It’s a new year and I’m ready with my favorite playlists to hit the road and get my long-awaited live music fix…but wait, not quite yet. Omicron beats me to the venues and sends me off course. Searching for an ember of music in a strangely quiet Athens, Georgia, I stumble upon a freak folk soundscape at Flicker Theater & Bar. Childlike wonder takes over as I’m bewitched by the wild sights and sounds of Cookie Tongue. This truly bonus episode will introduce you to Omer Gal, Cookie Tongue’s creator. He is also a stop motion video maker, puppeteer and simply fascinating. And you’ll meet a mouse; that’s a Concert Cast first! In between sets, we talk with Adam Wayton, the talent buyer at Flicker Theater who is also in a band called The Pink Stones. He talks about his approach to booking and we hear why Athens is such a popular music town. When you are on the other side of this episode, we hope you’ll be inspired to turn off your overly-played favorites and listen for something new.
Speaker1: [00:00:03] Hey, I'm Kyle Lamont and welcome to Concert Cast a travel podcast exploring concert culture. In this episode, I realized [00:00:15] just how much I'm tethered to nostalgic music and those I generated playlists. But thankfully, after talking with freak folk band Cookie Tung and Adam Whiten, the talent buyer at Flicker Theatre in Athens, Georgia, I discovered that my musical tastes [00:00:30] aren't hardened after all. In 2018 while kicking off a road trip and stopped at an intersection in the middle of nowhere Maine. I noticed a green balloon drifting upwards into the clear blue [00:00:45] sky. That odd sight felt like a good travel omen, a green light signaling that all was clear to enjoy my solo trek across the country to explore different music scenes. I felt sure I was on the right path and I was. [00:01:00] The trip was epic. Flash forward to January of 2022 as I drove out of town for a similar trip across the country, but only now I was too damn frustrated with everything to be looking for signs from [00:01:15] the universe. I plan this trip during the supposed end of the pandemic to dive back into concert culture, to shock my live music system out of its cocoon and blossom into a more enlightened version of myself. Doesn't that sound nice? [00:01:30] Well, last minute Omicron rescheduling of New Year's Eve concerts were a clear indicator that I should probably just turn around and go home. And while idling in my forerunner at that very same intersection where I saw that green balloon. Instead [00:01:45] of feeling inspired and limitless, I felt the spirit of my young and adventurous self leak out of me like a deflated balloon. But rather than turn around and cancel my trip, I continued on without a set schedule or even [00:02:00] a solid destination.
Speaker1: [00:02:02] But I found comfort listening to streaming music playlists, which of course are generated by algorithms that constantly introduce me to perfectly matched, quote unquote, new bands. However, these new bands tend to play songs [00:02:15] in all too familiar styles, which experts say rarely challenge our ears. Along those lines, I stopped in Atlanta, where I plan to see one of the bands mainly responsible for shaping my musical tastes. A band called Sound Tribe Sector Nine, a band so [00:02:30] important to my life that I'll need a separate episode to explain why. But with their concert suddenly rescheduled, I attempted to see another band, but I was so disassociated and disappointed from all of the pandemic disruption, I just couldn't enjoy it. So [00:02:45] for a change of perspective, I set out for Athens, Georgia, which was actually on my bucket list of musical towns to visit. I drove along Route 78, where long stretches of magnolia trees and rusted trailers sit [00:03:00] next to plastic McMansions. Weeds were growing up through abandoned cars, and the convenience stores on every corner sold NASCAR hats and offered a quick poker game on grinding machines. I queue up a well-worn playlist which include Hometown Heroes in Athens, [00:03:15] Widespread Panic. And yes, there are another band that formed some of my musical tastes. And it's funny, they say that our musical tastes develop between ages 12 and 24, and after that they become cemented and rarely change. And for me, that's [00:03:30] true of panic. I heard them in my early twenties, and they're nostalgic for carefree college years.
[00:03:36] They say turn a bright light song near you find the truth. Here. [00:03:45]
Speaker1: [00:03:52] So while blaring Widespread Panic, I imagined rolling into the center of a cool college town with bustling streets full of people [00:04:00] spilling out of bars and music venues. But my expectations came to a screeching halt. Omicron had beaten me into town, temporarily closing down two venues I was so excited to experience. And with school still on break, not one backpack toting kid [00:04:15] was to be seen. And oh, yeah, it was gray and cold and rainy. I mean, what the I done? I holed up into a hotel room where I was the only car in the parking lot. But don't you worry. Surprises are on the way. [00:04:30] Encouraged by lots of recommendations from a local who lives and breathes Athens. Shout out to Rick Paz. I walked around the quiet and peaceful town and there was [00:04:45] a flicker of live music hope at Flicker Theatre, located on Washington Street, right next to world renowned 40 watt club, which at the time was as dim as a single 40 watt light bulb due to the new variant. From the outside, [00:05:00] Flicker Theatre is a burnt red and orange storefront with a picture window covered in surreal paintings strung with bear lights inside as if by magic.
Speaker1: [00:05:11] A bunch of locals have appeared and are milling about. It's [00:05:15] a warm musical haven. The theater is divided into a bar with wingback chairs and velvet couches, a popcorn makers in the corner. And there's a super sweet bartender. To enter the venue, you walk through a black curtain and into what [00:05:30] feels like a very cool basement party. Moody red lights lit the bare brick walls and above the stage, a cardboard cutout of a man looking through a window as if the room had a balcony. I bellied up to the bar and ordered a ginger beer made by a local [00:05:45] craft maker called Ginger's Bunkhouse, which had a spicy kick to it. I made travel talk with the bartender and door guy who recently moved into town to play drums in a band. I had no idea what band would be playing, nor did I care. I felt safe at Flicker and in good [00:06:00] company. Before long, an experimental art pop freak folk band from Brooklyn named Cookie Tung graced the stage.
Speaker2: [00:06:12] Take the collar.
[00:06:13] Rub, put [00:06:15] it on your head if it hurts.
Speaker2: [00:06:18] Or it spreads.
[00:06:19] Pick a needle, go to bed. Take the collar, rub.
Speaker2: [00:06:25] Put it on your bed, spring the finger, spring of the.
Speaker1: [00:06:29] Vessels [00:06:30] on your cookie tongue. Projected stop motion videos behind them, a new vignette for every song. At times it felt like I was watching a dark fairy tale. Other times I couldn't articulate what I was seeing. But as a film producer, there was no denying how creative [00:06:45] and talented the concept and execution was. In fact, the visuals are what caught the eye of Adam Clayton, the talent buyer at Flicker Theatre.
Speaker2: [00:06:53] The main thing that kind of sold me on them was their videos and their YouTube presence. They've got a lot of really [00:07:00] cool ideas and videos and production and things like that. So if you haven't checked out their YouTube channel, I would highly recommend it. I was like, Okay, yeah, we'll give it a shot. Like, it's cool. It's weird.
Speaker1: [00:07:18] Jacqueline's [00:07:15] face paint made her look as though she was crying rainbows. Omar was in a bold, sparkling white onesie with an ornate shawl, glittery, bright eye makeup and floppy brown hair. Throughout [00:07:30] the performance, they cycled through a multitude of household objects, using them as instruments, including a plastic toy phone car on wheels. Omar even jumped off the stage to roll the phone car around the floor. Jacqueline played the musical Soar [00:07:45] so meticulously, it seemed for a moment that it's odd that every band didn't have someone playing a musical handsaw. I was fixated by their creative synergy, never breaking their focus, determined to bring their audience into the woods of their [00:08:00] imagination. And just when I thought we were done with oddities like the toy phone soar, glockenspiel and more, Omar pulls out a mouse puppet who starts complaining about how the band is being too damn loud. A full on dialogue between Omar and a puppet [00:08:15] ensues.
Speaker3: [00:08:17] Oh, hello. Excuse me. Hi. I'm everyone. I live here in this little home, and it's kind of lonely here, you know? You really notice that.
Speaker2: [00:08:28] You're kind of interrupting [00:08:30] in the middle of the show. And.
Speaker3: [00:08:33] I mean.
Speaker1: [00:08:40] Think their [00:08:45] performance ends and everyone flocks to the merch table set up on the side of the room, which was, by and large, some of the coolest offerings of goods I've seen from a band. Hand-painted T-shirts with the main character scene and his stop motion video, handmade locket, ceramics. Everything [00:09:00] was so detailed. It was an extension of the performance. Thoughtful, creative and weird. Hello. Hey, Omar.
Speaker2: [00:09:12] Yeah. You're. You're anything? [00:09:15] It's faint.
Speaker1: [00:09:17] He switches Bluetooth over to speakerphone.
Speaker2: [00:09:20] Oh, clear.
Speaker1: [00:09:21] Ooh, that's nice. Yeah. It's clear. I'm your front of house audio manager, and it's sounding good.
Speaker2: [00:09:27] Oh, good. Okay, so we did the sound [00:09:30] check. Yes.
Speaker1: [00:09:32] Meet Omer Gul and his former co-pilot, Jacqueline Marie Shannon. I'm calling them up while they're driving through Mississippi en route to New Orleans, where they'll be attending an artist residency to work on a mixed media interactive sculpture that combines both [00:09:45] performance and animation. After the show, I took to the Internet for help on how to verbalize what I had just seen and came across a few reviews that totally resonated with me, and I wanted to see what Cookie Tongue thought of them. I read these out loud for their take. Jason [00:10:00] Lee of Deli magazine in New York says Brooklyn based combo are made up of equal parts playful, fanciful and twisted, demented. Rest assured, cookie tongue know how to put the freak and freak folk with an extra dollop of freak while providing [00:10:15] suitable entertainment for the whole family. After their show at Ashville Fringe Fest, Michael Ponder from Asheville Stage writes Cookie Tung has a unique vibe, hallucinogenic and a little grotesque, but also very warm and almost childlike. [00:10:30] There, Michael Gondry meets David Lynch or Hunter Se Thompson meets Sesame Street. Once I suspended my expectations for a firm plot or conventional storytelling, I really felt carried away by Cookie Tung's dreamlike performance. I wanted to [00:10:45] know which one you sort of agree with. Are they right? But more so like, how do you want people to feel during your show or after they see you perform?
Speaker2: [00:10:55] It's a good question. I think they're definitely partially right. We're really interested [00:11:00] in spirit work and we're also interested in childlike wonder. And what is the line between life and death, stillness and movement? I think it kind of hinges on questions of wonder and curiosity, but sometimes wonder curiosity can also be kind of scary [00:11:15] in that kind of childlike way to just see the light and the darkness.
Speaker1: [00:11:21] The duo met one night in San Francisco while Omar was performing, and Jacqueline was in the audience, enthralled. They struck up a conversation, and she joined the band first [00:11:30] as a dancer who now plays an assortment of instruments. She moved to New York from San Francisco around the same time as Omar, and soon after, Cookie Tung was on full blast.
Speaker2: [00:11:40] When we first started speaking to each other, we connected over this shared feeling [00:11:45] of being a half ghost. We were very interested in this idea of what it means to kind of straddle feeling like we're both in the world and somewhere else. And then creating from that place, I think, kind of became very natural for us.
Speaker1: [00:12:04] What [00:12:00] is it about Athens that musicians are drawn to?
Speaker2: [00:12:09] Everybody knows about R.E.M. and Pylon and B-52's, Widespread Panic [00:12:15] of Montreal. You know.
Speaker1: [00:12:17] When I called up Adam way in the talent buyer for Flicker Theatre, who we heard from earlier, he was actually getting ready to play at South by Southwest in Austin with one of his five bands, The Pink Stones, a country rock band who you're hearing [00:12:30] from right now.
[00:12:31] Just like you see Swing, I mean, all around me.
Speaker2: [00:12:40] So there is this like aura of like, okay, this is a [00:12:45] spot in the scene. But also there's probably at any given day, 2 to 500 bands in Athens. Like there's always something happening and there's always so many collaborations, just like sprouting. It [00:13:00] is a college town, but once you kind of get to the other side of that, I feel like it really opens up and like, that's the scene. There's a great art school here, which I know attracts a lot of creative people. Rent is pretty cheap here. There's certain people in town [00:13:15] that are trying to change that, but for the moment, it's pretty low cost to live here. I'm still here. Waiting.
Speaker1: [00:13:28] But for people who [00:13:30] haven't been to Athens, how would you describe the city?
Speaker2: [00:13:34] It's definitely a really cool city town. Not sure exactly. It seems like a small city, but it feels like a town also at the same time. And there's something [00:13:45] comforting feeling there and a lot of cool kids. Every time we've got different, really interesting, cute people.
Speaker1: [00:13:52] Flickr was pretty cool too, in terms of the feeling and like decorations and just the coziness of it. What [00:14:00] is your take on Flicker Theater?
Speaker2: [00:14:02] Probably one of our favorite venues ever. Yeah, it felt very right for us. It was perfect for our show. It was our favorite show, this tour. What makes it special is that it's also a theater, so they have [00:14:15] the projection screen. The sound was just really great and the sound person, Aaron, was super nice and dialed in the sound really well. We've always been a movie theater. That's how it started. We like showing.
[00:14:28] Independent movies, showing [00:14:30] the movies, showing cult movies, and we still do.
Speaker2: [00:14:33] That. There's the Flicker Film Society, which is still going strong. We do fun stuff like Show anti-Christ for free on Valentine's Day and movie trivia and all that kind of stuff. We [00:14:45] had Tim Coppola, who is a saxophone player famously known for The Lost Boys. Come and play a set at Flickr at one time, and that was one of the funnest shows we had ever. We [00:15:00] were able to show The Lost Boys before and then have a greased up shirtless Tim Cappella play. So saxophone. We have done some renovations in [00:15:15] the past five years to really become kind of the premier small room in Athens. It sounds great. It's super cozy and it's just kind of the spot to be at the moment.
Speaker1: [00:15:27] And in the 20 years since Flickr has been in business, they've [00:15:30] had all sorts of bands graced their stage. I mean.
Speaker2: [00:15:32] We've had plenty of six people play there before. I don't know if you're familiar with Elephant six, but like members of Neutral Milk Hotel definitely drink there still and have played shows there before [00:15:45] and things like that. There's some local favorites, Deep State plays there a lot and they're really great. They've been known to pack out the Flicker Theatre. Yeah, it's a great room because if there's 15 people in there, it still feels good. If there's [00:16:00] 120 people in there, then it's absolutely bonkers.
Speaker1: [00:16:06] How would you describe your approach to booking?
Speaker2: [00:16:09] The main thing I keep in mind is Athens and the people who go to Flickr. And I think, [00:16:15] is this something that the people who go to Flickr would like or resonate or be interested in or be a little confused but weirdly into? Or is it fun if I get a kick out of it or if it's something kind of weird [00:16:30] or if I dig the music, then chances are if we have the date, then we'll get you at the Flickr bar and I kind of try Flickr in the aspect of being a spot for everyone.
Speaker1: [00:16:45] But [00:16:45] considering the nature of Cookie Tung's non mainstream act, I had to know. What do you consider a non enjoyable night? Maybe. Or you're not feeling it or something went wrong and sort of affected the whole feeling? Oh yeah, that happens [00:17:00] all the time. One performance that comes to mind for them was at a venue in the U.K. The.
Speaker2: [00:17:05] Owner was nuts, like drunk. It was like yelling at us for some reason while we were performing. Turning up the radio during the show. [00:17:15] Yeah. Yeah. Later, the bartender told. Told us. He's just. He's just crazy. That's a radical example. But that show was good. I made some progress on a song or two that needed that aggression. Of aggressiveness. Sometimes [00:17:30] we feel bad after a show that didn't go well, but sometimes the mistakes become kind [00:17:45] of part of the performance as kind of what we're doing is on the edge of performance art. So in that way, there is like a fluidity in failure.
Speaker1: [00:18:01] Another [00:18:00] cool spot they've performed at in Athens is a place called Happy Top, a bed and breakfast meets DIY music venue.
Speaker2: [00:18:08] The Happy Talk is a wonderfully whimsical, warm, just really magical space. [00:18:15]
Speaker1: [00:18:15] They go on to describe the performance space, which is in an old house near the railroad tracks and in the shadow of a rusty water tower on the edge of normal town. There's also a converted school bus, an Airstream trailer on the property. The house has a different [00:18:30] kind of piano in every room, a small stage with a drum kit, vintage speakers and a recording studio. Happy Top is owned and operated by Woodward, a local musician and producer who opened the space just last year. Cookie Tung's performance there was of [00:18:45] sound orgasmic proportions.
Speaker2: [00:18:47] We played in one room, but the sound was channeled into different speakers. In each of the other rooms is a vintage speaker through different vintage amps. [00:19:00] And so each room had its own kind of flavor of the sound of the show that was happening live and it was recorded on tape. That is another part of what just makes Athens awesome is there's always some little DIY [00:19:15] spot popping up, which is great, and it's definitely like Foster's has seen in a really unique and tangible way.
Speaker1: [00:19:25] The icing on the Athens music scene. Cake is a local nonprofit called Mochi Space. New [00:19:30] Space was started by Linda Nucci after living through her son's battle with crippling depression and enduring the overwhelming darkness that accompanied his death by suicide on Thanksgiving Day in 1996. She decided to turn her grief into a mission [00:19:45] to support others and help alleviate their pain. Her dream radiates through new space, as it's been part of the cultural fabric of Athens for more than two decades and has done immeasurable good for not only the music and art scene, but the entire community. [00:20:00] And no surprise. But Adam also works there as a facilities and operations manager.
Speaker2: [00:20:06] So we have practice rooms and gear rental and stuff like that, and we raise a bunch of money and then we provide counseling services [00:20:15] at subsidized rates or for free for musicians, as well as other health services like free custom earplugs. Or we bring in a dental bus a couple of times a year. So I get to meet a lot of people playing bands in town, which helps a lot with the talent buying [00:20:30] aspect of working at Flickr.
Speaker1: [00:20:44] When I looked [00:20:45] at Cookie Tung's tour schedule, I didn't recognize one venue or performance space. It was like taking a peek at all the underground places that exist in the US where subculture lives thrives and where artists experiment from backyard shows to DIY spots. [00:21:00] Cookie Tongue could stay flexible, in large part because of a sponsorship from a battery company.
Speaker2: [00:21:05] We were a mobile venue. Basically, we had a projector on battery, not to pay the lights, but [00:21:15] all the equipment. So we could just set up anywhere and just play a show in the middle of it. Yeah.
Speaker1: [00:21:22] You guys must have put on a bunch of miles. What are you driving in? And how'd it go? What was the odometer reading?
Speaker2: [00:21:29] That's [00:21:30] a whole other tour that we did to all the different mechanics in the US. So any time you made sure to make a stop at like seven mechanics, different cities. All right, your condition [00:21:45] went out right as we were entering into the desert during a heat wave across Nevada overnight. It was a very big adventure.
Speaker1: [00:21:54] Careful not to jinx their tour cube. They've been traveling in a 2010 Honda element that's been tricked out [00:22:00] with bunk beds to make it easier to store their gear. Does the little mouse have his own bed? No.
Speaker2: [00:22:05] He has his own box as his own box. I was going to say no comment, but let's be truthful. He lives in his own tent box.
Speaker1: [00:22:14] The little mouse [00:22:15] that I inquire about is the same one that popped out on stage in between acts to complain that the music was too loud. It's a hand puppet made from an old shoe, and the mouse is a stamp collector.
Speaker2: [00:22:26] You know, I don't really usually do podcasts because [00:22:30] I kind of like collect stamps, and that's mostly what I do. I guess I could be on this podcast if you.
Speaker1: [00:22:39] Want, right? I thank you for joining us. Did we clear it with your PR team?
Speaker2: [00:22:44] Me [00:22:45] I didn't really clean anything except for my desk today because I was working on some new stamp experiments.
Speaker1: [00:22:55] The mouse later tells me he was born from a commission from the Kelly Kid Jewelry Heist [00:23:00] Show, an experience in California that merges entertainment and jewelry making for kids. And I can only imagine what that mouse was doing there. No, but mouse puppet. What is your New Year's resolution?
Speaker2: [00:23:12] I've written a whole album of poetry [00:23:15] on stamps, and it's like a stamp out of a military conceptual piece.
Speaker1: [00:23:20] The mouse scurries back into his little tin box inside a cube on wheels that barrel along the Mississippi interstate on their Soggy Miracle Tour, which is also the title track off their album.
Speaker2: [00:23:30] Wouldn't [00:23:30] want a soggy miracle in my mouth. Wouldn't want a soggy miracle in my throat.
[00:23:42] It's just this. It's a break. [00:23:45]
Speaker2: [00:23:47] Can't sleep. I think the closest thing to like a love song that we have. But I guess that entire song came out of an improvisation between over and I in our studio.
Speaker1: [00:23:59] Just playing [00:24:00] around while listening to the song live. I, like a lot of people do, get lost in how visual the lyrics are. I mean, cereal made out of teeth. I just have to know how these images are constructed.
[00:24:15] In [00:24:15] this world. We.
Speaker2: [00:24:17] Need a K to hide em. No, I know I would be one if you needed some place. Sort of notion that I'm always. I was [00:24:30] like to create something different. I'd like to break a wall, like to push through the wall. And it does help doing that with someone that you know well enough to be a kind.
Speaker1: [00:24:43] More curious.
Speaker2: [00:24:44] Person. [00:24:45] And words and images aren't.
Speaker1: [00:24:48] Really.
Speaker2: [00:24:48] Off limits.
[00:24:49] To a serial.
Speaker1: [00:25:01] Driving [00:25:00] gives them time to craft their musical goals, which include opening up for big bands like Coco Rosé, Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists. And they would also love to play at babies. All right. In Brooklyn, a big dream of theirs is to perform at major music [00:25:15] festivals. But it isn't the fame that they're drawn to. It's the possibilities of scaling their show and their creativity. You know, go all.
Speaker2: [00:25:22] Out and have full band with maybe extra dancers, which we've done before, and like have a team [00:25:30] in charge of special effects production, like make it a whole production.
Speaker1: [00:25:36] I would totally be in the front row of that performance because of my experience watching them at Flicker Theatre. They took me in to a disturbing patch of [00:25:45] woods where comical elves and Bizarre Creatures ushered me into a new subset of my music psyche. And after I let go of my thoughts and my over criticism, I was able to dance with them in the woods of their art. Their show was a palate cleanser and a reminder that we must challenge [00:26:00] ourselves to seek out new music, music that we're unfamiliar with, or, in my case, embrace the weird and the unknown. Do you ever get any pushback from people maybe just being flake or just being maybe really uncomfortable?
Speaker2: [00:26:14] We've actually [00:26:15] had a couple of folks who sort of just.
[00:26:17] Happened to be at a show not knowing what was going to happen and actually upset. Your music is not my.
Speaker2: [00:26:23] Cup of tea, but I really respect what you're doing and this was really enjoyable for me, so thank you.
Speaker1: [00:26:29] Ben Ratliff, [00:26:30] a music journalist, critic and author of the book Every Song Ever says the problems with sophisticated music data algorithms is that infinite access to music, unused or misused, can lead to atrophy of the desire to seek out new songs ourselves [00:26:45] and creates a hardening of taste. And having rapidly acquired a new kind of listening brain in today's musical landscape, a brain with unlimited access, we dig very deeply and very narrowly, creating bottomless comfort zones in what we [00:27:00] have decided we like and trust, or we shut down, threatened by endless choice. Algorithms are listening to us. So at the very least, we should try to listen better than we are being listened to. It was really inspiring to just reach [00:27:15] out and get out of my comfort zone. And I was wondering, do you ever force yourselves to get out of your comfort zone and try something that you don't normally do?
Speaker2: [00:27:26] Musically speaking, I feel like both Omar and I recently have allowed [00:27:30] ourselves to enjoy musical theater more recently, like popular.
Speaker1: [00:27:35] Musical.
Speaker2: [00:27:35] Theater in a way that maybe we hadn't been before. And that's been really enjoyable and also is inspiring because we have this [00:27:45] idea of doing a freak full opera.
Speaker1: [00:27:48] Thank you, Cookie Tung for being the concert cultural reawakening I needed and to Flicker Theatre for booking them. The road trip before their show felt like I was going through the motions, seeking out the nostalgia [00:28:00] tunnel vision on creating anything new. After my trip to Athens, I started asking audio files about their preferred streaming platforms, and I kept hearing about NTS. It's a global radio station that has streaming and curated mixes made by get this [00:28:15] people listening to NTS is like entering a cool record store, but without commercials. And I'm sorry if you've already heard of NTS, but for me it's been an absolute revelation. Once I downloaded this app, I felt instantly back in the driver's seat of change, [00:28:30] so rejuvenated and empowered. I have a new goal when traveling to challenge myself to listen to music that's not generated by algorithms. And I'm motivated now more than ever to go deeper into the subcultures of concert culture and to be more intentional on avoiding [00:28:45] nostalgia, which, as good as it feels to self-soothe with music from our past, it can stop us from venturing down new roads. And just like seeing that green balloon on my trip a few years ago, I'm now filled with hope, reinvigorated. Maybe, after all, there is a chance for us [00:29:00] to expand our musical tastes later in life. Or, like Ratliff says, at least we should try to simply listen to more.
Speaker2: [00:29:08] Sweet.
Speaker1: [00:29:09] When next time I'm taking you to Happy Top that lodging and performance space in normal town that Cookie Tung [00:29:15] was raving about. Subscribe to Concert Cast wherever you listen to podcasts and find us online at Concert Cast Live. And do you have a favorite concert buddy? Well, make sure to tell them about our show. This has been a good to go studios production [00:29:30] created and produced by yours truly, me. Kyle Lamont, our co-writer in this episode is Jim Pickerel, our editor. An engineer is Pete McGill and our supervising producer is Heidi Stanton. Drew. Learn more about Athens and its vibrant music scene as well as the bands [00:29:45] heard in this episode at Concert Cast Live. Special thanks to Cookie Tung, Flicker Theatre, Rick Page, Charlie Ryan and thank you for listening.
[00:29:58] Danny. You [00:30:00] on earth fire was. And we carved a space.
Speaker2: [00:30:11] Her. Embers. [00:30:15]