just to show them I actually did get this that he has some sort of credibility that's right.

00:04:06.947 --> 00:04:09.360
That's how they put it up to the flashlight and everything like that.

00:04:13.548 --> 00:04:16.053
Very good don't tempt me pull out the lighter with it too.

00:04:17.483 --> 00:04:19.586
Uh, let me see.

00:04:19.586 --> 00:04:21.310
Let me keep it going, I guess, uh.

00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:22.894
And then, yeah, went to college with larry.

00:04:22.894 --> 00:04:36.781
I've been playing in bands and just, uh, lucky enough to to get the chance to go over to china in 2009 a lot of adventures before then with an original band and just playing rock and roll, all any place where they'd let us set up.

00:04:36.781 --> 00:04:56.480
For a long time, of course, when we were young and, uh, and actually I kind of been teaching as long as at the same time, uh, in a few guitar stores and everything like that, starting out in Lowell same time as I was going to school with Larry, started out at the Music Mall and Tewksbury Music Center, teaching as a private teacher.

00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:15.170
So I've kind of been teaching undercover the whole time and now it's up, long story longer, that I'm over in China and I'm playing with bands quite a bit, but I'm also teaching in an international music or international school, foreign school, but I'm the music teacher, which is a great tool, great time.

00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:15.920
All right.

00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:22.803
So obviously, detroit native means that music's in your blood and I've got to know.

00:05:22.803 --> 00:05:25.130
So then, is that what it was always about when you were a kid?

00:05:25.130 --> 00:05:27.687
Yeah, that motown, feel that motown vibe.

00:05:27.687 --> 00:05:29.089
I wanted to grow up and be a musician.

00:05:29.110 --> 00:05:32.728
There was a lot of a lot of rock and roll going on too and I I dug both sides of it.

00:05:32.728 --> 00:05:42.023
You know the motown stuff was happening, absolutely, but also I was into, you know, the bob seger stuff and mc5, whatever, you know, some of the other detroit music that was going on.

00:05:42.023 --> 00:05:50.420
Detroit's always been a really important us city, I think, for music and continues to be today, although today it's like more with the dj.

00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:59.274
You know it's not really my particular vibe, but all the guys I know that are really into the big edm scene are telling me I say I'm from detroit.

00:05:59.274 --> 00:05:59.997
Oh, you know, do you know?

00:05:59.997 --> 00:06:04.065
It's very influential catch still to this day, but more on the dj side.

00:06:04.065 --> 00:06:09.235
But of course with analog music detroit's always been an important city in the usa.

00:06:09.235 --> 00:06:18.869
So hope I'm doing it a little bit adjusted to the music that I'm playing and the shows that I did well, I've seen enough clips to that that I can say you are at least.

00:06:18.928 --> 00:06:19.411
I enjoy it.

00:06:19.411 --> 00:06:21.336
Thank you, I appreciate it.

00:06:21.336 --> 00:06:22.982
When did you start playing?

00:06:23.923 --> 00:06:27.353
I started to play when I was maybe seven or eight.

00:06:27.353 --> 00:06:31.230
My dad bought me a guitar, but I didn't really take to it.

00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:37.788
I was like my lessons were on Saturday mornings and that was when the cartoons were on and I was like I don't think this is going to work out.

00:06:37.788 --> 00:06:42.129
So I picked it back up when I was about 12.

00:06:42.129 --> 00:06:48.290
But yeah, I could have started about four years earlier, but I couldn't get in the way of Bugs Bunny.

00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:57.408
You know I describe you as a natural performer, you know, just because that's all I've ever known you to be, but I know it's in your blood too, you know.

00:06:57.408 --> 00:07:04.452
So I want you to talk a little bit about your grandfather in Detroit and how he influenced your music and your dad.

00:07:04.452 --> 00:07:11.793
Just the entertainment that he provided in the Massachusetts area, because he was an entertainer as well, was he not?

00:07:12.161 --> 00:07:13.725
In a way, you know, he was like a news guy.

00:07:13.725 --> 00:07:17.949
You know he was a field reporter and he was absolutely an entertainer in the way that he was on TV.

00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:24.410
He was a personality, but he was, you know, more of a news guy and he had a talk show as well when we were in Detroit.

00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:31.841
Actually he had, he had a.

00:07:31.841 --> 00:07:32.865
He had a talk show as well when we were in detroit.

00:07:32.865 --> 00:07:34.612
Actually he had one in boston as well, uh, but yeah, my grandfather had a long history of.

00:07:34.632 --> 00:07:38.485
He was a dj from wjld in detroit for many, many years and he was one of the first guys to kind of incorporate rap into his vibe.

00:07:38.485 --> 00:07:39.629
He used to always rhyme his words.

00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:45.617
He's ernie durham was his name, a frantic ernie d and he was like the afternoon drive guy.

00:07:45.617 --> 00:07:52.863
He was really big in detroit, really really big, and uh, he's still, you know he's in the detroit radio hall of fame and all this stuff and uh.

00:07:52.863 --> 00:07:55.028
But he was very influential.

00:07:55.028 --> 00:07:59.646
And then he happened to own a club club we'd be part owner, part owner of.

00:07:59.646 --> 00:08:04.627
Uh, if you've seen the movie with the, the motown guys um standing in the shadows.

00:08:04.627 --> 00:08:05.596
You know they um standing in the shadows.

00:08:05.596 --> 00:08:05.879
You know they.

00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:05.980
They.

00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:08.788
They're standing on the grounds of where the hundred grand was.

00:08:08.788 --> 00:08:10.668
He was one of the guys that was involved with that.

00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:16.586
So he was very influential to me in the way that I I kind of knew what he was doing.

00:08:16.586 --> 00:08:20.927
Um, and he was he used to.

00:08:20.927 --> 00:08:21.689
You know, he used to.

00:08:21.689 --> 00:08:23.341
He used to work for.

00:08:23.341 --> 00:08:28.603
He used to work for Casablanca Records back when Kiss and Parliament were the two biggest bands.

00:08:28.603 --> 00:08:37.070
So after the club would close he would come by the house in Detroit and he would put record albums of course record albums in between the front door and the screen door.

00:08:37.070 --> 00:08:43.835
So in the morning I would go out to run out to play and boom, here comes Kiss Records, funkadelic Records, parliament Records.

00:08:43.835 --> 00:08:46.897
So from that and then I would go march right back inside.

00:08:46.897 --> 00:08:48.097
I'd never even go outside.

00:08:48.097 --> 00:08:52.384
My mother would be like get outside, I'd go play outside.

00:08:52.384 --> 00:08:58.313
I'm listening to Kiss and Funkadelic, you know, because they were the two big bands on that label.

00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:02.999
So what would you say were your influences then growing up?

00:09:02.999 --> 00:09:12.567
In terms of your music influences, would you say you grew up more of a rock guy, you grew more of a motown guy, an r&b guy I was like a rock and roll guy but I liked, I've always liked, all kinds of music.

00:09:12.626 --> 00:09:26.682
You know, once, once I was like 14 and I started getting into deep purple, uh, and then I had read that richie blackmore, obviously, and you could hear by his solos and his ideas that he drew a lot from classical music.

00:09:26.682 --> 00:09:40.221
But when I saw him read him at that time, read his interview, and they said how influenced by classical, so I wanted to go listen to all the classical music that he listened to and so I've always listened to a lot of kinds of music.

00:09:40.221 --> 00:09:47.043
But for my early years of rock and roll guitars 15 to 18, I was definitely a metal guy, hard rock guy.

00:09:47.043 --> 00:09:55.508
You know some blues, I like blues, hendrix, sabbath, yeah, that kind of stuff, the classics, rainbow, michael.

00:09:55.548 --> 00:09:58.596
Shanker yes, so how did you learn?

00:09:58.596 --> 00:10:02.085
I mean, you started young, but what is that process?

00:10:02.085 --> 00:10:05.852
You know who gave you your first guitar and what happened after that.

00:10:05.852 --> 00:10:09.850
And how do you go about getting good and getting this good?

00:10:10.130 --> 00:10:10.511
You know what?

00:10:10.511 --> 00:10:11.745
That's actually kind of a cool story.

00:10:11.745 --> 00:10:21.373
I've had many, many wonderful teachers over the years, many really cool teachers, insightful and patient and good connections, you know.

00:10:21.373 --> 00:10:29.091
But I'll tell you the funny story about my very first guitar teacher, my second guitar teacher when I restarted, restarted guitar age of like 12, right.

00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:32.905
So this lady, she's a really cool, like hippie.

00:10:32.905 --> 00:10:35.932
She was a hippie lady, really curly, frizzy hair, was silver.

00:10:35.932 --> 00:10:39.410
She's an older lady and she was teaching like a group guitar class.

00:10:39.410 --> 00:10:44.220
So I think it was cheap because my parents, like I didn't do it the first time, so we're not gonna pay a lot of money.

00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:45.613
So I think it was cheap because my parents were like, well, you didn't do it the first time, so we're not going to pay a lot of money to start a talk around.

00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.946
So they put me in a group class and this lady, she comes in.

00:10:48.946 --> 00:10:51.941
She's got these big glasses on, this big hat, you know.

00:10:51.941 --> 00:10:57.900
She's got a vest on and she's got like remember people used to wear pins, remember the pins with their band?

00:10:57.900 --> 00:11:01.183
She's got a Rush pin and Led Zeppelin in all these bands, you know.

00:11:01.183 --> 00:11:03.065
But she's like your grandmother for sure.

00:11:03.065 --> 00:11:03.605
You know what I mean.

00:11:03.605 --> 00:11:10.850
So she comes in and she starts she plays like a couple of like I'm 12, you know, she plays a couple of pretty impressive licks.

00:11:10.850 --> 00:11:12.352
It's like Ooh, oh, that was cool.

00:11:12.352 --> 00:11:25.350
And so the first thing she taught us was fly by night, by rush, and so that's how we started it out, and I was like I think she was just had such great energy, you know what I mean.

00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:26.693
I'm like this is cool man.

00:11:26.693 --> 00:11:27.395
So she got me back on track.

00:11:28.541 --> 00:11:36.510
And once she got you on track, I mean was I mean because you're living the dream man, you're a musician performing for a living?

00:11:36.510 --> 00:11:39.149
I mean, was that the dream when you were that age?

00:11:39.780 --> 00:11:48.687
Ah, you know, at that time I think I still wanted to be a professional baseball player too, but I hadn't figured out that I wasn't good enough yet, like the rest of us.

00:11:48.687 --> 00:11:50.080
That was part of the dream.

00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:52.687
I always had a special thing for music.

00:11:52.687 --> 00:11:59.051
Ever since I was a very young kid, I always had a very special feeling, like a lot of people, for music.

00:11:59.051 --> 00:12:04.230
I guess I was a lot of a ham, so I wanted to perform.

00:12:06.764 --> 00:12:08.591
So then in school, that was the goal at that point.

00:12:08.591 --> 00:12:11.405
Were you a good student, or was it all?

00:12:11.405 --> 00:12:15.440
Or was everything then just poured into your music, whether it be band classes and theory classes?

00:12:15.541 --> 00:12:16.571
I was kind of lazy.

00:12:16.571 --> 00:12:17.644
You did not care about the rest of it.

00:12:17.644 --> 00:12:18.587
I was kind of lazy.

00:12:18.587 --> 00:12:24.144
I did well in the classes that were easy for me, like English and stuff, and then I kind of struggled in science.

00:12:24.144 --> 00:12:27.032
But I was like most of it came a little bit easy to me.

00:12:27.032 --> 00:12:29.384
So I can't say I was a good student.

00:12:29.384 --> 00:12:33.990
But I got good enough grades usually not to get in trouble too much trouble.

00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:36.509
Is high school when the first band came along.

00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:51.153
Actually I had a band in the seventh grade and I wrote an original song and our choir teacher, mr Jim Smella, who's a really wonderful man, he really he wrote down all the I mean we could barely play in an album like 12, you know.

00:12:51.153 --> 00:12:54.278
But I had written a little song, he wrote out all the parts.

00:12:54.278 --> 00:13:01.948
We learned them, we performed it at an assembly in the seventh grade, you know, and it was like a big deal at the time, whatever.

00:13:01.948 --> 00:13:06.556
But you know, kind of gave me some encouragement, you encouragement, but he was a big, big, huge help.

00:13:06.556 --> 00:13:09.909
He went way out of his way to help us and it was really big.

00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:11.826
Were your parents supportive?

00:13:11.826 --> 00:13:15.966
Were they always like hey, whatever you want, greg, as far as the lessons and stuff?

00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.389
Yeah, they always paid for the lessons and stuff like that.

00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:28.928
I know my dad wasn't real excited about rock and roll as a choice, I'm sure Until I got wasn't real excited about rock and roll as a choice until I got a little bit you know more successful.

00:13:28.948 --> 00:13:29.490
Did he know you?

00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:30.653
wanted to do it for a living.

00:13:30.653 --> 00:13:32.340
Uh, he did, and he wasn't psyched about it.

00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.389
But once, you know, once he realized I wasn't going to give up, do it for a living.

00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:37.744
I mean, did you know you wanted to do it for a living at that point?

00:13:38.485 --> 00:13:39.909
I was trying to see if it was possible.

00:13:39.909 --> 00:13:45.412
You know what I mean because you know, for a long time I had little temp jobs and side jobs and I was doing it at the same time.

00:13:45.412 --> 00:13:56.149
But of course I wanted to make all my money doing music, you know, and just you know, doing little different combinations of shows and trying to make it happen.

00:13:56.902 --> 00:13:58.433
Now, when did you move to Massachusetts?

00:13:58.433 --> 00:13:59.240
When did that happen.

00:13:59.299 --> 00:14:13.308
I moved to Massachusetts in like just after my junior year of high school, okay, and so I did senior year here in Boston and then went to a little bit of college.

00:14:14.171 --> 00:14:14.751
Was that tough?

00:14:14.751 --> 00:14:17.419
Was that tough making the move from Detroit to Massachusetts?

00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:19.086
It was a little bit weird, but it wasn't.

00:14:19.581 --> 00:14:21.586
I wouldn't say it was that tough because I met some people right away.

00:14:21.586 --> 00:14:25.186
I still got a lot of good friends from my Wellesley days, which was only one year of school.

00:14:25.186 --> 00:14:26.875
Got a lot of good friends from my wellesley days, which was only one year of school.

00:14:26.875 --> 00:14:27.798
A lot of good friends and I still hang out.

00:14:27.798 --> 00:14:29.784
So I gotta say I kind of fell into it pretty easy.

00:14:29.784 --> 00:14:32.751
You know, I I like people, you know what I mean.

00:14:32.772 --> 00:14:42.530
So I feel like I yeah, you're a people, person so when you got out there, did you get into a band?

00:14:42.530 --> 00:14:43.974
When you got into massachusetts?

00:14:43.974 --> 00:14:50.230
I'm curious about the high school performing greg latrell we did have a band, but we didn't.

00:14:50.292 --> 00:14:51.052
We didn't really.

00:14:51.052 --> 00:14:54.888
I wasn't really like slamming with a band.

00:14:54.888 --> 00:15:05.009
I I was kind of the brakes got put on that we were playing guitar like we were just playing guitar down in the basement, you know what I mean doing that, the high school thing cruising around.

00:15:05.009 --> 00:15:10.072
We were developing our taste in rock and roll, but we weren't gigging.

00:15:10.072 --> 00:15:17.410
I had a couple bands actually though senior year One of them we were doing some Rush and some Maiden and some Priest.

00:15:17.410 --> 00:15:22.943
Yeah, I actually come to think of it, we had a few bands going on, but it wasn't voracious.

00:15:22.943 --> 00:15:26.989
We played at the high school and we know.

00:15:26.989 --> 00:15:27.551
See, that was why.

00:15:27.551 --> 00:15:28.905
That's why I say we didn't really have a band.

00:15:28.926 --> 00:15:46.149
We, we jammed and there were cool jams and I was playing with good guys Glenn hell, regal on bass, rob McEachern on drums, rich Smith, you know, yeah, I was playing with some good guys, for sure, but uh, we weren't doing gigs in the springtime.

00:15:46.149 --> 00:16:03.059
We did one gig and that was a different band, uh, at the, at the, at the auditorium at the high school, but it wasn't like a big deal yeah, so was college really the place where, when you met larry shea, obviously, and everything changed, everything changed, everything changed.

00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.004
It seemed to take off right from there.

00:16:05.590 --> 00:16:10.855
That's where it all happened, that's where the magic kicks in, right there, your whole life changes?

00:16:10.855 --> 00:16:12.758
I don't know where I'd be without Larry Shea.

00:16:13.870 --> 00:16:16.792
Your whole life changes, so much you say, I have to get the hell out of.

00:16:16.792 --> 00:16:17.972
America no.

00:16:18.092 --> 00:16:19.914
What do I put up with this?

00:16:19.914 --> 00:16:20.475
I do.

00:16:20.475 --> 00:16:27.903
I would not want to have not known Larry Shea, though I'll tell you that he's my deep brother.

00:16:27.903 --> 00:16:29.385
No doubt about that.

00:16:32.499 --> 00:16:33.610
We've had so many good times, buddy.

00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:35.193
Let's talk about Lowell, though.

00:16:35.193 --> 00:16:47.133
Lowell's a good jumping off point, I guess jumping off the bridge right, we could tell them about the jumping off the bridge story.

00:16:47.153 --> 00:16:58.326
I think the statute of limitations on that one might have run out, so I hope so I hope so, but greg, no, to be fair, to be honest, you know you were a couple years ahead of me um, I think two, two years ahead of me.

00:16:58.326 --> 00:17:04.393
So you know you were at lowell causing a lot of damage before I even got there.

00:17:04.393 --> 00:17:06.775
Let's be real about what it is.

00:17:06.775 --> 00:17:15.799
I was telling these guys about dime slot and mattresses and putting fish in between mattresses and box springs and the shenanigans that you used to be up to.

00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:18.862
But do you remember jumping in the canal?

00:17:18.862 --> 00:17:20.442
I absolutely remember that one.

00:17:20.463 --> 00:17:21.864
Yeah, that was a crazy one.

00:17:23.025 --> 00:17:25.707
I don't know if you want to tell the whole story, but I can set it up for you.

00:17:25.707 --> 00:17:26.567
You can set it up.

00:17:26.567 --> 00:17:30.519
You can set it up Because we have a mutual friend, ray Big tough, ray Clough.

00:17:31.132 --> 00:17:31.574
Rough tough Ray.

00:17:31.594 --> 00:17:36.336
Clough A bunch of months ago and I had completely forgotten the story.

00:17:36.336 --> 00:17:38.313
I said, ray, what do you remember about college?

00:17:38.313 --> 00:17:41.578
I don't know if you guys are like this too, but college you forget so much.

00:17:41.578 --> 00:17:44.845
There's a reason, for good reason.

00:17:44.845 --> 00:17:53.161
He's like I remember you had like a $20 bill and we bought a case of Schlitz, but we had to jump into the canal if we were going to get it.

00:17:53.161 --> 00:18:00.320
So in Lowell, massachusetts, they called it the Venice of America because there were all these canals that ran through the downtown.

00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:03.797
And so these guys you and who else?

00:18:03.797 --> 00:18:11.317
Four other guys oh man, get down to their skivvies, go up onto the bridge, their tighty-whities.

00:18:12.078 --> 00:18:12.881
Yeah.

00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:17.017
And jump in and someone driving by thought they were committing suicide.

00:18:17.076 --> 00:18:19.442
Oh geez, they did.

00:18:19.782 --> 00:18:22.993
They did, it's true, and they got the spotlights out.

00:18:22.993 --> 00:18:29.272
Looking at the canal trying to dredge looking for the delinquents who just jumped in, Anyway.

00:18:29.413 --> 00:18:31.633
So yeah, that was exactly the story.

00:18:31.633 --> 00:18:32.615
But we wanted that beer.

00:18:32.615 --> 00:18:33.797
We were thirsty.

00:18:33.797 --> 00:18:34.598
Did you get the beer?

00:18:34.598 --> 00:18:35.661
We were thirsty, did you get it?

00:18:35.661 --> 00:18:36.583
We got the beer.

00:18:36.583 --> 00:18:37.890
We got the beer, absolutely.

00:18:37.950 --> 00:18:40.134
The ones who weren't detained, got the schlitz.

00:18:40.134 --> 00:18:49.432
Let's put it that way, okay I'm joking um, but lol, I tell these guys, a good test for treading water.

00:18:49.534 --> 00:18:54.252
It is a good test yeah it's hours of treading water while I was shaking my head.

00:18:54.252 --> 00:18:59.690
You know um lol was a tough music school, though you know it had high standards.

00:18:59.690 --> 00:19:01.535
It's a music performance degree.

00:19:01.535 --> 00:19:03.800
And then I know you were music business.

00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:06.029
I was sound recording technology, that's right.

00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:13.044
But talk about Lowell and what you learned there and what you were able to learn professionally to take on to the next level.

00:19:13.170 --> 00:19:15.357
You know I'm so thankful for my time at Lowell.

00:19:15.357 --> 00:19:18.519
I felt like I was a really good music school at the time that we went there.

00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:27.457
You know I haven't been keeping up on how they're doing now, but I really felt like not only was the school really good, but we are all still.

00:19:27.457 --> 00:19:36.874
There's so many of us still in touch and still working together and making money and advancing our careers together in different kinds of ways, but I still.

00:19:36.874 --> 00:19:42.596
I just played with Dan Abreu and Mick Mercer a couple of weeks ago.

00:19:42.596 --> 00:19:44.569
Those are guys that we went to college with Jazz Lab with them.

00:19:44.770 --> 00:19:50.961
I almost played with Yaa Uba and so to be still in contact with these guys.

00:19:50.961 --> 00:19:55.517
We don't have an official fraternity or anything like that, but we have a definite brotherhood.

00:19:55.517 --> 00:19:56.200
You know what I mean.

00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:09.236
All those things that we all came up together from wherever we were all at musically and developmentally you know what I mean to where we are all now and it's great to see everybody doing so well.

00:20:09.236 --> 00:20:10.098
You know what I mean.

00:20:10.098 --> 00:20:10.431
Everybody.

00:20:10.431 --> 00:20:16.476
We know all those guys just guys before us and the guys a few years after us that are on our radar.

00:20:16.476 --> 00:20:23.796
Everybody's doing great and so I feel like it's a good testament to what a strong school that was and the kids that went there.

00:20:23.796 --> 00:20:24.798
We were cool kids, man.

00:20:24.798 --> 00:20:29.196
You know we really.

00:20:29.196 --> 00:20:30.059
We were there at a good time.

00:20:30.691 --> 00:20:31.512
We've actually had.

00:20:31.512 --> 00:20:37.335
We've had another guitar player, a friend of mine from a few years ago, and he talked about the notion of the 10,000 hours.

00:20:37.335 --> 00:20:42.884
The 10,000 hours of practice is necessary to really become, like you know, to get, to get proficient.

00:20:42.884 --> 00:20:44.936
Did you have your 10,000 hours?

00:20:44.936 --> 00:20:46.517
When was your 10,000 hours?

00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:52.122
I'm not sure what I've probably put in 10,000 hours?

00:20:52.122 --> 00:20:52.603
I wouldn't.

00:20:52.603 --> 00:21:01.984
I think the original concept of that is for not proficiency but more mastery really, which is, I mean, I'm not sure how many hours it takes anybody to do it.

00:21:01.984 --> 00:21:06.162
Some people are quicker than other people and some people are on a slow burn.

00:21:06.162 --> 00:21:09.259
I wouldn't consider myself a master of the guitar.

00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:13.039
If I put in 10,000 hours, it's probably just because I'm old.

00:21:15.711 --> 00:21:16.935
Like you hit 10,000, like last week.

00:21:19.490 --> 00:21:23.670
No, but I mean it takes a lot of dedication, especially if you really want to become someone who's a master.

00:21:23.670 --> 00:21:25.951
No, but I mean it takes a lot of dedication, especially if you really want to become someone who's a master.

00:21:25.951 --> 00:21:41.287
I think, every day, the real journey for being a musician is that we all try to want to put our thoughts through this instrument or through our voice, and to be able to connect with it as quickly and as immediately and as emotionally as possible is the goal, so I don't know how many hours it takes.

00:21:43.069 --> 00:21:43.971
I'm still definitely working on it.

00:21:43.971 --> 00:21:48.722
Well, talk to us about the moment where you were taking it that seriously.

00:21:48.722 --> 00:21:52.621
You're at Lowell and you're starting to play out.

00:21:52.621 --> 00:21:57.162
You're starting to really focus on this as if it's going to be your career.

00:21:57.162 --> 00:22:08.722
Talk about how that all came together and the steps you took to really put yourself out there in that way all came together and the steps you took to really put yourself out there in that way.

00:22:08.742 --> 00:22:11.750
Well, you know, I think I think in my junior year cause my first couple of years, man, we were having a lot of fun.

00:22:11.750 --> 00:22:19.653
But then I realized, you know, hey, man, at some point I got to get out of here and actually I had a couple of friends of mine that were a little bit older than me that were really playing.

00:22:19.653 --> 00:22:24.983
Well, you know, Dean Siropoulos, rememberos, remember Dean just absolutely destroying the classical guitar.

00:22:24.983 --> 00:22:30.362
We were hanging out a lot at that time with Dean and he was older than us.

00:22:30.362 --> 00:22:43.885
So I got a lot of inspiration from how hard he worked, because we went there for his senior recital and watched him absolutely just tear it up in the little music hall for his senior recital, in the little music hall for his senior.

00:22:43.905 --> 00:22:51.010
So a lot of the guys that I was around and people that I was around, sorry, were very influential at that time because a lot of other people were taking it very seriously too.

00:22:51.010 --> 00:22:55.817
You know guys like Kareem and John Doyle that really put in the hours big time.

00:22:55.817 --> 00:22:56.362
You know what I mean.

00:22:56.362 --> 00:23:10.298
So those guys that were friends of mine and obviously classmates, those guys, I think, influenced us to like kind of get ourselves, to get our act together and really try to finish strong.

00:23:10.719 --> 00:23:19.518
You know, yeah, which I was able to do and I would say also and you know I want you to expound on this Music was such a part of our daily lives.

00:23:19.518 --> 00:23:24.021
I mean, you had to shred for your lessons, they made you perform.

00:23:24.021 --> 00:23:30.163
You were always doing something with the performance, the music performance school, but also instrumentally.

00:23:30.163 --> 00:23:34.902
You know, greg, you lived in an apartment where you had a basement set up right With the drums.

00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:38.278
Yep, I had the jam room ready to go all the time.

00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:46.580
You were the person that kind of took me in and taught me how to play with 20 different players in the course of a night.

00:23:46.580 --> 00:23:47.182
You know what I mean?

00:23:47.182 --> 00:23:48.916
We would just jump in, yeah, yeah.

00:23:48.916 --> 00:23:54.269
Someone would grab the drumstick, someone would grab the bass, the guitar, whatever, and we would rotate in and out.

00:23:54.308 --> 00:23:54.410
Yeah.

00:23:54.589 --> 00:23:59.900
So we'd be partying the whole time, right, but music was just such a part of our daily existence.

00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:01.532
You taught me how to shred.

00:24:01.532 --> 00:24:02.817
You know that 10 000 hours.

00:24:02.817 --> 00:24:05.050
That that was part of it for me.

00:24:05.050 --> 00:24:12.022
And also, you were my first band, because you got the house band at mr tips.

00:24:12.022 --> 00:24:27.866
Mr tips and bill ricka, we called each other, we called the band lazy galoot after, uh, yosemite Sam, that's right, yep, and we would go and we got paid in beer, which was a big mistake for us.

00:24:30.554 --> 00:24:31.175
It really was.

00:24:32.192 --> 00:24:34.910
It really was and they realized after a few weeks like this is how it works guys.

00:24:35.131 --> 00:24:36.537
We've got to change the deal, man.

00:24:36.950 --> 00:24:38.019
We've got to change the deal.

00:24:38.029 --> 00:24:39.857
You guys were a step ahead of the Blues Brothers right.

00:24:41.273 --> 00:24:42.278
We were like you know.

00:24:43.730 --> 00:24:44.779
That's exactly I want.

00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:49.460
Uh, joking, all joking aside, I want you to talk about like how shredding was a part of our daily life.

00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:51.115
And that's kind of where you are.

00:24:51.195 --> 00:25:00.371
You know, your chops are getting honed at that point that's the beautiful thing you're learning how to perform true, true, true and and, yeah, and everybody's learning together too.

00:25:00.371 --> 00:25:02.433
You know, I mean, that's the beautiful thing about music school.

00:25:02.433 --> 00:25:31.073
I suppose it could be any kind of school that's specified, but you know just when, whenever I wasn't too busy, it would be either you or ray, like totally just like oh, this, this srt thing is killing me and then kind of talking to you about what you were going through and your major, and I know that ours wasn't as technically demanding as yours, but we were all still just so submerged and emerge in music all the time and, you know, and we used to duck our duct tape ourselves into the room and be watching the videos of our guys.

00:25:31.354 --> 00:25:36.041
Yeah, yeah, had to, had to you know.

00:25:36.561 --> 00:25:37.443
But yeah, we were just.

00:25:37.443 --> 00:25:43.084
You know that was the positive thing about music school is we were just, so everything was about music, you know?

00:25:43.084 --> 00:25:44.446
Yeah, we were engrossed in it.

00:25:44.509 --> 00:25:49.368
So when did you really start to push it to get into those top-notch bands?

00:25:49.368 --> 00:25:53.980
Yeah, there was a point where you started to say, okay, I'm good enough, I can do this.

00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:58.255
I'm going to these auditions, like how did you get yourself there and what was that moment?

00:25:58.275 --> 00:26:01.220
Man, I don't think there's ever a day where you're like I'm the guy.

00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:02.622
Things just fall into place.

00:26:02.622 --> 00:26:04.925
Then you just try to do a good job and keep it going.

00:26:04.925 --> 00:26:05.708
You know what I mean.

00:26:05.708 --> 00:26:07.730
Like like any of these entertainment jobs.

00:26:07.730 --> 00:26:08.313
You know what I mean.

00:26:08.313 --> 00:26:11.701
It's can be flighty and it can be dicey and it can be, you know.

00:26:11.701 --> 00:26:13.178
A different manager comes in the next thing.

00:26:13.178 --> 00:26:14.163
You know you're out whatever.

00:26:14.163 --> 00:26:15.130
You know what I mean really.

00:26:15.130 --> 00:26:16.692
So, but I don't.

00:26:16.692 --> 00:26:19.318
I don't know if there's ever a point where you're like I'm right, I think you know.

00:26:19.318 --> 00:26:23.909
Just, you feel lucky to play with certain guys and get certain calls.

00:26:23.909 --> 00:26:37.592
You know what I mean and you feel right, you feel fortunate to like okay, and then you feel confident when it goes well, you know, and then you just try to keep on being positive so, um, let's lowell your lowell's finishing up.

00:26:37.731 --> 00:26:40.700
One of the things I loved that they did was internship programs.

00:26:40.700 --> 00:26:44.896
You were music business we already talked about before, so you're studying music business.

00:26:44.896 --> 00:26:48.971
Talk about the internship you got from there and um what it taught you.

00:26:49.271 --> 00:26:56.690
Yeah, man I uh through another mutual friend and another little graduate, mr rich fatalo.

00:26:56.690 --> 00:27:02.781
He was interning at wbcn, which was one of the big, big radio stations in the usa.

00:27:02.781 --> 00:27:05.003
Not just it was for sure, it was the biggest around boston and, uh, at that time it was always ranked one of the big, big radio stations in the USA.

00:27:05.003 --> 00:27:10.813
Not just it was for sure, it was the biggest around Boston and at that time it was always ranked one of the best stations in the whole state or whole country.

00:27:10.813 --> 00:27:13.740
So Rich got me the opportunity to intern there.

00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:21.011
So I spent a couple of spent that semester of senior year with Carter Allen and Steve Strick and other BCN guys.

00:27:21.011 --> 00:27:22.738
I learned so much about radio.

00:27:22.818 --> 00:27:36.948
For me that was the end of the era of radio because just as I was starting to leave there was when the Howard Stern era was coming in, which obviously changed radio completely.

00:27:36.948 --> 00:27:37.669
You know what I mean.

00:27:37.669 --> 00:27:45.553
So I feel like I was like on the very last edge of the old school radio before things changed pretty drastically, you know.

00:27:45.553 --> 00:27:53.580
So I really really, really enjoyed my time at that station and I feel so super lucky for all the experiences I had there.

00:27:53.580 --> 00:28:02.979
I got to see some great bands I got to learn about some of the inner workings of the radio industry at that time, although now I got to say it's probably so different.

00:28:02.979 --> 00:28:10.349
Now, you know, this is when people were promoting records in a totally different way than music is is experienced today.

00:28:10.349 --> 00:28:26.480
So but for me as a life experience and and uh, for what it was and like just to get my house a lot and stuff like that for my own band at that time and stuff, it taught me a lot and I made I made a lot of great relationships from that era.

00:28:27.410 --> 00:28:29.886
You were driving the van right, I was driving the van.

00:28:29.886 --> 00:28:31.114
Yeah, I remember the.

00:28:31.255 --> 00:28:32.077
BCN van.

00:28:32.077 --> 00:28:33.816
I remember a magical day.

00:28:33.816 --> 00:28:35.537
I got a phone call from Greg Luttrell.

00:28:35.537 --> 00:28:48.222
He said clear your afternoon, you're coming with me, and he brought me down to Boston and I met my rock and roll idols, gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and Kiss, and got to shake their hand.

00:28:48.222 --> 00:28:51.576
That's right, conversations with them and it was magical.

00:28:51.576 --> 00:28:54.298
But I love that Lowell did that right.

00:28:54.298 --> 00:28:55.977
They made you do an internship.

00:28:55.977 --> 00:29:02.557
It was part of your curriculum, yeah, and we tell people on this show all the time you know if you can get an internship.

00:29:02.557 --> 00:29:04.561
You could, you could dedicate your time.

00:29:04.561 --> 00:29:08.248
That door could crack open for you and that's an opportunity.

00:29:08.327 --> 00:29:12.759
Now it didn't happen in your case well, you know, I wasn't really really a radio guy.

00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:16.375
You know, I did my internship and then I wound up working there for a year and a half, you know what I mean.

00:29:16.375 --> 00:29:17.861
Sure, there you go a long time.

00:29:17.861 --> 00:29:20.733
So I wasn't really really a radio guy.

00:29:20.733 --> 00:29:27.044
I was trying to push my pan but I was so thankful just to be around that vibe and, like you know, of course he's somehow in the back of my mind.

00:29:27.044 --> 00:29:36.817
Without being like sleazy about it, I was like I don't get my radio, I don't get my music on the station, right, right but you know so, but you want to be near the fire, you know you want

00:29:36.857 --> 00:29:40.134
to be near the fire and it turned into something for you then obviously so.

00:29:40.134 --> 00:29:45.213
But how do you, how do you graduate Lowell and then just go out professionally?

00:29:45.213 --> 00:29:50.915
Were you ever like shit, I'm gonna have to be a plumber for a minute, something like I was dude, I was doing landscaping.

00:29:50.996 --> 00:29:52.358
You know I was, I was working.

00:29:52.358 --> 00:29:55.354
I was working the day, I did landscaping for years and then I was a.

00:29:55.354 --> 00:30:03.378
I was a painter for a little while and then I put on a tie and I did some temp jobs and then I would be doing the temp job at Thursday, friday, saturday.

00:30:03.378 --> 00:30:16.320
I'm in the bar and then yeah other nights rehearsing and um, and then finally I got to that pivotal point where it was like, okay, I think I can let it go and just try to jump in the water.

00:30:17.309 --> 00:30:17.510
All right.

00:30:17.510 --> 00:30:18.336
So when was that?

00:30:18.336 --> 00:30:25.101
I can let it go, point and say, okay, now I'm 25 years old when I stopped 25.

00:30:25.361 --> 00:30:26.372
How old Age I was?

00:30:26.372 --> 00:30:27.275
24, 25.

00:30:27.615 --> 00:30:29.039
Okay 24, 25.

00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:29.632
And what were the?

00:30:29.692 --> 00:30:32.160
circumstances around that Describe that moment.

00:30:33.576 --> 00:30:42.981
It wasn't really a moment, it was just like I was doing temp jobs, so I just stopped pursuing them and just went for more, like okay, I'll play this on a Tuesday night.

00:30:42.981 --> 00:30:48.029
I and just went for more, like okay, I'll play this on a Tuesday night, I'll play on a blah blah blah night, you know.

00:30:48.529 --> 00:30:50.789
So you were gigging with bands and you were just Gigging with bands and doing solo acoustic gigs.

00:30:50.789 --> 00:30:55.875
Once I had moved into Boston from Lowell I was doing I had a couple of buddies that you know.

00:30:55.875 --> 00:30:58.759
Boston's a super rich music scene.

00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:07.196
There's so many pubs and clubs and I know a lot of guys very talented but they make their full living doing music and they're not famous, they're just local guys.

00:31:07.196 --> 00:31:14.002
They're not looking to jump on planes and everything like that, they just do it all around Boston but they're doing great and they're killing musicians.

00:31:14.002 --> 00:31:18.365
So they get a lot of gigs and there's just a lot of music opportunities in Boston.

00:31:19.106 --> 00:31:54.269
So that's the case no-transcript.

00:31:54.892 --> 00:32:09.285
you know, I'm living in boston, I've got a lot of buddies that are just great players and a lot of gigs are coming my way and I want to be able to say yes, so I just stopped, you know, really contacting the temp agency about day jobs.

00:32:09.285 --> 00:32:10.425
I never really quit.

00:32:11.290 --> 00:32:12.256
So you're 25.

00:32:12.256 --> 00:32:13.957
The tie has been put in a drawer.

00:32:13.957 --> 00:32:23.303
Describe the next five years to us Like what happens in that next window that propels you to where you are today.

00:32:24.750 --> 00:32:26.015
Oh, man, just play, you know what?

00:32:26.015 --> 00:32:29.134
Just play, and show after show after show, you know so many, so many people.

00:32:29.134 --> 00:32:38.954
Not that I'm a huge, I'm not an star or anything like that, I just just playing, playing bands with people that I know and taking calls from people anybody that would call.

00:32:38.954 --> 00:32:46.251
So I just I had it in my heart that this was what I wanted to do, and playing music was what I wanted to do.

00:32:46.271 --> 00:32:48.601
so yeah, you weren't going to be denied.

00:32:48.601 --> 00:32:52.656
You know, I think one of your strengths too is is your networking.

00:32:52.656 --> 00:32:55.750
Right, you already said we already established you're a people person.

00:32:55.750 --> 00:33:08.375
But networking, you know, like gigs were never shy man, you were always taking a gig and, like you said, you could do a solo thing or you could do an ensemble thing.

00:33:08.375 --> 00:33:15.679
You could jump in and do a couple tunes and book, like, you had a lot of versatility, I believe, when it came to performing.

00:33:15.679 --> 00:33:20.637
That allowed you to take on, to be a professional musician full-time is that, is that accurate?

00:33:21.159 --> 00:33:23.074
oh, thanks, man, I mean you know I just I hope so.

00:33:23.074 --> 00:33:23.641
You know what I mean.

00:33:23.641 --> 00:33:24.671
You know I just I hope so you know what I mean.

00:33:24.671 --> 00:33:26.756
Like I keep getting, I kept getting the calls.

00:33:26.756 --> 00:33:29.510
My, my book was busy man, so you know what I mean.

00:33:29.510 --> 00:33:31.616
I used to work so much in boston.

00:33:31.616 --> 00:33:32.940
I'm so thankful as well.

00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:35.213
I don't think I ever took it too much for granted.

00:33:35.213 --> 00:33:35.776
You know what I mean.

00:33:35.776 --> 00:33:40.516
I got to play with some great people on some great shows and great, great records.

00:33:40.596 --> 00:33:45.765
I think you yeah, so how does the China thing come about?

00:33:45.765 --> 00:33:48.067
Let's start to cover that piece.

00:33:48.167 --> 00:33:58.920
Okay, I had been playing with a band called Mother's Favorite Child and they have an absolutely great saxophone player, leon Silver.

00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:00.343
Very cool guy.

00:34:00.343 --> 00:34:03.640
He had been over in China for the Olympics in 2008.

00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:09.353
And when he came back you know he's no he was still in China and he hit me up.

00:34:09.454 --> 00:34:10.943
Hey Greg, how you doing Blah, blah, blah.

00:34:12.431 --> 00:34:18.739
I think we've got a gig for you over in China, and I was like, ah, come on, get out of here.

00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:20.043
That seems like an odd gig.

00:34:20.992 --> 00:34:28.320
Yeah, I didn't know he was over there because we'd been a little bit in touch, and then he said I'm going to put you in touch with this lady from Australia.

00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:30.657
She's booking this blues club in Shanghai.

00:34:30.657 --> 00:34:32.454
They're looking for a blues singer.

00:34:32.454 --> 00:34:33.498
So I recommended you.

00:34:33.498 --> 00:34:42.175
So he's the one I got to give all the credit for Leon for originally bringing me to the House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, which is a very magical place, man.

00:34:42.175 --> 00:34:44.407
And this is 2009 the House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, which is a very magical place, man.

00:34:44.407 --> 00:34:44.710
So we did like.

00:34:44.791 --> 00:34:45.889
And this is 2009?

00:34:45.889 --> 00:34:45.889
.

00:34:45.889 --> 00:34:48.117
This is 2009, yeah, okay.

00:34:48.777 --> 00:34:49.800
That was the first time.

00:34:50.769 --> 00:34:51.030
Man.

00:34:51.030 --> 00:34:52.938
So what is the rules here?

00:34:52.938 --> 00:34:55.739
You sign up for a certain period of time Is that how.

00:34:55.769 --> 00:35:11.400
The first one was three and a half months that we did and eventually, as we got further along and they liked us more, our longest contract was six months, but originally they would do four bands for like three, three and a half months and you come back to the States and we come right back to the States, Yep.

00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:19.072
So the first three or four times I went over there I never knew if I would come back again, you know, but I was really enjoying it.

00:35:19.072 --> 00:35:23.458
I'd say by the third or fourth time I was over there I was yeah, I need to spend more time and what are you doing while you're there?

00:35:23.778 --> 00:35:25.121
are you the house band?

00:35:25.121 --> 00:35:25.981
Are you playing every?

00:35:26.101 --> 00:35:29.932
day, six nights a week, and we do a, we host a jam.

00:35:29.932 --> 00:35:47.737
We were at that time I mean, they have a different format now, but at that time they would bring over all foreigns but there was like the only blues club in town that had all foreign musicians and they really bring over the best people they could find from america and germany or, sorry, europe all over the place.

00:35:47.737 --> 00:35:52.813
So, uh, they really liked our band and we really liked that club.

00:35:52.813 --> 00:35:55.119
We just said we're a good, good mix right from the start.

00:35:55.119 --> 00:36:01.179
You know, from the first time contract we did over there it's like magic for us, amazing city.

00:36:01.179 --> 00:36:08.434
At that time to 2009, in shanghai, the place was on fire, economically so good.

00:36:08.434 --> 00:36:15.576
Everybody had money, tons of foreigners around spending money all over the place and then and we were the house band like the premier blues club.

00:36:15.655 --> 00:36:17.829
It was crazy so I guess that's a good way to put it.

00:36:17.829 --> 00:36:22.512
So what was the biggest difference between playing at clubs in america and playing at clubs overseas?

00:36:22.512 --> 00:36:23.396
And in china?

00:36:23.858 --> 00:36:29.757
the biggest difference is that you know in America and playing at clubs overseas in China, the biggest difference is that everybody in the room spoke a different language.

00:36:29.757 --> 00:36:32.065
You'd have people from Europe, you'd have people from Africa, you'd have a few Chinese people.

00:36:32.065 --> 00:36:43.619
So the crowds were so international and diverse and, as reflective of Shanghai, shanghai at that time was super, super diverse city within the expat community.

00:36:46.809 --> 00:36:47.532
Did they all know the music Meaning?

00:36:47.532 --> 00:36:48.898
Music is the universal language.

00:36:48.898 --> 00:36:51.434
Were they all connecting with what you were doing?

00:36:52.081 --> 00:36:53.813
They were connecting as music.

00:36:53.813 --> 00:36:56.637
They weren't like that's Howlin' Wolf, that's Buddy Guy.

00:36:56.637 --> 00:36:57.880
You know what I mean.

00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:04.278
Some people you'd have some people that were in the blues and they'd be like I can't believe we found this place and some other people, just you know.

00:37:04.278 --> 00:37:05.101
I think that they connected.

00:37:05.101 --> 00:37:09.300
We had a strong, strong band at that time.

00:37:09.300 --> 00:37:13.789
So I think they were connected with the energy we were putting out and our love for the music.

00:37:13.789 --> 00:37:18.918
I think you know, the music brings people of any languages to a brand new, beautiful place.

00:37:18.918 --> 00:37:35.490
That's one of my best memories and one of the reasons why I stay is because you sometimes just go to these places when you're in this foreign land and you got all these people, and music is really creating something special for a group of people that are gathered, gathered together.

00:37:35.490 --> 00:37:39.637
So that still continues to like be a driving force.

00:37:39.637 --> 00:37:45.275
For me is that, that moment when everybody's just like, yeah, really in it together.

00:37:46.291 --> 00:37:47.375
Then the room is moving.

00:37:47.375 --> 00:37:51.257
Um talk about the culture shock.

00:37:51.257 --> 00:37:52.655
Was it like?

00:37:52.655 --> 00:38:05.101
Were you like like the first tour, for instance, like communication, uh, food, money, like all the things that we just take for granted in our day-to-day life?

00:38:05.101 --> 00:38:12.311
Now you've got to go over there and kind of figure that piece out and I would have a hard time, I would struggle with it.

00:38:12.311 --> 00:38:14.655
I mean, you've been there 15 years now.

00:38:14.655 --> 00:38:18.974
I'm sure it's different now, but in the beginning was it like I don't know.

00:38:19.454 --> 00:38:24.634
I think I gotta go home, I don't know about this I mean for me, it wasn't for for the guys in our band.

00:38:24.634 --> 00:38:32.047
I have known some people to come over and I've helped a couple guys to come over that didn't love it and I felt bad because I had like talked it up and blah, blah, blah.

00:38:32.047 --> 00:38:33.311
But it's not for everybody.

00:38:33.311 --> 00:38:36.402
It's very, very different and it's not, you know.

00:38:36.402 --> 00:38:38.409
You know the language is very different.

00:38:38.409 --> 00:38:46.778
You know it's not like going to europe or going to, you know, a place where it's a little bit different, but you can kind of hang in there and the culture is very different.

00:38:46.778 --> 00:38:49.298
But for me, I right hit the ground running.

00:38:49.298 --> 00:38:50.615
I was like this place is amazing.

00:38:50.615 --> 00:38:55.994
And when I look back too, of course this is before we had our cell phones and we had our like, you know, now I have the.

00:38:55.994 --> 00:38:59.657
You know, if I need to, I have Google.

00:38:59.677 --> 00:39:00.539
Translate on my phone.

00:39:00.760 --> 00:39:01.501
We never had that.

00:39:01.501 --> 00:39:03.083
We barely even had cell phones.

00:39:03.083 --> 00:39:07.811
I think I had a Motorola Razr and like a pocket snap phone, you know what I mean.

00:39:07.811 --> 00:39:09.038
I love that Motorola Razr.

00:39:09.110 --> 00:39:10.516
Camera, camera, razr right.

00:39:10.516 --> 00:39:12.856
I keep telling you to get a new phone too.

00:39:12.856 --> 00:39:13.838
It's about time.

00:39:14.992 --> 00:39:15.659
Love that phone.

00:39:15.659 --> 00:39:16.224
I had a little.

00:39:16.710 --> 00:39:17.510
Nikon camera.

00:39:17.510 --> 00:39:29.478
You know you have to put it in the camera so, but you know also, the big difference is that they had a lot of systems set up for you to succeed in Shanghai if you didn't speak Chinese.

00:39:29.478 --> 00:39:42.387
It was such an international city that it just seemed like in the early days you could always find somebody in the back of the shop that could come out and dust off enough English to like get you through ordering your dumplings or whatever you were trying to get.

00:39:42.387 --> 00:39:50.615
You know, when I got to Beijing there was a big different story.

00:39:50.615 --> 00:39:52.023
It's this capital, so not nearly as many people, and they did not have.

00:39:52.043 --> 00:39:53.811
In fact, in Shanghai they had the thing called Shanghai call.

00:39:53.811 --> 00:40:01.556
Call this number and they ask you, what's your, what's your language, and you push a button and then the person comes on in that language and you tell them where they want to go.

00:40:01.556 --> 00:40:03.179
They look it up on the internet.

00:40:03.179 --> 00:40:05.083
They say hand the phone to the cab driver.

00:40:05.083 --> 00:40:10.378
They tell you hand the phone to the driver, and then they give you the phone back and boom, you're on your way.

00:40:10.378 --> 00:40:11.641
That's amazing.

00:40:11.641 --> 00:40:14.519
So I moved to Beijing and I'm like, hey, what's the number for Beijing call?

00:40:16.269 --> 00:40:19.132
And they're like jeez, there is no.

00:40:19.193 --> 00:40:24.677
Beijing call Good luck, all right, so let me delve in a little bit deeper on that.

00:40:24.677 --> 00:40:32.945
So you said you had obviously spoken to others trying to convince them to come to China, and some of them who came over did not enjoy the experience.

00:40:32.945 --> 00:40:34.985
What was the main thing they didn't like?

00:40:34.985 --> 00:40:36.027
Was it homesickness?

00:40:36.027 --> 00:40:40.021
Was it simply trying to get past the culture?

00:40:40.043 --> 00:40:40.527
and the language barrier.

00:40:40.527 --> 00:40:48.532
Yeah, I think for some people, you know, uh, it was the language barrier and the culture.

00:40:48.532 --> 00:40:52.367
It just didn't appeal to them as much as I had maybe talked it up to me.

00:40:52.367 --> 00:40:53.771
But I I was really enjoying it.

00:40:53.771 --> 00:40:59.143
So I mean, and I would never invite anybody over who I thought might- not enjoy it.

00:40:59.210 --> 00:41:01.635
Would you say that you're just more naturally independent in that sense?

00:41:02.117 --> 00:41:02.498
I don't know.

00:41:02.498 --> 00:41:10.494
I think some people I don't know, I think some people maybe are more easily acclimated, like I'm down to go wherever.

00:41:10.494 --> 00:41:11.217
You know what I mean.

00:41:11.217 --> 00:41:13.768
As long as the place is peaceful, you know what I mean.

00:41:13.768 --> 00:41:16.659
I want to be there if they want me there.

00:41:16.659 --> 00:41:27.880
You know I want to check out as many countries as I can, so when I happened to go to this one, I felt very lucky for the opportunity and then for me it was very easy to love.

00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:31.672
It was like magic from the start for me At that time.

00:41:31.672 --> 00:41:35.025
The city I mean Shanghai is this incredibly vibrant city.

00:41:35.025 --> 00:41:42.139
It's like New Orleans on crack, especially at that time, really just all night long.

00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:49.358
Whatever you want to do, as long as you're being cool no one's going to bother you and there's no, you don't have to worry about your safety at this.

00:41:49.358 --> 00:41:54.322
I'm still today now, but at that time, like you know, it was just really.

00:41:54.322 --> 00:42:08.039
And you've got all these international people that are here for a few months, so like everybody's got an exciting story why they're there and they're only there for a small amount of, or then you've got the people that have been there forever.

00:42:08.039 --> 00:42:09.315
Then they want to show you the ropes.

00:42:09.315 --> 00:42:13.333
Let me show you this secret bar over this way, part of town over here.

00:42:13.333 --> 00:42:14.498
All right, let's go.

00:42:14.498 --> 00:42:20.081
So it was just such an intense experience from the start for me.

00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:22.197
Now like I said, it's not for everybody.

00:42:22.197 --> 00:42:25.300
Like I said, a couple of buddies are very good friends of mine.

00:42:25.300 --> 00:42:31.280
I was leaving a gig and it's like I can give you guys this gig and they just a couple of guys didn't.

00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:32.583
They didn't take to it.

00:42:40.289 --> 00:42:43.487
Now I'm curious about the, the broader journey, and you know, some of these things that I'm about to ask about may have happened in Shanghai.

00:42:43.487 --> 00:42:43.795
They could have happened anywhere.

00:42:43.795 --> 00:42:56.155
What are some of your greatest memories of being on stage and possibly being joined by somebody who you know, you looked up to or who was a hero?

00:42:56.155 --> 00:43:03.492
Tell us some of those really special moments, if you can, that really stand out as a performer.

00:43:04.534 --> 00:43:10.217
Wow, I've felt lucky to play with such great musicians for a lot of the times in my life.

00:43:10.217 --> 00:43:11.547
Yeah, I mean gosh.

00:43:11.547 --> 00:43:17.822
One time we got to perform down in saint bart's we were, uh, with jimmy buffett on his birthday.

00:43:17.842 --> 00:43:21.396
Oh, cool nice yeah, which was right near christmas.

00:43:21.396 --> 00:43:22.440
I want to say it was christmas.

00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:27.704
So, yeah, we were in a gig down there in the gym with him, which was a big honor and a big like.

00:43:27.704 --> 00:43:29.750
He's such an easygoing, cool guy.

00:43:29.750 --> 00:43:43.326
You know, I met Jim with a lot of people who were, I guess, famous, but a lot of my friends that I feel like should be famous, some of my champs with them, I feel have been even more breathtaking than Grant.

00:43:47.010 --> 00:43:48.434
And Buffett is a pretty good top of the list, if that's.

00:43:48.454 --> 00:44:11.990
uh, like I said, you know, some couple times just looking out at the place in shanghai and just seeing people from every single country, just absolute, or not every single country, but many, many different countries in the bar together, 100, peaceful, everybody going for it, toasting each other, trying to get to this very cool, musically spiritual place, you know, with a little alcohol, but all love, you know, it's all about love man.

00:44:11.990 --> 00:44:13.791
You know, with a little alcohol, but all love, you know, it's all about love man.

00:44:13.791 --> 00:44:14.753
You know what I mean.

00:44:14.753 --> 00:44:20.715
That's what it is, no matter what kind of music you appreciate or listen to when you go out together, we've all bought a ticket to this show.

00:44:20.715 --> 00:44:22.996
We're there for the same reasons.

00:44:24.038 --> 00:44:30.420
So when you see a place get and you're a part of the place getting whipped up into a frenzy, those moments that have happened have been special.

00:44:30.420 --> 00:44:32.802
I mean, I can see them flash in my mind.

00:44:32.802 --> 00:44:34.664
I don't know if I can name the venue or the night.

00:44:34.664 --> 00:44:36.644
We have been lucky.

00:44:36.644 --> 00:44:44.148
You know, one time in Shanghai we were joined by the great Hazel Payne, you know, and she joined us and she actually had been in town.

00:44:44.148 --> 00:45:03.833
So I performed with her a couple of times, but I remember the first time was just like we we had an immediate uh music energy connection together, saying singing really just easy to get in, making it fun um, when you were, I kind of remember some rules you weren't allowed to gig at other places, but you were gigging at other places in china.

00:45:04.817 --> 00:45:06.302
Uh well, were you allowed.

00:45:06.322 --> 00:45:08.690
When we were under contract at the blues and jazz.

00:45:08.690 --> 00:45:12.641
We were going and jamming at many places but we weren't getting paid.

00:45:12.641 --> 00:45:16.693
They had a place that was called Jay-Z and all the musicians.

00:45:16.693 --> 00:45:28.541
They had a jam that started at 3 am on Saturday nights and all the musicians would get done with their gigs and then everybody would show up at Jay-Z and there we had some nights that would just went until noon the next day.

00:45:28.541 --> 00:45:33.233
You know just absolutely Because you know just absolutely because it you know over there they don't have to close.

00:45:33.233 --> 00:45:35.619
They don't have to close, they close when people stop drinking.

00:45:35.619 --> 00:45:38.856
You know, yeah, so if you keep going all night, it's not a big deal.

00:45:38.856 --> 00:45:42.342
Nice and uh, and we did many, many, many.

00:45:42.342 --> 00:45:53.195
Well, we had a, we had a wonderful drink over there, so it was absinthe, gold tequilaquila and tomato juice and we called it a stoplight.

00:45:53.195 --> 00:45:55.197
You got the green one, the yellow one, the red one.

00:45:55.197 --> 00:45:58.338
Whoa man, that thing would get you charged up.

00:45:58.338 --> 00:45:59.152
You'd be playing licks.

00:45:59.152 --> 00:46:00.036
You didn't thought you knew.

00:46:02.230 --> 00:46:03.976
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on that one.

00:46:03.996 --> 00:46:07.878
Greg, that was a really special time, too, at the Jay-Z Club.

00:46:07.878 --> 00:46:15.260
There's a new location in Shanghai now, which is still a beautiful venue, but this place that we were at was a vibe there.

00:46:15.260 --> 00:46:17.146
That was like wow, and there was.

00:46:17.146 --> 00:46:17.969
You know, you've been there now.

00:46:19.815 --> 00:46:24.077
So you've been gigging in China now for, I guess, a better portion of a decade, 15 years.

00:46:24.077 --> 00:46:26.717
Yeah, would you consider yourself at this point?

00:46:26.717 --> 00:46:33.275
Do you still see yourself as as an american citizen, or?

00:46:33.295 --> 00:46:33.456
an expat.

00:46:33.456 --> 00:46:34.965
I mean it's kind of the, it's kind of the same thing, but you know it's very.

00:46:34.965 --> 00:46:36.351
Do you feel more comfortable when you're in the us?

00:46:36.351 --> 00:46:37.393
I feel great.

00:46:37.393 --> 00:46:38.436
I'm in the us right now.

00:46:38.436 --> 00:46:41.161
I feel great, feel great, absolutely, you know?

00:46:41.161 --> 00:46:45.780
Um, in fact it's such a short time that I get to be here.

00:46:45.780 --> 00:46:50.652
I'm trying to squeeze every every minute of fun and give every hug and do every gig that I can while I'm here.

00:46:50.652 --> 00:46:56.117
But I mean, I feel comfortable over in China, but they don't.

00:46:56.117 --> 00:46:56.858
They're not very.

00:46:56.858 --> 00:46:58.378
It's not like here where you can really.

00:46:58.378 --> 00:47:07.867
Even if I married a Chinese girl, then I guess I would get the marriage citizenship, but you still got to renew that, I think, every five years or something, I don't know.

00:47:07.867 --> 00:47:13.416
But it's very, very difficult to actually get the chinese version of a green card.

00:47:13.416 --> 00:47:20.536
I already know a very scant few people that have it and most people that I know wouldn't even think about trying to get it.

00:47:20.536 --> 00:47:24.012
The criteria is pretty high so how?

00:47:24.293 --> 00:47:25.496
how does permission work then?

00:47:25.496 --> 00:47:25.998
What do you do?

00:47:26.038 --> 00:47:34.797
you get a visa to go over there for a certain period of time yep, my, my employer gets me a visa to uh to be able to work there.

00:47:34.797 --> 00:47:46.119
So, whether it's a hotel or the bar, the club or the school, whatever, whatever it is where you're working, they make you a visa and you're working under their umbrella so when you go back, when do you go back?

00:47:46.159 --> 00:47:46.900
we'll start with that.

00:47:46.900 --> 00:47:49.014
I'll go back in the end end of august.

00:47:49.014 --> 00:47:52.233
So end of august, you go back and, and what is the routine?

00:47:52.233 --> 00:48:03.394
So you're playing x number of nights a week and I think larry mentioned that you're teaching now as well I'm teaching now yeah yeah, talk about how that that came about that came about because, uh, of covid.

00:48:03.876 --> 00:48:06.342
So I've always, like I said earlier, I've been a private teacher.

00:48:06.342 --> 00:48:07.731
I was usually just one-on-one.

00:48:07.731 --> 00:48:15.458
I taught a little while uh, rock school, sort of like the jack black thing, where I had like a band full of 12 year olds.

00:48:15.458 --> 00:48:18.275
It was awesome giving them to know how to be in their first band.

00:48:18.275 --> 00:48:19.719
That was really good time.

00:48:19.719 --> 00:48:21.246
But usually it's been one-on-one.

00:48:21.748 --> 00:48:26.101
So, anyways, when covid hit, they stopped making entertainment visas.

00:48:26.101 --> 00:48:30.333
So at that time covid was just getting really bad in the states.

00:48:30.333 --> 00:48:31.952
I was like I don't want to go back to america.

00:48:31.952 --> 00:48:37.010
So my mother was like, hey, you should just get your t-saw and start teaching.

00:48:37.010 --> 00:48:45.403
Yeah, so I went on line, paid a small fee, got my t-saw and studied up for like three days.

00:48:45.403 --> 00:48:46.371
I was trapped in the house.

00:48:46.371 --> 00:48:48.737
Anyways, I had nothing else to to do.

00:48:48.737 --> 00:48:55.269
So I studied up, got my license and then I started teaching and I just happened to fall into it.

00:48:55.269 --> 00:49:06.322
I did like a year online because everyone was trapped in a house and I taught at one school and then I wound up getting a job as a music teacher at an international school.

00:49:06.322 --> 00:49:08.818
So this job has really been great.

00:49:08.818 --> 00:49:10.094
The kids are great, the administrators are great, the program is really cool.

00:49:10.094 --> 00:49:10.702
So I really been great.

00:49:10.702 --> 00:49:13.210
The kids are great, the administrators are great, the program is really cool.

00:49:13.210 --> 00:49:15.577
So I really enjoy helping these kids with music.

00:49:15.577 --> 00:49:18.697
So I'm playing a little bit less than I used to be, but I still.

00:49:18.998 --> 00:49:33.481
I still play quite great and have some private students yeah, I have to interject just because you know, I always love when I get a message from you, because you're halfway around the world and I'm like, oh, craig, craig sent me a message about I don't even know a couple weeks ago.

00:49:33.481 --> 00:49:51.166
I go and and look at my messages, like through facebook messenger or whatever, and there's this video of this young chinese girl yeah, one of your students right who's who's like really good english reading the lyrics to kisses rock and roll all night.

00:49:53.994 --> 00:49:55.438
I gotta teach these kids right.

00:49:55.438 --> 00:50:00.994
You know what I mean proper corruption being done by greg latrell halfway around the world.

00:50:00.994 --> 00:50:02.858
I mean it is classic video.

00:50:02.898 --> 00:50:07.635
So yeah, man, um she's just cute as a button and she took right to the song.

00:50:07.635 --> 00:50:10.032
She had the little like she had the melody going and everything it's great.

00:50:10.032 --> 00:50:11.016
Yeah, and halfway through she kind of to the song.

00:50:11.036 --> 00:50:11.820
She had the melody going and everything.

00:50:11.820 --> 00:50:12.182
It was great, yeah.

00:50:12.182 --> 00:50:16.695
And halfway through she kind of stopped Greg's like no, no, no, keep going, keep going.

00:50:16.695 --> 00:50:18.179
I was like this is priceless.

00:50:18.619 --> 00:50:19.280
Such a good kid.

00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:20.422
Her name's Aria Good kid.

00:50:20.422 --> 00:50:23.351
So what that was.

00:50:23.351 --> 00:50:28.920
At the end of the year, we had a summer concert where each one of the classes did a song for rock and roll.

00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:29.561
I had them doing.

00:50:29.561 --> 00:50:38.487
I love rock and roll, rock and roll all night I had them doing all kinds of yeah, we will rock you, just all rock-themed songs.

00:50:38.487 --> 00:50:38.989
That's awesome.

00:50:38.989 --> 00:50:41.898
She's a first grader but she took right to it.

00:50:41.898 --> 00:50:42.639
She loved that song.

00:50:44.690 --> 00:50:49.021
You've obviously taken your role as a teacher very seriously.

00:50:49.021 --> 00:50:53.371
You can see that you were influenced by teachers.

00:50:53.371 --> 00:50:57.001
That very much pushed you to want to push you to want to be the best that you can be.

00:50:57.001 --> 00:50:57.932
How is that?

00:50:57.932 --> 00:51:05.775
How have you been able then to uh, to give your students that kind of encouragement, that kind of enthusiasm for playing?

00:51:05.976 --> 00:51:06.797
but you know it's.

00:51:06.797 --> 00:51:07.099
It's.

00:51:07.099 --> 00:51:08.623
It can be a challenge a little bit.

00:51:08.623 --> 00:51:13.432
You know, with every teacher you know just a teacher, so so same as everybody else.

00:51:13.432 --> 00:51:15.594
So it's general music.

00:51:15.594 --> 00:51:17.356
So you know a lot of the classes that I was into.

00:51:17.356 --> 00:51:20.637
I was in choir because I was into music, so it's easier to reach those kids.

00:51:20.637 --> 00:51:22.539
You know some of the in general music.

00:51:22.539 --> 00:51:23.059
You've got to try to.

00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:24.661
I just want them to enjoy music.

00:51:24.661 --> 00:51:26.302
Some of the kids already play.

00:51:26.302 --> 00:51:27.402
They're really into it.

00:51:27.402 --> 00:51:28.182
I know, know who they are.

00:51:28.182 --> 00:51:29.304
We can get a good connection.

00:51:29.304 --> 00:51:31.666
Some of the kids would way rather be playing video games.

00:51:31.666 --> 00:51:32.425
It's general music.

00:51:32.425 --> 00:51:33.047
You know what I mean.

00:51:33.047 --> 00:51:36.996
So it's it's fun and it's challenging to bridge that gap and try to.

00:51:37.036 --> 00:51:45.181
Just I'm just trying to latch on to each kid in some way to enjoy music and have fun with it, and you know you don't not have it be they.

00:51:45.181 --> 00:51:48.155
These kids have a lot of very difficult studies as it is.

00:51:48.155 --> 00:51:51.643
You know english is their second language, you know.

00:51:51.643 --> 00:51:53.293
So they want to learn.

00:51:53.293 --> 00:52:00.317
Their parents want to learn music through english and english through music, right, so I want it to be fun as well.

00:52:00.317 --> 00:52:03.050
You know they've already got a lot of science and blah, blah blahs.

00:52:03.050 --> 00:52:05.657
You know stuff that doesn't have to be fun.

00:52:05.657 --> 00:52:12.282
So I like to have as much fun as we can and then also like, show them like that's here's actually what a good tune is.

00:52:12.282 --> 00:52:18.400
Let's get them going with the kiss so I can make Larry proud, you know.

00:52:18.809 --> 00:52:21.076
It was better than Love Gun you know Come on.

00:52:21.076 --> 00:52:22.440
You got to be careful with it.

00:52:22.500 --> 00:52:27.159
It's Love Gun you got to be careful, craig, you got to be careful.

00:52:27.590 --> 00:52:33.458
Hey, just you know real quick before we get to advice and out here and we thank you so much for your time.

00:52:33.458 --> 00:52:41.501
How fortunate do you feel to just be playing music for a living and teaching and doing what you love to do every single day of your life?

00:52:41.501 --> 00:52:42.936
Just incredibly fortunate.

00:52:43.610 --> 00:52:52.541
And, like Tushar was asking me just now, when I come back to the States I feel also fortunate to just have so many good friends like you that I can reconnect with.

00:52:52.541 --> 00:53:03.289
You know, I'm headed on the plane tomorrow to go see one of our other college buddies, Scotty Coppola, going to Nashville and look at some guitars and listen to some country music and some great musicians Cause some shenanigans, I'm sure.

00:53:03.389 --> 00:53:04.911
Probably cause some shenanigans.

00:53:04.911 --> 00:53:06.375
If I know me and Scotty, you know what I mean.

00:53:06.375 --> 00:53:08.418
Most definitely, most definitely.

00:53:08.418 --> 00:53:18.554
But it makes coming back all that sweeter and you can't miss me if I don't go away.

00:53:18.574 --> 00:53:19.215
Do you need to?

00:53:19.255 --> 00:53:19.715
be missed?

00:53:19.777 --> 00:53:21.239
I don't know we all miss it.

00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:23.842
What time are Lions games on over in China?

00:53:23.983 --> 00:53:25.485
Oh man, it's tough to watch.

00:53:25.485 --> 00:53:28.396
It's in the middle of the night.

00:53:36.630 --> 00:53:38.498
It's pretty much a 12-hour difference during during, uh, during football season.

00:53:38.498 --> 00:53:40.507
So yeah, I was telling larry and tushar earlier you know, the bills and lions are both good.

00:53:40.527 --> 00:53:45.715
The world is the world is upside down because the rest of the world giants.

00:53:45.735 --> 00:53:46.577
Giants are bad.

00:53:46.896 --> 00:53:50.681
Oh, the Giants are bad, oh my.

00:53:50.702 --> 00:53:52.804
God, cowboys don't even have a chance, right?

00:53:53.065 --> 00:53:58.574
Thanks, you know talk about, you know friends in college and stuff.

00:53:58.574 --> 00:54:04.239
Man, I was in college for the four straight Bill Super Bowl losses and every year Big Tough Ray Clough would just destroy me.

00:54:05.936 --> 00:54:13.438
I remember being there with you for all those losses and just feeling so bad for you and just you know those cats, this is our year.

00:54:13.809 --> 00:54:15.175
It's like I can't even pile on.

00:54:15.175 --> 00:54:18.797
It was Charlie Brown with the football and Lucy.

00:54:18.797 --> 00:54:19.519
It was awful.

00:54:19.519 --> 00:54:23.090
Oh man, Our time will come, Greg, for both of us it was close.

00:54:23.110 --> 00:54:25.211
For us this year it was close, let's see.

00:54:25.211 --> 00:54:25.711
Let's see.

00:54:25.871 --> 00:54:49.226
So, greg, as we start to wrap, we always ask our guests, you know, if somebody wanted to follow in your footsteps which feels almost impossible because you've taken a very unique route but if somebody that you bumped into shared that they want to be a professional musician, they want this to be their life, what advice would you give them?

00:54:50.086 --> 00:55:01.530
I would say I mean, if the kid was young, I would say play with people that are older than you as much as you can.

00:55:01.530 --> 00:55:05.813
And then I would also say if you want to make money, do something else.

00:55:05.813 --> 00:55:06.954
Plenty of musicians doing.

00:55:06.954 --> 00:55:09.115
Well, I'm totally joking and I'm doing just fine.

00:55:09.115 --> 00:55:11.277
I'm very, very thankful and fortunate.

00:55:11.277 --> 00:55:14.219
But it did take a long time before I had it.

00:55:14.260 --> 00:55:18.344
Yeah Well, that's great advice, but I was happy I was really just happy playing music.

00:55:18.344 --> 00:55:20.204
And that's got to be all of it, right?

00:55:20.204 --> 00:55:21.847
I mean, that's what it's about.

00:55:21.847 --> 00:55:26.021
Everybody's got a different angle.

00:55:33.791 --> 00:55:34.615
There you go.

00:55:34.615 --> 00:55:37.510
So, greg, if people want to discover your music and to get to learn more about you beyond this conversation, where should they go?

00:55:37.510 --> 00:55:43.036
Uh, I have a Greg the trailcom G R E G L U T T R E L Lcom.

00:55:43.036 --> 00:55:45.623
Or you can find me on the trail music on Facebook or Instagram.

00:55:46.271 --> 00:55:48.710
Perfect and, uh, you know, I I was there today.

00:55:48.710 --> 00:55:50.992
I watched a bunch of different videos.

00:55:50.992 --> 00:55:52.753
I really enjoyed what I saw.

00:55:52.753 --> 00:56:00.983
So anybody out there listening who wants to learn more about Greg, it is absolutely a great destination, so greglatrellcom.

00:56:01.844 --> 00:56:02.425
Thank you, the legend.

00:56:02.425 --> 00:56:03.505
Thank you, larry, the legend.

00:56:03.505 --> 00:56:04.286
Thank you, come on.

00:56:04.286 --> 00:56:06.619
Thank you, larry, larry and Tushar, I appreciate you.

00:56:07.190 --> 00:56:08.820
Thank you so much for joining us, greg.

00:56:08.820 --> 00:56:09.190
Thank you.

00:56:09.251 --> 00:56:09.813
Ray, it was great.

00:56:09.813 --> 00:56:12.813
I'm sorry you guys had to be subjected to Larry and I catching up.

00:56:12.853 --> 00:56:16.036
This is like it felt like we were recruiting at the time.

00:56:16.036 --> 00:56:19.257
Not really If we were taking several hard lefts.

00:56:19.389 --> 00:56:27.755
it would have been private, though I think there'll be one version that goes out to the world, and there'll be another version that goes to the two of you, only to us.

00:56:27.815 --> 00:56:28.657
There'll be no takes.

00:56:31.510 --> 00:56:31.831
As well.

00:56:31.831 --> 00:56:32.614
There should be Greg.

00:56:32.614 --> 00:56:35.081
Thanks, man.

00:56:35.750 --> 00:56:45.025
So that was Greg Luttrell, with an incredible story about having an open mind and just following your dreams, no matter where they take you.

00:56:45.025 --> 00:56:47.949
Larry Shea, thank you so much for making that introduction.

00:56:48.311 --> 00:56:52.641
Yeah, I'm so glad that he was able to share that with everybody because it's such a unique story.

00:56:52.641 --> 00:56:54.315
It's such a unique tale.

00:56:54.315 --> 00:57:01.429
It is so interesting that you know there were people who were pivotal in his life that, you know, got him to play music.

00:57:01.429 --> 00:57:05.922
You know the teacher taught him the Rush song and things like that.

00:57:05.922 --> 00:57:06.994
I thought that was so cool.

00:57:06.994 --> 00:57:11.710
But you know, you never know if one thing changes, if it's going to be different.

00:57:11.710 --> 00:57:18.454
With Greg, there's no doubt he was going to be an entertainer, a performer through hell or high water, and it's just.

00:57:18.454 --> 00:57:25.324
You know it the minute you see him Again and I said it in the beginning find out what you love and figure out a way to get paid for it.

00:57:25.324 --> 00:57:35.081
And I thought what was interesting about Greg's story is there was no pivotal, seminal moment where he, you know, reaches that destination.

00:57:35.081 --> 00:57:37.226
It was determination, it was hard work.

00:57:37.226 --> 00:57:44.304
It was getting up on that stage night after night after night and figuring out how to keep a room moving.

00:57:44.304 --> 00:57:48.972
You know that's what he does, so I really love that.

00:57:48.972 --> 00:57:50.492
He shared that part of it with us.

00:57:51.773 --> 00:57:54.076
I also just want to talk about his advice a little bit.

00:57:54.076 --> 00:58:02.822
It was smart, especially for musicians out there aspiring musicians If you're young, play with people who are older than you, because you learn through experience.

00:58:02.822 --> 00:58:11.172
And myself, other musicians that went to UMass Lowell, we were playing every single day and those were your chops.

00:58:11.172 --> 00:58:11.211
T.

00:58:11.211 --> 00:58:15.425
You mentioned the 10,000 hours thing, you know, for mastery of something like.

00:58:15.425 --> 00:58:22.242
I don't know if I put in 10,000 hours, but I'm sure Greg did and that's why he's still playing right now.

00:58:22.242 --> 00:58:34.719
You know and again, this is not the first time we've heard this advice If you want to make money, do something else, right Because very few people, I know I know, but you know what chase your dreams.

00:58:34.759 --> 00:58:36.302
People don't worry about that part of it.

00:58:36.302 --> 00:58:49.199
But I also want to touch on this last bit, which is just how adventurous and brave he is, how courageous he is to go to another country and embrace it the way he has and I would get homesick.

00:58:49.199 --> 00:59:07.101
You know other people, I think may not feel as comfortable, but any culture, as long as the people are good and you're safe and you're happy like that's who Greg is and it just came through in this interview and I'm super proud of him and if you get a chance to see this guy perform, you won't regret it.

00:59:07.250 --> 00:59:09.157
I'm going to take the flip side to what you said there.

00:59:09.157 --> 00:59:11.713
Shea form, you won't regret it.

00:59:11.713 --> 00:59:12.818
I'm going to take the flip side to what you said there.

00:59:12.818 --> 00:59:14.083
Shay and I was yeah, I was sam, and I have spoken about this off.

00:59:14.083 --> 00:59:21.101
Uh, when you know, when we were done is about the lack of advice that a lot of times right hey, who are your influences?

00:59:21.202 --> 00:59:22.353
oh, I didn't really have an influence.

00:59:22.353 --> 00:59:23.097
Hey, what did you?

00:59:23.097 --> 00:59:23.862
What would you have for that?

00:59:23.862 --> 00:59:24.728
What would you say to this person?

00:59:24.728 --> 00:59:28.215
I don't know if I was, and that maybe is part of the real story here.

00:59:28.255 --> 00:59:32.159
And, like we've talked about the, the notion of an unconventional path, right is that?

00:59:32.159 --> 00:59:36.771
Yeah, in a lot of senses, you kind of have to carve your own niche out in the world.

00:59:36.771 --> 00:59:39.239
You kind of have to figure out who you are as a person.

00:59:39.239 --> 00:59:45.710
Right, we talked to a lot of folks who on this podcast, who have pretty much figured it out, who figured it out at a young age, etc.

00:59:45.710 --> 00:59:46.512
This is what I want to do.

00:59:47.134 --> 00:59:55.001
He had a notion of what he wanted to do, but he didn't have the pathway forward and so what he did was figure it out along the way.

00:59:55.001 --> 00:59:57.454
He didn't have a roadmap, it was not a straight line roadmap.

00:59:57.454 --> 01:00:03.938
This was a lot of lefts and rights along the way to make it to where he is today, and maybe it's not the path for everybody.

01:00:03.938 --> 01:00:10.885
It's definitely the path for him, but what it does allow for us to do is give us a good deal of insight into.

01:00:10.885 --> 01:00:16.387
You know, there are other ways to make it to be happy to fulfill yourself.

01:00:16.387 --> 01:00:21.974
If you say to yourself, I want to be X we say it all the time there's no wrong choices in this one.

01:00:21.974 --> 01:00:23.380
Move forward.

01:00:23.380 --> 01:00:26.394
That's the biggest piece of advice that we can give to anybody.

01:00:26.394 --> 01:00:28.092
Move forward, and that's what Greg did.

01:00:28.092 --> 01:00:29.023
He moved forward.

01:00:29.099 --> 01:00:31.137
Yeah, very true advice that we can give to anybody move forward.

01:00:31.137 --> 01:00:31.778
And that's what greg did.

01:00:31.778 --> 01:00:32.119
He moved forward.

01:00:32.119 --> 01:00:32.481
Yeah, very true.

01:00:32.481 --> 01:00:36.914
And you have to find that day when you don't show up at that temp job you have or whatever right, put some what do?

01:00:36.914 --> 01:00:37.034
You?

01:00:37.034 --> 01:00:41.512
Made a joke about putting the tie in the drawer and that's it, not coming out again.

01:00:41.512 --> 01:00:49.036
I I also just don't want to um, sugarcoat a really important part of greg and who he is, which is he's a people person.

01:00:49.036 --> 01:00:49.418
We joked about it.

01:00:49.418 --> 01:00:51.409
But you know part of Greg and who he is, which is he's a people person, we joked about it.

01:00:51.409 --> 01:01:04.130
But you know, part of the reason Greg is so successful is because he forms relationships with people and people want to be around him and want to show him the stage and be entertained, you know.

01:01:04.130 --> 01:01:10.653
So don't ever underestimate the social aspect of putting your career together, whatever that might be.

01:01:10.653 --> 01:01:20.650
You know, because people like Greg and it shows, because he gets opportunities because of these social networks that he's built around them and it's super important.

01:01:21.934 --> 01:01:24.081
And we've said a lot on the podcast Tuesday.

01:01:24.081 --> 01:01:30.617
Look, you know, sometimes getting that next job or being able to get the next job, it's just not being a jerk, right.

01:01:30.617 --> 01:01:36.800
If people enjoy being around you, they're more likely to want to work with you in the future, and that's really what this is.

01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:37.762
That's really what it's about.

01:01:38.023 --> 01:01:38.545
Absolutely.

01:01:38.545 --> 01:01:39.989
Relationships are everything.

01:01:39.989 --> 01:01:41.293
I have often said.

01:01:41.293 --> 01:01:47.641
The only thing I have anything in this world is because of my relationships and the friendships that I've been able to forge along the way.

01:01:55.650 --> 01:01:57.503
My key takeaway goes back to an episode that we did with the voiceover artist and actor, etc.

01:01:57.503 --> 01:01:57.583
Etc.

01:01:57.583 --> 01:01:58.489
Shelley Shannoy, whose theme was just say yes.

01:01:58.489 --> 01:02:03.079
She just kept saying yes, and in this case, greg was very similar.

01:02:03.079 --> 01:02:06.469
If an opportunity came his way, yes, and it took him all the way to China.

01:02:06.469 --> 01:02:16.659
So there's certainly a theme here Follow your heart, just say yes, and opportunities will find you if you make yourself available to them.

01:02:16.659 --> 01:02:21.534
So with that, greg Luttrell, you have such a fascinating journey.

01:02:21.534 --> 01:02:22.757
You're such a good guy.

01:02:22.757 --> 01:02:34.440
Thank you so much for joining this episode of no Wrong Choices On behalf of Tushar Saxena, larry Shea and me, larry Samuels, thank you again for joining this episode of no Wrong Choices.

01:02:35.090 --> 01:02:44.001
If, after listening, you've thought of someone who could be a great guest, please let us know by sending us a note via the contact page of our website at norongchoicescom.

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While there, please be sure to check out our blog and explore other great episodes while signing up to become a member of our community.

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We'll be back with another episode next week.

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Before then, always remember there are no wrong choices on the road to success, only opportunities, because we learn from every experience.