Around the Barrel - Transcript: Ep034 Storme Warren

 

Storme Warren: I can't imagine my bar without the Jack Daniels brand in it. And I'm loyal cause you know, Jack Daniels is a loyal brand and so it makes it really hard to branch out and go taste other whiskeys. Cause I feel like I'm cheating.

 

Lucas Hendrickson: The connection between music, all forms of music, and Jack Daniels, Old Number Seven Tennessee Whiskey has always been strong. The link between the brand and American country music has been particularly vibrant over the years as the spirit has informed not only the creation of songs, but also the celebration of them. Be it in massive concert venues or a small gathering of friends around a radio in a campfire. 

 

On this episode, we talk with country music, media mainstay, Storme Warren, about the current state of the genre, how both the music and the whiskey play to a worldwide audience and how commitment to both innovation and tradition informs what comes out from over the airwaves and Around the Barrel.

 

Welcome back to Around the Barrel, the official podcast from the makers of Jack Daniel's. I'm your host Lucas Hendrickson. Let's keep this simple. If you are a fan of American country music and a consumer of stories from around that genre, chances are excellent you are familiar with Storme Warren's work. 

 

If it's a broadcast media source with a familiar acronym and deals in the world of country music, you've heard Storme's voice or seen Storme's face on it. He spent the better part of the last three decades, neck deep in covering country music, including the past dozen years as a part of Sirius XM's The Highway, Channel 56. He's been a witness to and a chronicler of a lot of change in the music world over the years, including how he goes about his own work process. 

 

But as a long-time Tennessee resident, Storme knows the importance of consistency and tradition in the creation of two of the state's most celebrated exports – be it spirited music or a certain musically-inspired spirit.

 

Storme: Hey, there I'm Storme Warren host of Sirius XM's The Highway, the Storme Warren Show, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, by way of Cincinnati, Boston, Tulsa, Ventura, California, Los Angeles, now Nashville for gosh, almost 30 years in country music broadcasting in Nashville for Sirius XM, TNN, CNN before that in Los Angeles, and a radio background going back to 1983.

 

Lucas: Storme Warren, welcome to Around the Barrel.

 

Storme: Thanks, Lucas. It's good to talk to you.

 

Lucas: Good to talk to you as well. I was saying before we started rolling that, you know, I'm nervous right now. Cause you're the first guest that we've had that I knew that I was going to be out voiced on all this. So.

 

Storme: It's not true.

 

Lucas: Well, I'm getting a little practice, but not 30 years worth. Thirty episodes worth? Yeah, we'll go from there. But this is not the first time that you have been on this show. Although it was a little bit, you know, hit and run kind of thing when we talked to you at The Jack in 2018. Let's roll that clip.

 

 

Lucas: "And there can be some moments of both disappointment and joy in the judging process," says country music media personality, Storme Warren.

 

Storme: They can butcher chicken so easily. And then when somebody nails it, you just go, "Oh, I want to go hug the chef. Thank you so much for getting this right."

 

 

Lucas: Yeah.

 

Storme: It's so true.

 

Lucas: Oh, yeah. I was going to say, did you, do you remember that, you know, any specific exceptional chicken in 2018 at The Jack?

 

Storme: Unfortunately, I remembered some horrific chicken and that's what I think that was referencing. I also remember the really good chicken and – but it's funny. You laugh, you hear the top chefs in the world coming down here for the invitational at The Jack. What sticks out is sometimes when something is not superb, which is very, very rare. I mean, it's unbelievably rare. So it really sticks out when something does. It just jolts you. And like I said, that's few and far between.These are the best chefs in the world.

 

Lucas: Yeah. Sadly, you know, we're not going to be able to make our way down to the holler for The Jack this year. Yeah. Cause it's certainly one of my favorite weekends on the calendar. How many times have you been a judge there? How did you get involved with it?

 

Storme: I think I'm up to about five, maybe? Five years doing it. Good friend of mine, Kyle Jacobs – he's a songwriter married to Kellie Pickler, good friend of Jack Daniels, and Jeff Arnett and Mark Day and the rest of the Jack Daniel's family. He called me one time. He goes, "Man, you want to come down with me just for the weekend?" I said, "What are you doing?" He goes, "Well, I'm judging The Jack." And I'm like, "What? You get to judge The Jack?" And I was like, "Yes! I want to do that." He goes, "Okay, there's one condition. You got to go down a day early and you have to get certified as a barbecue judge."

 

Lucas: Of course. Yes, KCBS does not mess around when it comes to that.

 

Storme: No, in fact, I've been proudly calling myself a KCBS CBJ for five years now. I have the tag to prove it. But I did not know going in how serious this was taken. I mean, from the judging to the cooking, to the whole pomp and circumstance surrounding The Jack. I had no idea what I was walking into it. And I was so pleasantly surprised that this is such a beautiful tradition that people really adhere to. And it's wonderful. I'm honored to be a part of it each year. I keep expecting one year where they go, "Yeah, Storme, uh, you're not welcome back."

 

Lucas: Sorry, dude, you haven't made the cut this year.

 

Storme: As long as they'll have me, I'll keep coming back.

 

Lucas: 

Yeah. Now, had you ever been to Lynchburg before that, you know, with not the craziness of The Jack weekend, you know, being backdrop for it?

 

Storme: Of course, being a, as you live in Nashville and you have visitors from out of town come in, one of the first places you have to – you've got the Ryman, you've got Lower Broadway, you've got Graceland and Memphis, and you've got Lynchburg. And those are like the hotspots for tourists or friends from out of town to come visit. So I've done a few trips down, done the tour of the Jack Daniel's distillery numerous times. And I just fell in love with the place. 

 

And only until you take that tour, can you truly appreciate the entire brand. Yes, you could enjoy the taste of the Tennessee whiskey. Yes, you can smell it and savor the aroma and the tradition and the label and hold the bottle. But until you actually go through the process of seeing how it's made and the care that goes into it and the tradition and the family mentality of the whole distillery, can you truly appreciate what Jack Daniel's is all about?

 

Lucas: Yeah. It's fun and kind of heartwarming to drop into Lynchburg and see that it is, you know, a place that is both kind of living in a certain time, but also outside of that time. It's a company town and they make one of the world's most visible brands there, but it's still, you know, kind of unaffected by time.

 

Storme: I'm glad places like that still exist. I cringe thinking of future generations losing places like the distillery, but thank God the Jack Daniels has no intention of changing things.

 

Lucas: No, no. And, in fact, from all reports – you know, we have not been able to be down there over the past several months, but, kind of surviving and thriving and trying to add to do relief efforts and things of that nature in the midst of everything going on right now. But thinking back to The Jack – you have a sizeable media career over the past three decades, or so – I imagine that you have been asked to do a number of, shall we say, interesting public appearances over the years? Is there any one that kind of stands out for you over the years of being interesting or fun or maybe not so fun?

 

Storme: Oh, there's a little of everything. It's the whole spectrum, but just an immediate memory that just popped into my head, listening to your question, was when I was in my young twenties, I had the opportunity to travel over to Kumamoto, Japan, to help host a country music festival. Charlie Nakatani is the promoter and he's a Japanese country music performer and he just loves Nashville and loves country music that he found a way to get some funding from the state and the city. And throw on this festival. And standing on the stage, seeing an entire sea of Japanese country music fans dressed up like Clint Eastwood for three straight days. And me not knowing even if they're understanding anything that I'm saying on the stage. 

 

It was really a life-changing moment to see how far country music has spread around the globe. And since I've been doing this, the globe has gotten and smaller and smaller through technology. And I host festivals in Australia and the Caribbean and Canada. And every time I think the world couldn't get any smaller, it does, because country music has spread and country music fans are connected and the music connects people. 

 

And it's no longer around on the other side of the world. It feels like every place we go is right next door. And that's been wonderful to see. So in a time where there's so much divisiveness and so much tension and so much – country music is actually still able to somehow bring people together. And that's been probably one of the coolest experiences that I've been able to do.

 

Lucas: Yeah. Following up on that, as far as festival-wise goes, outside of the US borders, was there any one act you ever saw that you were very surprised by an audience's love for them, reaction to them?

 

Storme: There's a couple of times specific about Australia because until recently not many American artists were going down on a regular basis to Australia. It's expensive. The fan base is relatively small. It's just a return on investment for these artists to do this trip. It has made it not very inviting to do this, but then Clarence Spalding, who manages Brooks and Dunn, took the leap of faith and brought them over there. 

 

And to see the embrace of American music and this American act, it was like a gigantic thank you from an entire country. "Thank you for making this step. Thank you for breaking the door down. Now will more of you come? And each year we've done that for probably 12, 13 years, maybe. And each time we bring a new artist that we think they have never even heard of a Luke Combs at the time, or a Kip Moore, or a Lee Brice, and yet – Big and Rich. And yet these artists would go down there and become instant superheroes because of their connectability with the fans, with the music and the Australians love for the music. 

 

By the time an American artist gets to Australia, every single country music fan in the country has already memorized every single song they've ever put out. I mean, American country music fans don't even put that much dedication into it, but because these artists have taken that big commitment to go over there, they feel like they need to pay respect to the artists by knowing their stuff. And so when you see a concert from a Lee Brice, who has no idea what he's about to expect, stand on that stage and 25,000 people are screaming every word back, halfway around the world, it can put a lump in your throat.

 

Lucas: Yeah. How'd you get here? How'd you get to Nashville? How did you get started? You ran off the litany of places there that you've been, grew up in, but what finally brought you to Music City?

 

Storme: Well, I started in radio in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 13, after taking a seventh grade field trip to a radio station, my favorite radio station that I used to call and request songs of for years. And finally this field trip happened and I fell in love with it. It was like pulling the curtain back on Oz. And it was just like, "So this is what happens behind my speaker. This is how it works." 

 

And I was absolutely mesmerized and a program director by the name of Mel Myers – who's still around, still doing voice work, still doing commercial work and one of the greatest voices ever – took me under his wing as a 13 year old. And I guess he saw a lot of himself in me and wanted to give me a shot, which I will never be able to say thank you enough. Cause he shouldn't have taken the time for a 13 year old kid, but he did. 

 

And that's why I still to this day, mentorship is such a huge platform for me. Then I try to try to spread the message of mentorship wherever I can. So thank you for allowing me to do that here. I think mentorship is a lost art and we don't look up enough and people on top don't look down enough and try to help the ones along the way. 

 

So just as I got the ball rolling and I got my own show going at 14, my parents had to move to Southern California for my Dad's work. So I had to start over! It's like, "Oh, no, there's no Mel Meyers out here! There's no guy. How do I do this?" So I went back to answering requests lines and did that at a number of radio stations up and down the coast of Southern California. And then ended up at Pirate Radio in Los Angeles as just an assistant promotions guy. And I helped out with the "Morning Show with Scott Shannon" and the morning show with voice work and answered phones and just did whatever I could to be a part of it.

 

Lucas: And as you do.

 

Storme: It was the biggest radio station I'd ever been a part of, or anybody had been a part of at the time. It was Westwood One's flagship station. And it was glam rock, so it was like Poison and Tesla and Mötley Crüe and like all these hair bands. And it was Hollywood and it was the late eighties, early nineties. And it was just chaos for an 18 year old kid. 

 

And just a few floors down below, it was CNN, the Los Angeles Bureau. And I was like, "You know, I always wanted to see what TV was like." So at the same breath, at the same path as I did with radio, coming in, knocked on the door and said, "Hey, I want to do this TV thing!" My brother was a camera man there, so it was easy to get in. And started working there as a camera man. 

 

And I wanted to work as a segment producer for their "Showbiz Today" show, their entertainment show. And I got a shot, but it was only going to be one shot. If they liked the story that I put together, they would air it and I would get a chance to do another one. If not, I probably would have to just stick with running a camera Which was fine, but I really wanted to produce for music and for entertainment. And so, if I only got one shot at, I decided to pick my hero, my childhood hero, and that was Charlie Daniels. 

 

And Charlie Daniels, his music has been a part of my life, my entire life. In fact, I gave a speech to him when he got the Lifetime Achievement Award from Leadership Music and first-line was, "All my life, there's always been Charlie Daniels." And he took me under his wing. And after a couple of years of interviewing him and putting him on CNN, which is a huge platform – still is– he walked me into the break room of CNN one day – and this is three years later – and he goes, "Son, you're finally getting pretty good at this." And he goes, "It's time you came to Nashville." And I'm like, "Nashville? You've been to Nashville. Is it beautiful?" 

 

You know, like it was just absolutely Oz to me again. It's like this mythical place that doesn't exist except in my imagination. But it's where country music comes from. And I was getting so back into country music after being energy-drained off glam rock. It was nice to come back to country music. And so I took him up on his invitation and within the year I'd packed up and moved to Nashville and started working for "TNN Country News" as a field reporter and did that for a number of years and started my own production company. Launched my own show, called "The Headline Country" on GAC. 

 

And then about 16 years ago, got an invitation to come on board with XM, at the time, before they merged with Sirius and just been with them ever since. And it's coming full circle back to radio has been one of the greatest gifts I could have ever asked for. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. And television is fun and I may get back into it again. But as long as I always have radio, I'll be happy and hopefully be able to do this for a long time.

 

Lucas: Sure. Talk about the changes that you've seen in country music over that timeframe. You know, as we were talking, it ebbs and flows. It has those touch points in which it's introduced to a broader audience, but also at the same time, there is this consistency of certain artists while also new blood coming in. Where are we right now, do you think, in the world?

 

Storme: We're exactly where we've been every cycle, with a little more evolution. And that happens with each cycle. I call it the upward spiral theory where, you know, it never comes full circle. With each turn of a full revolution, it climbs up and it's like a spiral staircase. And so that, to me, is the evolution of country music. It never gets far away from the roots, but it is always moving forward. And I think that's one of the coolest things about country music. As far as we let it go, it will always still be rooted in the tradition and the history of the genre. 

 

And so I get complaints a lot whenever we launch a new artist with a new sound. It's like, "Well, this isn't country music." And I've heard this for so many years. I've kept scratching my head. It's like, "Why are people so angry about an evolution?" And then I realized I needed to define what country music was. Cause that's what I was having trouble getting down to was what are people so angry about? What is their definition of what country music is? 

 

And I finally figured it out. And once I did, I hope it's made an explanation easier from my end. And it's definitely made an understanding on my end a lot easier of what triggers people and their emotions about country music. And that is country music is what you were first introduced to as country music. And anything that is outside of that doesn't fit, at least for the time being. It's like, I could say that about early nineties country music. It's like, to me, that is the golden era of country music. That is when music was incredible. And it's not like it was any better or worse than any other decade or cycle of country music. It was just mine. 

 

And we take ownership of when we first were introduced to a sound and to a genre and to anything. I mean, it applies to anything. First time you bit into a hamburger you love, that becomes your favorite hamburger. And so using that definition, it makes it easier to swallow the emotions and the anger sometimes. And also just the pure passion of the genre, of people wanting to protect it. And I think it's one of the greatest genres where it truly has a protector in its fan base.

 

Lucas: That's true.

 

Storme: And as long as we don't lose the core of telling a story and connecting with people's emotions, then we're always going to have country music.

 

Lucas: Yeah. What do you think the artistic output of some of these folks is going to be like, compared to, you know, the before times or whatever you want to call it? We've all had a lot more time to kind of be reflective and kind of figure out, or at least attempt to, our places in the world. I'm curious as to what the artistic output three months, six months, a year down the road, is going to look like from some of these folks, especially, you know, as they've been forced to really stop and take a look at the world itself.

 

Storme: I think it's the careers of these artists, especially the rising ones that were off to a really good start, or the ones we have yet to hear from – I think the careers are in their own hands. If they've taken this opportunity to truly hone their craft, and dive in, and use Zoom to co-write with other writers, or socially-distanced songwriting sessions outside, or however they're doing it, they need to be taking advantage of that. And a lot of them are, and a lot of them are just genuinely stuck. They just, they don't know how to move forward in this environment. 

 

And so I think the ones that are able to evolve and change and morph through this time and still put out a creative product. And I mean, I know certain artists that have banked almost three to four albums worth of material during this time, when they would never have had the time to do that. And so if they can do that, then they're going to come out on the other side of this so far ahead of the game. 

 

And then the touring aspect – they're planning creative ways to get back quicker in front of fans. And so the creative people, the ones that with the drive, the ones that refuse to be held back by whatever this is we're going through, they're going to be the ones that win on it. And a lot of them are going to fall by the wayside. A lot of them financially can't afford to stick around and wait for touring to kick back in. They're going to have to find another profession, at least for the time being. And so the landscape's going to look a little different. 

 

As for the product of music, I don't know. I think that's going to be the big wild card. I have no idea what we're going to hear, how this time is going to affect songs. It will change it. We will see a noticeable change. I just don't know what that is yet. I'm hearing hints of it. And so far I like what I'm hearing.

 

Lucas: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about Tennessee whiskey. When did you identify it as something of interest? Something that you kind of were able to isolate as, "Oh, this is lovely. This is great."

 

Storme: You start with a little beer. You toy around with some different tastes, until you take that bold step and go, "Tennessee whiskey? Okay, my friend, let's see what you're about." And, you know, as a kid, 21, you take that first swig and it's a little unexpected.

 

Lucas: Sure.

 

Storme: When the brand started expanding and started going into the single barrels, and the Gentlemen Jacks, the Green Labels, and you just had to keep tasting and keep trying new things. And you suddenly start tasting different complexities about this Tennessee whiskey that was so, I mean, there was such a continuity about the Black Label that, I mean, to stretch beyond it seemed bizarre. 

 

But then it's like, "Oh my gosh, this tastes even better than that one. Or this one is so different. Oh my gosh, this is a hint of this and the hint of that." And I can't imagine my bar without the Jack Daniel's brand in it. And, and I'm loyal. Cause you know, Jack Daniels is a loyal brand.

 

Lucas: Absolutely.

 

Storme: It breeds loyalty and it creates loyalty. And it's reciprocal. I mean, that's one thing about this brand that I've noticed is, if you're loyal to it, it will be loyal to you. And so it makes it really hard to branch out and go taste other whiskeys. Cause I feel like I'm cheating.

 

Lucas: Right. Yeah. Even though we are in kind of a golden age, as far as micro distilleries and – you know, great products are out there at various proof points, but it's fascinating, continues to be fascinating how Jack Daniel's has been able to kind of keep up with that, find the places where it can speak into those new trends, those new niches, and yet not lose any of the consistency, certainly of the primary product of Old Number Seven, but also, as you were saying, Single Barrel, Barrel Proof, Rye, all of the flavored expressions. Now bitters and ready-to-drink stuff ...

 

Storme: Then you have the testers ones, now, that have like the hickory-smoked and the Merlot Jack Daniels. There's all kinds of different flavors. My favorite right now, I gotta say – the Eric Church one is lovely by the way and I know he singled it out for a single barrel, which is lovely – but I have to say, the true gem – and that's why they're so proud of it price-wise – is the Gold Label. The Gold Label Jack is the best Tennessee whiskey I've ever tasted. And the Gold, because it's double filtered, it just has this absolute smooth, almost sweet, finish to it that is just gorgeous. It's fascinating to me. 

 

I mean, I don't often crave the taste of Tennessee whiskey, and I love Jack Daniel's, and I love it when I'm drinking it, but I haven't had like a moment where I daydream about the taste of it, until I had the Gold.

 

Lucas: I know several people in Lynchburg that will be happy to hear that and probably use it as some sort of endorsement. You never know. You'll probably get another call from folks. But where do you – and again, you've traveled a lot around the world – where do you think Jack Daniel's fits as a piece of Americana? Not only here in the US, but also, again, as you travel around the globe, it's obviously a highly identifiable brand, but what's been your kind of viewpoint on seeing it around the planet?

 

Storme: Well, I know in the tasters room at the distillery, they have the flag room and it's where the most popular countries for Jack Daniel's exist. And they're in order. And I've hosted festivals in the top four, which I believe – correct me if I'm wrong, but – the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan. And, if they're not that exact top four, they're in the top 10. And it is a brand that is so global. It is so omnipresent. It is so part of the fabric of festival life, of party life, of relaxation life, of class. I mean, very few brands can fit a mud bog festival and a boardroom celebration in the same breath. 

 

I mean, you've got movies and television that celebrate Jack. It gets Sinatra that celebrates it. It's a sign of class and elegance and something to aspire to. And then you've got, you know, clink and shot glasses in a campground. And it's just the same. And it's anywhere around the globe. Everywhere you go, there's Jack Daniel's.

 

Lucas: You talked about your favorite expression being 27, but if someone is a novice at drinking Tennessee whiskey, how would you kind of lead them down the appropriate path?

 

Storme: Personally – and this is not – Jeff Arnett, master distiller, we love him. He's a dear friend. He would probably kill me for what I'm about to say, but this is the path I would lead somebody down. And I would start with Black Label. I'd start with the old standard. I would start with what created Jack Daniel's. And you'd go with there. And then maybe you step the next step over to Gentleman Jack, just to show that there could be such a spectrum of smoothness and harshness and taste and bold and sweet. 

 

And then from there, start branching out, and then you go taste the Green Label, and then you go taste Single Barrel, and then the Barrel Proof, and just go explore. But I would always start on the ground floor and – which I have learned, which I was totally mistaken – I always thought that Black Label was the ground floor of Jack Daniel's, but it's actually way up high on the list of quality and reviews and success. The Black Label is not on the bottom floor. It's just the first place I would start to taste Jack Daniel's. Is where I would go. And then if you could just drill a hole in a barrel and right below it, then that's fine, too.

 

Lucas: I mean, you can do that, if you want to spend 20 grand to bring one home and then do with it as you will.

 

Storme: Well, there's actually a quick story about that. So we were – Mark Day and Jeff Arnett and clan decided to allow us into the barrel room during The Jack one time. And it was Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel.

 

Lucas: Oh, I think you're gonna be the second person to tell this story, but, yeah, do it. I want to hear it from your standpoint as well.

 

Storme: So we go into the barrel room and the assistant master distiller, Chris Fletcher, comes walking in with one of those wooden hand drills. And we were joking around that it was probably Jack's hand drill from 150 years ago, but nobody confirmed or denied it. So in my mind, it was Jack's hand drill. And Jim got down on his hands and he's Jim Cantore, King of All Weather. And he did play by play of himself drilling a hole into this barrel. And there's a video of it, so I can't make this up. It's actually documented.

 

Lucas: Right.

 

Storme: And as he's cranking, cranking, cranking, the drill breaks and it's like, "Oh my God, I hope that wasn't Jack's drill." And Chris still doesn't confirm or deny that is Jack's or isn't. He just has that look on his face.

 

Lucas: He was just trying to quell the panic at that point, I think, probably.

 

Storme: And he's just like, "I can't believe you just broke the drill." But he was so nice about it. He's like, "Oh, I'll get another one."

 

Lucas: Right.

 

Storme: By the time he came back, we had fixed the drill ourselves and were able to get the hole open and toast some Barrel Proof. I mean, some really good Barrel Proof Tennessee Whiskey. But breaking the drill bit in the barrel room with Jack Daniel's wooden drill will go down in my memory.

 

Lucas: Yeah. The whiskey writer and personality Fred Minnick was there as well and mentioned that story when we spoke with him. So the only thing I can think, you know, again, Cantore, a guy who's lived through multiple, huge weather events, just superhuman in his own strength and decides to break, you know, hundred-year-old hand tools.

 

Storme: 150-year-old Jack Daniel's hand drill. Yeah, you can't make that story up. The video is priceless. I should send you a copy of it.

 

Lucas: 

Yeah. Oh, see, now you're committed to it. I gotta see that. What does the next few months look like for you as far as, you know, work product and continuing on with Sirius XM and anything new coming on the horizon that you've been developing while also working from home?

 

Storme: Yeah. We're continuing to try to create unique content in this environment now, and we've proven we can do it.Now we need to prove that we can do it better. And so we're always pushing ourselves. Video is going to be taking on a much larger role in what we do, as far as broadcasting goes. I know when we finally get back into our studio, we have huge video cameras and a control room and everything. It's going to be more of a television studio than it is an actual just-radio studio. So that's going to be a very big part of our component of our future. 

 

And also, we're going to be diving into the podcast world as well, with artist content and just commentary about country music and the formats. And we just want to keep pushing the boundaries and we want to keep reinventing what broadcasting is.

 

Lucas: Yeah, exactly. At the same time, I would imagine that over the past few months, you have kind of, as a lot of things have been stripped down or stripped back, going, "It is about the conversation. It is about the stories. It is about the ability to take that opportunity to just connect with people, whether or not the technology is there." Because, as we said when we started this show, stories always get better in the retelling. And so it's that repetition nature of it. It's the connection nature of it, that's truly gonna allow you to continue to innovate and grow.

 

Storme: You said it perfectly. I don't know how I can top that, but that's exactly the case. And it's making conversations more interesting. It's how do you – we could ask the same 10 questions to 10 different people, but really what are you doing with that? It's like, you should engineer a conversation personal for each person you're talking to.

 

Lucas: Right. Yeah.

 

Storme: And that's why it's fun as an interviewer, to try to find the new way to ask that question that you know that they've been asked a million times. And it's fun to do. And there's artists that are more fun to interview than others. And it's almost like a competition. It's a sport. And there's – I won't name names – there's a particular artist that for almost a quarter of a century, both of us bring our A game, and every time we sit down across from each other – it's a game. I mean, and it's fun. And I when sometimes, this person wins sometimes, and both of us walk away better because of it.

 

Lucas: Yeah. That's, you know, I've done this on the print side for a long, long time as well. When you can walk away from that exchange, feeling like they have some respect for you, they enjoyed the experience and you got what you needed to create the content that you're trying to create, then everybody wins.

 

Storme: Everybody wins. Everybody wins.

 

Lucas: There's times where that doesn't happen, but you try to forget those and move on.

 

Storme: You look for those words at the end of an interview of an artist going, "You know what? That was a lot of fun. Thanks." If you can get that, then it was like, "Alright, victory"

 

Lucas: Yeah. Deep sigh, move on to the next thing. Where can people find you, interact with you, your stuff?Obviously, Sirius. Give us the social media run-down, that kind of stuff as well.

 

Storme: Sure. On Instagram, it's at StormeWarren (https://www.instagram.com/StormeWarren/) and Twitter @stormewarren (https://twitter.com/stormewarren). Facebook at Storme.Warren (https://www.facebook.com/storme.warren/). Pretty simple, nothing complex. And, I'm very interactive on Twitter. I'm getting better at Instagram – getting better at my Instagram storying, which is confusing my younger partners in the morning show. What are you doing? Who are you? And we're interactive on our show Facebook page as well – The highway.

 

Lucas: Right.

 

Storme: One of my proudest traditions that we do on Tuesdays is called Trophy High Tuesday. And it's a lyric from a Keith Urban song called "Raise 'Em Up." And it's "raise 'em up trophy high." And what we do is we hear from people that are just trying to make lives better for other people. And they tell stories about their grandmother, or their daughter, or their son, or their man or woman serving in our military overseas, or somebody overcoming cancer or sickness. And they're just proud of them. And teachers in this wild time are adopting it, as well, to celebrate their students and to celebrate each other. And it's a neat gift right now to have a Trophy High Tuesday, as a celebration of just humanity and what is good in this world when we're surrounded by so many bad. So it's neat. And those stories are all over our Facebook page all week long, not just on Tuesdays.

 

Lucas: Very cool. Well, sir, thank you for your time. Hopefully sooner than later, we can get together and raise a glass.

 

Storme: Absolutely.

 

Lucas: And have some interaction time, but, until then, thank you for joining us Around the Barrel, Storme Warren.

 

Storme: Here. I'm going to do it. Hey, Lucas. Great job. That was fun.

 

Lucas: Thank you, sir – appreciate that! 

 

Around the Barrel is the official podcast of the Jack Daniel Distillery. Follow the podcast on the web at jackdaniels.com/podcast. 

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Your friends at Jack Daniel’s remind you to drink responsibly. Jack Daniel’s and Old No. 7 are registered trademarks, Copyright 2020 Jack Daniel’s. Tennessee whiskey, 40% alcohol by volume, 80 proof, distilled and bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee. Around the Barrel is intended for listeners 21 years of age and older.