The Death of Music

NOW HIRING: The Daily Show w/ Trevor Noah???!!! Oh, drama!! Roy & the team briefly discuss Trevor Noah’s decision to step down from the iconic program and debate what’s next for the show. But who’s the next host gonna be Roy?!  TELL US, ROY!!!  An Alabama high school choir director discusses his job and breaks down WHY music education is essential, HOW the church has played a role in children losing interest in music, and how music can take you places (like Carnegie Hall). Choir directors usually have a background in teaching, music theory, conducting, harmony, and vocal production. Now, many are mastering fundraising too to evade the death of music programs in their schools.  If you bring Black culture to white spaces, are you betraying your people? A young woman faces harsh criticism for forming a black dance team at the University of Southern California. Plus, @Rod4Short sings the praises of Dolly Parton and his childhood choir, a bear invades a 7-11, and Rachel Dolezal has pivoted YET AGAIN!  Catch Roy alongside Jon Hamm in “Confess, Fletch” On Demand NOW! Want to be a guest on 'Roy's Job Fair?' Got a job scam you've seen run? A worst or first job to share? Job tips to share with everyone? Get on the show! Submit your story at www.roysjobfair.comWatch all Roy Wood Jr Comedy Specials NOW available on iTunes and streaming NOW on Paramount+.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Comedy Central. All right, this one's a
doozy now. Hiring Daily Show host Trevor Noah has announced
he will leave the Daily Show. During the taping at
the Comedy Central program, Trevor nod that had been seven
years since he replaced John Stewart decided it was time

(00:23):
to do other things and he will depart at a
time to be determined later. He said, hang on that, Trevor,

(00:54):
my name is Roy. This is my job. Fan Wednesday.
It's the most of the week. I don't know where
you're listening to this acoustical radio presentation, but just know
that it is served up, fried and pulled out the
oven fresh. On Wednesdays. You're gonna talk about music today,
the death of music and the ways that we can
keep the music in the schools. We're gonna talk with

(01:15):
the band lead. Is he a band lead to acquired
director j G. I can't remember what your quiet director,
but I think he's done band as well. I doctor.
I just said music, and both of them music and
asked the question about this delineation. So wait a minute.
I hear what you're doing, but we're not going to
talk about you being three for three. Are you talking

(01:37):
about the June? The talk open, not travling nor yeah, yeah,
I don't. Said he want to do other things, you know.
He said he want to do a little bit of travel,
said he missed being out on the road, miss learning.
The other line, I ain't never miss learning the language.
Now you keep you already speak like seven of them.
When he opened up to tell everyone, he started with

(01:58):
Roywood Jr. Told me that I've been here for X
number of years, and that made me start to think, Roy,
you need to use your powers for good. Listen, I've
been trying to make the boy quit. I was just
telling the man, your man tonight have been seven years. Man,
that's pretty cool, huh. I didn't know that he was
gonna walk away from the conversation to go, what, Yeah,

(02:18):
I don't live, I don't have a child, kiss doing
the pia? Is that how you pronounce a name exactly?
I'm too, I'm not. It's fine. It's an honest mistake.
I'm sure people will understand that I missed up her
last name. Let me just tell you all right now.
I don't know ship okay, oh no, ship? About who

(02:39):
the next host gonna be? I don't know ship who
they're looking at. I showed up the work, I do
my job, I come home. I played chess with my child.
That's what I do. I have no insider information for
the two of you, but I will say this, if
either of you think that I should be the next
host of the Daily Show, I need both of you

(03:01):
to shut the funk up, because both of y'all get
jinks to me on Jeopardy and drink on James Corden.
As far as I know, they ain't named a successor
to Courting yet. But as far as I know, I
ain't been chose yet, So I didn't get either of
them calls, a neither of them goals came through. Yeah,
Trevor said, quote. I spent two years of my apartment

(03:22):
not on the road, and when I got back out
on the road, I realized it was another part of
my life. I spent two years in my apartment. When
I got back out there, does it all British everything?
He said, There's another part of my life out there.
I want to carry on exploring. I miss learning other languages,

(03:43):
I missed going to other countries and putting on shows.
I've loved hosting this show. I've loved trying to find
a way to make people laugh, even when the stories
are particularly shitty. Laughed together. We've cried together. I'll say
one thing about him. You obviously work with him closely,
But when we when we were at the Emmys and
you introduced me to him, he leaned in and he

(04:06):
actually heard my name and repeated it back to me.
I mean, that is just wonderful and magnanimous. I love
those types of things. So it was very nice to
meet him in that realm and to see where he's
going next. There's a personal dude, very nice. I got
a question for you, a question. When you work in
the newsroom day in and day out, or news related things,

(04:29):
the stories, regardless of how well you make fun of
them or how well you can find the light in them,
tend to wear you down after a while. Do you
think that, well, yes, do you think that this might
also have something to do with it? I mean, I
love the nice, freely way that he said what he said,
But you know, being burnt out in the newsroom is
a super real thing. Man like, It's a lot as

(04:50):
much as his desire to go and do other things
that make him happy, play the decision in them stepping down.
I am sure that just the general st us is
of that job during television four or five nights a week,
that's hard. It's a long day, fine, but when you
add on top of that pain and just suffering and

(05:11):
just all types of bullshit happening. Also, the Daily Show
is far more global than it was under Jon Stewart
in terms of the way we're all interconnected because of
social media. But in the interim, it's time now most
Outstanding Employee of the week. Now we're talking music today,

(05:32):
and one important part of music is dance. You know
you have a little dance. You know you're talking to
um choir director, and you know this brother has his
hand in band as well. And one thing that we
know about band, there's always dances. There's little baton twirlers

(05:53):
we had in high school. I don't remember what they
were called. Did you twirl batons? JJ? No, I'm not
really cool or natives, so I couldn't be on those things.
Did you wear a non Christian skirt with super I
just tell you, I couldn't be on that stuff because
I'm not coordinated glittering tassels. I wanted to be out there,

(06:15):
but I wanted to be one of them. What did
you call those ladies? I don't know what they're calling.
Did you wear a hyper sexualized outfit that you had
no fucking business being in at the age of fourteen,
Jacqueline George, don't play that hansing up and down a
football field or fucking grown men. Look at you. When

(06:36):
I went to the University of Alabama to graduate a
boy and not graduate, excuse me to look at the
tour a boy passed by me and Sissy in the phone,
my dad said, going here, exact words, exact words. You
can cut all that. Oh no, we're not. That was hilarious.

(06:58):
That's the thank you, thank you. Third. So, one part
of the band and music experience a lot of football
games is the major rette squad. You know, a team
of black women to do a nice little sexy eight count.
I think the Laker girls. But andotion down there morehouse.

(07:20):
At the University of Southern California, young woman better name
a princess isis lange old princess walking around the campus
and like a g Gaston said, find a need and
fulfill it. You noticed that there was no major rette
team at USC. So she took it to herself to

(07:41):
form and all black major atte squad, and they took
to the stands at a recent USC game and she
posted the video showing Black America that she has started
a major rette team at a p w I and
black people said, what the funk are you doing? People?

(08:07):
They said the princess quote. There was a lot of conversation,
you know, positive and negative about what she did. I
understand both sides of a lot of people said, quote,
if a black college isn't good enough for you, stop
trying to replicate black college culture at a white school.
Y'all do this every time, and I'm tired of this.

(08:28):
And a lot of people have counter you know, they're saying,
you know, there's nothing wrong with her bringing representation to
her school. You know, a black girl wants to create
a dance space for other black girls on her campus,
and y'all got a problem with that. So the fear
that a lot of black people have j G is
that by her creating something black in a white space.

(08:50):
We all know that things that are black and trendy
and dope in front to look at, in fun to do.
As evidence by all the TikTok dances that have stolen.
You're gonna see white dance squads that are essentially doing HBS.
They're essentially gonna be doing black college cost play. But
they've been doing that. You had white women pledge in

(09:10):
Delta since the second But we're just talking football. Let's
just keep it on the field. We're not talking. But
I get what you're saying that there's already a degree
of that. But a lot of people take issues for this,
and they're saying that the sister Princess Isis is essentially
a willful participant and what will become the dilution or

(09:36):
something that's black for a very long time. And that's
heavy because USC feels like a black school sometimes. I
know it's a big, huge white school, but when you
out there in the l A, the amount of black
folks that at USC and the support USC, it is
the closest field of in California school to like the
real HBCU experience that you would get back to the sides.

(09:58):
I think meets to negotiate possibly for bringing something the school.
She needs to march right in there to that school
and say hello, Mr President, I just did something that
brought your school good and bad publicity. Either way, you're
on the map even further. So therefore I deserve or

(10:23):
free semesters or quarters, depending on office, a little black
ass girl, and I will not, sir. And if you
called me a little black ass girl again, we're gonna
have a serious problem. She did all the right things too,
which is really what makes this story kind of sad
to me, because she went in, she got the she

(10:43):
she went to the student council, she got the right thundering,
she got the proper stuff that she needed to do
to make sure that when she went to the game
they didn't kick her and the rest of the crew out.
She literally did everything that you're supposed to do. It's
almost like to me, it's almost like starting or chartering sorority.
And she went through all of the sets and and

(11:06):
for me, that's what I like the most about this,
because you got to think, in all the years of
USC and all of the black folks that they got
that went to the the USC, nobody ever did this, and
mainly because they thought they might not have been looked at.
But she's the one. She's a catalyst. To me, I'm
very like it. I think that I understand the backlash

(11:26):
from my fellow HBCU brethren that we want these things
that are black and black spaces to remain within these
black spaces. And if you take something that is inherently
and so hyper specific to our culture over to a
white campus, you're introducing the possibility for it to be
torn apart by culture vultures. I understand that the game,

(11:50):
but we got to be real about the fact that
a lot of black people don't go to black colleges
for whatever reason, they choose not to go. And in
those spaces where they choose to go, they're sitting on
a white island. So what are we supposed to do?
Leave them on a cultural island because of where they
chose to get an education. There's no way to get both.

(12:11):
There's no way to get a little bit of a
smidge of what you would have got an HBC. You know,
I'm not gonna sit here and say that the Cardinal
Divas of USC are as good as the honey bees
or as good as anything that's popping over there in
DC but third and them. But it is still an
opportunity for black women to commiserate with other black women

(12:35):
and for the white boys to see what the black
women that's more in a racial relationship like that. I
I like the fact that you're creating something specific because
I can as a comedian, I've performed for the Black

(12:57):
student unions at white schools. That's only a thing that
exists as a group of black students whose only job
it is is to bring black ship to the campus
so that the black students can feel like they got
something that they wanted to see instead of sucking Kenny Chesney.
So how is this different than the b s U

(13:19):
bring in future for fifty thou dollars? How is this
different than the b SU having a spade tonight? Do
we not want white folk learning about spades? How is
this different than the bsues doing step doing step shows
that aren't Greek, like you know what I mean? Like
all this third I take that back. I'm with you
on this Greek ship now, because how many white sororities

(13:42):
are emulating all of the Divine nine Black step show.
So then let's then, especially especially look especially for the
record in the South, specifically Southern SEC schools. White sororities
now do party walks and they take the same party
walk lines that the Deltas do. The strolls and they

(14:03):
just co OpEd them for their sororities. So they're out
there doing party walks the straight up country. Where do
you think they got that from? You think they got
that from fucking all Corn States, from fucking Alabama A
and M. No, they got it from black Greek sororities
doing that ship at white Greek functions at white schools,
and they were like, I want to do it. That's cool,
And they stole it from the Forth Valley States. They

(14:25):
stole it from all the other schools. But it's a
partial stealing, and it's also a partial that sometimes they
enlisted those young ladies from those spots to teach them
how to do that stuff. So I mean, it's you know,
it's a giving. You're not if you're gonna be mad
at Princess iss Lane for forming a little black ass
dance troupe to dance in front of this guy. Also,

(14:46):
USC football team is terrible. Why do you give a fuck?
They haven't been relevant since Reggie Reggie Bush since let
them fucking dance. But if you're gonna be mad at them,
then you have to be mad at all of the
other entities on campus whose job it is is to

(15:07):
create black cultural exclusive experiences for the student body. I
do support this. I think it's wonderful. I see both
sides of the issue. I also completely understand that I
get the angles. I also hope that it grows, and
I hope that at this college and or any college,

(15:29):
any woman, no matter what her complexion is, her color,
her race, her creed, can be a part of it.
This is not just beloving. Hang on, hang on, we
gotta we can started all black first and then well,
I'm sure the school has a dance, Well, then go

(15:52):
do that. This is the Cardinal Divas. And if you
will be a cardinal diva, babe, you got to know
your eight count and up period. There are women who
are have no pigmentation who can dance. Roy for forming
the Cardinal Divas of USC and just making that white
campus just a little bit blacker, even if on the

(16:13):
temporary until we have White tryout and Latino tryout in
European trials. Princess Ice is lane most outstanding employee of
the week. Princess brought to you by Sackleson State Community College,
where always let's talk to this quite direction. Third, have

(16:37):
you seen these anemic ass marching bands that they are
putting on the field. It is a shame and a
travesty to all things marching band. I don't care if
it's white schools or black schools. Everybody is not reduced
to the It's like one tuba, like the snare got
one stick. You know what I'm saying. You can't because

(16:58):
they can't. They don't. They don't know where the third
drum is. J G. They don't know what the third drum.
Kids out there playing them like down their hands, got
instruments with the other team. This is the real shit.
That's t Can we borrow yours out of phone? And
y'all done with your food. I don't even need to

(17:19):
change the mouthpiece. Just keep your slow. That is disgusting.
That's a read on that that yeah, the read the
little Yeah. The stick of woods so nasty. Moist Wood's
distrestec But it was a disrespect question, jack On. I

(17:40):
respect you as a co host. I should not be
asking if you want moist wood. We have an educator
on the line and we need to be respectful. Please,
j G. Who do we have on this game from church?
Did that's the best? I might need to go back
to make us and we have Zachary Banks. Zachary serves

(18:08):
as the choir director for Ramsey High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Yes,
a little bit of us Never Boys. Famous alumni include
For years Jack, Zachary has championed the importance of music
programs within schools, wishing people view music programs the same

(18:32):
way they did sports programs. Zachary will be talking to
Uroy about the erasure of school programs and his choir's
upcoming trip to Carnegie Hall next year. Hi, Zachary, Hello, Hello,
how are you guys doing? No, Brother Banks, talk to

(18:52):
us a little bit, you know, just from your perspective
teaching music in this in public schools? Mind you, why
has there been an eratuer and why isn't there a
bigger alarm being sounded about the arts slowly eroding away
from our schools? Well, you actually alluded to part of

(19:15):
an issue, uh, in the idea that people having the
start of you have to choose. Um, you don't. Things
are operating in a way that we can be multifaceted.
We would like to play to everybody's talents and uh
being able to do so is important. Just to put
in perspective in my school or at Ramsey UH in

(19:38):
which I'm also a graduate of. We we make sure
that when we have a concert, I've got many kids
that are involved in many different organizations. I've got another
football players, baseball players, basketball, men's and women's. I've got
all types of kids in following future teachings of America,
all these other organizations. If we haven't have been at

(19:59):
school and we're performing, I tell them and instruct them
where the uniform for the other organization. I want to
show that diversity on the stage when it's time to perform.
And that makes a big difference. UM. It also helps
people to see it's like, okay, you can do multiple things.
We've had universities come down to recruit and their choirs

(20:22):
are come and perform, and they'll ask how many you
guys are music majors, how many you guys are non majors,
how many you guys are doing this? So they show
off that there's diversity within the group. UM. And so
that's one part that you don't have to choose. UM.
Another issue is funding. UH that's probably the number one. UM.

(20:46):
We're not necessarily the most financially financial generating organization for
the greater establishment sometimes uh, and in some ways that
kind of can come to a debt treament because the
do you know, money talks um. But at the same time,
what you're taking away from these students is far more

(21:10):
than something that money can actually buy. You're moving the
opportunity for them to have joy. You're moving to an
opportunity for them to express themselves in a way that
they don't get to do in the math, science, history
English claims um. And so with also the situation where
you have teachers that a number of school systems are
paid by the actual school system money, not to state. Um.

(21:36):
There are certain school systems where the money that pays
this the music teachers comes out of the actual system budget,
the school system budget, and not coming from the state budget.
Like all the other teachers the core teachers are paid.
So still do they get part of the four one
playing then because in the state of Alabama way a meeting. Now, yeah,

(22:00):
I mean the thing about it is is that we
still we still get all the all the bells and
whistles that comes with all the benefits of there. But
the issue that comes to play is when it's time
to cut cut money or make budget cuts in your
local district. Who's going to get the chopping block because
the money coming from the state is still coming. But

(22:22):
what we need what you're saying, if it's coming down
between paying four for lack a better word, a new
basketball arena or keeping on the money for the choir,
more than likely they're gonna go for the basketball arena
versus the choir. It depends on the situation. But yeah,
that that does, that does occur from time to time.
What are what are the programs that are well athletics,

(22:43):
I would assume, of course, but athletics also have boosters
and outside money coming in that is earmarked specifically for
that particular athletic organization. They don't even spread the dope
evenly throughout all of the other athletic programs. You know,
I had a long conversation Um, one of my partners said,
that's Um one of the coaches over there at Ramsey Softball,

(23:04):
and he was talking about the situation with just the
softball team, the third there's nine city high schools sharing
two softball fields or that's something. It's something like, it's
something ridiculous. So in addition to athletics, what are some
of the other programs that tend to get that where
the money tends to leap frog music And where does

(23:25):
the money land if not in the music department other
than athletics. Uh, that really goes school to school systems,
system like for instance, Uh, Ramsey, we have tons of programs.
I mean, we offer so many different programs so that

(23:45):
those dollar academic back in Laura, did I say that?
We're right? I don't have I don't have one because
I could even pronounce it. You got it, International baccalaurea
um Industrict. That's that's why we're saying. But we get
kind of made fun of because our Ramsey I B
High School the abbreviation is real high school, which especially

(24:12):
given that we are primarily black. Oh that's nice, all right? Yeah,
I mean I don't know, it sounds like a fundraising
thing to me? Is that y'all keep it? But you
know what I'm just saying. You know, get matter that's
eating these ribbles, you can join us eating these ribs.
So know what I'm saying. Yeah, Well, you know I

(24:33):
sometimes we try to step away from those things if
you will, if you will, uh. Um, But yeah, that money,
I mean the school like Ramsey each dollar gets spread thin.
I mean because we got to split it into so
many directions, so many ways. Uh. At some other schools
you might have other programs, and about ironically enough, the

(24:54):
band programs get a lot more help down here in
the South because of their connection to football. Uh. And
that's not that's not I mean knocking band, of course, not. No, no,
this is just about where the money is here. Mark, Yeah,
sometimes that money gets moved that way. But I'm also
that's also not saying that that's an equal statement for everybody,
because I've been directed here. I mean, he's pulling teeth. Man.

(25:16):
We're gonna talk with you a little more. In the
second Brother banks right now, they've got the home in
the roto standing behind. What's up too? What's up? Man? Well, Zack,
this would be a good time for your going to church.
Has to leave because after the break Rod is gonna
take this show off the rails. And I don't know
how much you listen to us, but this ain't what

(25:38):
you want. That you and Zach Zac went to college together.
Bro Zack knows exactly what I'm all about. Absolutely got
long before I ever thought about doing kind I've got
I've got one of my favorite stories, one of my
best jokes and best joke moments ever wasn't the Rod

(26:00):
with us sitting down in the calf. We were sitting
in the lunch room and uh, he was reading the
school paper we had, you know, we had the Alabamia
school paper. And so he's just sitting there in his
backs to thet to like the wall were at the
tide tables, and everybody came into the calf from the
front and so the line coming in, everybody getting you know,
swiping the car going into the lunch room. And we

(26:22):
had a girl. We had two girls, one girl who
a soccer player that had had one arm and a
we had another girl who had one leg. And they
came into the calf back to back, and I never forget.
I was sitting across room from Rod and this man
like if you ever watched the Wrench that Soul Christmas

(26:44):
when when that smile just grows up on the Wrench's face,
That's what I saw with Rod. And then he just
held up the newspaper and the headline was tuition to
go up at Monavallo and he looked and pointed towards
the door and said, y'all it's official. It now calls
an arm and a leg to go to universal. That's good.

(27:15):
What we would laid the class, we would late to class.
We were after holland you ain't s you going to
hell after the break the home in the right away,

(27:38):
k Rod for sure, that's a job. Fan. We'll be
right back drop and we're back in it. We were
talking about the death of music in schools with a wonderful,
wonderful teacher and choir director. But the Zack Banks of

(27:59):
Ranches do Infirmanham got Zack standing by the scam of
the week. He's gonna break down a little bit more
about why music has left the schools and what these
teaching can wake up. Oh the teacher teaching that music.
Your kids sharing trumpets, ain't got no money. You're sharing

(28:20):
woodwind instruments and on your lip you don't and it's
there for the rest of your love. Who you know? Man,
if we're sharing instruments, you had to put voice back,

(28:43):
ain't j G. I'm so happy. It's kind of slow
it down for a minute though, before we get back
to Brot sac and um. This is a man that
is um I imaginely emotionally down right out there. He
is an open New England Patriots fan and they having

(29:05):
some struggles right now early going to this football scene.
He has a minor and how to get money from
white women make him feel bad about it. He's undefeated
in pregnancy scares, with a lifetime record of forty three

(29:25):
oh into. He's an international gentleman of leisure and true
a former veterinarian assistant. It's MoMA named Murato. We call
him right a short ride. Did you sing in the choir?
We just found out, and third don't want to really
get into it. The third was singing in college. Yeah.

(29:47):
I sang in the choir in elementary school. Um, and
then after that I never really sang in any form
of capacity. I sang two girls a couple of times personal,
but last time I was in an actual choir. Some
ship was yeah, elementary school. Man Dolly Parton invited us

(30:09):
to come sing a Dollywood and it's serious. Yeah, Dolly
Parton's been down with niggas for a long time. Yeah.
Man was in the deth grade, Dolly just a black
kids at the man Shield. Yeah. We should have been

(30:31):
on a bus. Yeah. It was like the flight was
like it was like fifty minutes. It was like, you know,
you know how corporate money goes. Corporations don't know what
anything is worth. They just have a budget and they
just spend the budget. So she flew our asses from
Burminham and natur that was up in the hotel for

(30:56):
the weekend and all that. James, it was a good time.
That's insane. Man. Well, we're bringing Rid on this program
to give you topics to talk with co work because
you can't stand co workers at the opposite race, that
one co worker who keeps telling you the same fucking
story because their life has no me, has no action,

(31:16):
no me none. Every every couple of months, they're coming
in at day about that time they went to Vegas. Nick,
I know you went to cast I tell you I
got drunk. Do you know what I got drunk? Right?
I had some bitcoin, had bitcoin and then I sold it. Man,
I would have been rich. Shut the funk up and
go back to your desk. Now that's not be mean

(31:37):
about it, but it does get annoying. How many how
many times can that person come with the same story.
How many times can your co work and tell you
the same boy in a story? Y'all have of ship
to talk about her before I get to be route.
How many days a week? That's the easy answer to that.
That's just yeah. You ain't got no answer for that,
do you. J G. Don't get no answer. I didn't

(31:59):
really know she was doing. I thought the screen was
frozen for a second. I was so rob We turn
it over to you, man, Get these people a couple
of topics they can bring up at that at the
workplace and the job. The delivery truck would have you
wherever they are the construction site. Uh an Olympic Valley, California,

(32:20):
seven eleven employee. I love seven eleven. Oh you're gonna
love this. Then recently posted a video of an encounter
with a shoplifter he had coming to the store about
one third am. Came in rampage in the place, still
in snack after snack after snack, and it was a

(32:40):
goddamn bear. No like a baby bear, not like a baby,
very full grown bay hell no son. And the video
is hilaryerous the clerk and I want to give him

(33:00):
his credit. Uh, he did not fall victim two. The
DNA that says kind of touch that he stayed down
or while filming and the video is pretty funny. He
cracked a couple of funny jokes with the bear, but
the bear really did come in and just started still
in the funk out of some snacks. Good animals. Let

(33:25):
that be a lesson to people to stop leaving those
CBD trees out in the wood and they don't hit
right listen. I think that as intrude can expand these
metropolises into animal territory, the animals are getting smarter. The bear,
he's the same bears j G. That dumpster dive up

(33:45):
in Alaska and all of that stuff, like rural parts
of like the Dakotas in Washington State where you can't
leave your house without a gun because it just might
be fucking bear what happens in most places. But that's
like usually where the stories come from. But like ass
that bears are close to neighborhoods. They know when trash
day is really They come down on like the Tuesday

(34:09):
and Friday where you put your trash out. They come
to the neighborhood on watch it and start just ripping
up trash cars because they always trash. It's Tuesday. You
know what that means? I support I support efficient animals bro,
that's efficiency as far as I'm concerned. That is all right. Um,
If you work in the store and a bear shows

(34:31):
up and start shoplifting, is that your last day at
that store? Absolutely? You gotta let me hold you gotta
at least let me carry bear makes or something. I
don't kill this motherfucker, but something to get him off me.
He's not coming to you, He's going to the not yet.

(34:53):
How you know he gonna smell all that ship behind
the counter. Motherfucker might want a black and mom just
don't want blacks coming all the wild. Great, I don't

(35:15):
you know what I'm talking about, Rocks. That's the day
I quit for real, the day a bear come in
there and asked me before a pack up. But Dad
of backwoods, I've done. I'm god all, Oh my gosh,
let's yes. I wouldn't kill it. I wouldn't make it.
I was spraying face home tonight. I'm going home, right, Jacqueline.

(35:42):
You can't hug every animal every time. Oh I'm not
touching any animals period. But when the bear comes in,
you go out. The bear is not gonna come towards you.
How how millions of bear texts that have happened in
world history will tell you. The bear will come towards you.
The bear is what your book? Where's your book, Roy,

(36:05):
where's your book that tells you how to get out
of this stuff? You? Yes, extreme, but I do know
for sure a predatory animal you're not supposed to run
from because instincts kick in and other those running after, Yes,
they are. You supposed to stand your ground, make yourself,
make loud noises. Not if you don't do that, you're

(36:27):
one thing that really works and making noises to us
to sing to them, because they're not they've they've ever
heard of it confuses them. Here here we go from
from my book Extreme Survival page to thirty two. If
you want to read along in the confregation. If you

(36:49):
are approached by a bear, remained calm and motionless, and
make soothing noises. If you can do not ever try
to out run a bear. It can cover fifty five
yards in three seconds from a stand still. It's faster
than the that's twice. That's if it attacks. Try to

(37:10):
scare it off with loud noises or pepper spray if
those are options. Otherwise, curl up into a ball and
wait for the bear to accept that you are no
longer a threat and pop, she's gonna run on run
out to come around the counter. J G. Really, I
really don't like how your book said make soothing sounds
and they want it attacks you make loud sounds. That

(37:31):
sounds like simulated sex. That ship doesn't work right, Like
Mr hey Bear? How you doing? Mr? Bear? You upset today?
I hope you do? Y'all laughing? That is that's the
exact tone you're supposed to talk to them like that. Yeah, really,
that's fine. I'm gonna site Barry Whites love to love

(37:54):
you baby, and hope that they don't kill me. Let's
flip it up for the people right now. You would
appreciate this one as as a man with some questionable crushes. Um,
oh my god. Rachel Dolas is back in the news.
You might remember her from two thousand and fifteen the

(38:17):
trans racial scandal, where the president of the Spokene Washington
chapter of the Double A CP was found out there
have been a white woman living is black. She's back
now black face. She's just like a phrase and to

(38:38):
get her tan on and she always felt black inside,
so she's black now. And uh yeah, she said, I
was transracial. So Rachel dolas All is apparently very in
love with Rihanna's savage by Finty Lion of Lingerie, and
to pay homage to that, she has created an orally

(39:00):
fans account where she is showing off that fake black
ass and some said it's about finest finest. So if
any of your brother's ever wanted when she looked like
up under that dashiki for Noine and nine a month,
you got your cover. And I gotta tell you it
ain't looking bad, supporter, baby, don't no, I don't didn't

(39:29):
buy anything. A couple of pictures have come out as promo.
I've refused it. I don't pay for foreign or sex
in any capacity. Now right, let me just say there's
a lot of people. I never said I had a
crush on Richard Dollar's up. I simply said she was

(39:49):
about a seven because that was an offline conversation we
had because I don't want people like doing through the
back catal of the show was trying to find the
clip where I said, that's not what I said. I said,
Rachel dollar is All could probably get into sackleson State

(40:10):
with the that's that's that's what I said, Now he's
now a question seven as a black woman or a
white woman, that's an important distinction. We gotta see her
black crack. I mean, you can see that black crack.

(40:34):
A month done this podcast is I'm done. You can
get it wherever you find this podcast. But high school

(41:04):
students black booty cracks? Is it? Black dude? We never
did answer that question. Let's get back to brother. Then
it's kind of tough to be honest with you. Sit

(41:25):
here and listen to you talking about the struggle woman
like it's uh. I sang in college. I was on
my college glee club, which is the first time in
the show history I've ever even admitted why did I
not know that about you? Because we're gonna skip it
and keep going. But the bigger point is, like in
high schools, especially now, I noticed that it's almost like

(41:46):
there's been a pull away from the arts. I feel
as though when I was in high school, they encourage
you to do things like forensics, encourage you to do
things like chorus, encourage you to do things like band.
I granted I wasn't in Alabama, so I don't know
which I was going to anything that's beautiful, I know
where I was at in Northern Virginia. That was that

(42:06):
was a huge part of it. It It was, it was
a very big thing. But what I noticed as the
years went on, um, it almost felt like education pulled
itself away from the arts, like sweating masks, you know
what I mean. And that's kind of what I was
just trying to ask you about, Zach, like, have you
have you noticed that kind of a thing, because before,
like you know it, I knew at the high school

(42:28):
and I went to, uh, my former choral teachers spoke
to me about the fact that this is the first
year where they had magicals by by for lack of
a better word, whoever, whoever shows up makes it like
if you if you're here, if we have three autos
this year and magicals, it's fine, we don't care. I
don't legitimately don't know what that is. Is that well, no,

(42:53):
that's probably the name of the group that he that
they had at their school. But the match was actually
a piece of music. It's a it's actually a small
ensemble piece of music. Right And in my school, in
my high school or in Northern Virginia, magicals are the
best singers in the high schools like they're there. That's
that's what they call it. You're right, it's a piece

(43:14):
of music, but it's a piece of music by a
small group of people and in U and that's what
they were doing. But it's normally a tryout. It's almost
like a chair system for magicals. Like you you have
like a first altar, a second altar, a third alto.
Uh and at home. This is the first time, like
in almost thirty years where they only got one alto.

(43:36):
They only got one And like these are people, they
weren't even very good. They were just you know, it
will take you because you showed up, you know what
I mean. And and I and I and I'm trying
to figure out, like is that more of what we're
seeing now with Yeah, this is a ratio of music.
Is it strictly about finance or is there a higher

(43:57):
or has there been a shift in priorities on what
they choose to teach kids, especially in the public school sector.
The answer to that question is yes. One as I
just came back from a service, I'll say that the
evolution of music and even the churches moving kind of

(44:17):
away from your big choir scenes and choired you know,
church choirs everywhere that plays one part. So the importance
of that, especially on the coral side, gets removed because
you don't see that every week every Sunday or Wednesday
or Thursday, whenever you have that. Uh, the real quick
why why if the church has changed, it's just a

(44:39):
changing the sound, changing the style of service. You've got
younger pastors, they want a different field. Who choir seemed
to dated money. You don't have people showing up in
his money missing like on both sides, Like it's just
not the same. Like with without going too far to
what Hill Song and all that stuff is out from Australia.
I love your song. Wait a minute now, it was

(45:01):
started for profit and so they were starting for profits. Yeah,
but that's not choir. Like So I ain't been to
church regularly in about a decade. So y'all, y'all start
talking about church about to breakdown. The name of the
original group that I think based out of Australia was
Hill Song. Uh. And that's not knocking, I mean that's

(45:22):
just saying that that that's that's what they were. But
the prominence it's really like, uh, really pop, it's like
a religious pop music. Really pop is the right word,
and so religious pop music that idea because I teach
a whole lesson on history of American music, and we

(45:43):
go from the point where you have the spirituals, going
into traditional gospel, going to modern gospel, where you starting
the commercialization of gospel, and then from that it goes
into again commercialization being money. We get down to the
end of the timeline and it's like, oh, because my kid,
we actually just the lessons boarding and my kids kind
of looked at me. It was like, wait a minute.
So we went from on the fields to now hit

(46:06):
the bottom of the timeline. Most of the groups on
here white and I said, yeah, that's kind of uh
how that plays out. Um and Hillsong is a worldwide, worldwide,
number one, worldwide number one uh group making this music.
And though I know that, I mean the admissions of

(46:26):
the individuals and that may be great, and I you know,
I don't. That's not passing judgment upon those people, but
I'm just saying that from the top, there was a
lot of influence to make money, and that that's what
you wanted. The leaders that they start still in court today,
I mean, that's not a problem. They told you we're
here to make money. Boom. Yeah. But see even in

(46:47):
them telling you that they're there to make money, there's
still people in the church. You ain't necessarily going there
to make money. They're going there because they need help,
the spiritual advice and all that kind of stuff. Let
me let me say this as a church musician, it's
different to have be paid for your talents and abilities
to help lead service versus you leading service to make money. Absolutely,

(47:08):
their service to make money. There's no question which which
part which part of that is God? Is that the
money or are not interested in God aspect even though
the God aspect is there. So there's two different things.
So these churches are hiring these styles of groups or
house bands per se and paying them, which eliminates the

(47:30):
need for acquiring, which then changes. And if church operates
as a musical farm system for the school system, did
public schools stop caring about music or did they just
not having the money to keep music within their program.
You're saying the first thing was church, and what's the
next That's one second would be just all out the

(47:53):
reason to keep coming. What's the incentive for a teacher
in two thousand and twenty two to keep coming to work.
It's not much. I mean, it's we don't get paid enough.
Uh yeah, we get great benefits. I mean only time
I really feel great sometimes when I go to the
doctor and I see my copayer versus everybody else. But
the kids are the kids are chan they can be

(48:15):
they can be meaner, and they more fragile. So it's
kind of this integree. It's like, Okay, you're both emotionally fragile.
So so what part of what that meanness is is
that it doesn't take anything to set set somebody off
because you know, again going into another you know, dissertation

(48:37):
on on social media and the effect it has on
it on on the youth. Uh that that weakening of
the psyche of the average person is uh, you know
what is that? And I ain't trying to cut your
asom home, but I also tell you it is what
you're sitting on right. There is also another reason that
we're seeing a decline in the band and becoming a
core program. I had to understand that when people were

(48:59):
giving me very hard criticisms, to learn how to take
those hard criticisms and not take those personally. With the
fragility of a lot of the kids and stuff that
I see now, so like, how do you deal with
that now? Like because that seems to me, Yeah, we
don't tearing them down. I find myself having to explain
a lot and I mean, you know, and we that,
which kind of goes against my training. My my professors

(49:21):
at the University of Model Value, they helped me a lot.
They taught me a lot, and one of the things
that we were taught was how to be precise. One
of the things about being precise is you're not supposed
to explain so much as you go into every piece interduction.
But you have to now because if you just outright

(49:41):
just say that was wrong, do that again because of this,
they might get crushed. You have to kind of go
in now and say, you guys are working really hard,
and I appreciate your effort and I'm happy that you
guys are doing this and giving me so much. What
we gotta do is work on this, this and this.
That's the thing. Now, we can't know so commedia and
just hit the kids. Now, let's let's let's put that

(50:02):
in there. They just hit the kids. We know what
the problems are. We understand now the struggles that you're
dealing with at this particular job of high school choir director. Uh,
how do we fix it? Let's get into that after
the break. I'm sure the answer is money the job.

(50:27):
Bring it at home. Talk about the erasure of music
in our schools and the struggles of that, you know
as a high school choir director, brother Banks. What can
parents do? What can people do? Is there anything like
you know, when we started getting to you know, the

(50:47):
school board and superintendent and things like that, how can
we lobby to bring more attention to what's happening to
music in our schools and trying to get more money?
That's designate it for this, Like it's one thing to
go out and raise money for a department, but to
actually get the state and local officials in the school

(51:08):
system to go, hey, wait, we have to make sure
that this matter. Parents. One, if you're a parent and
your child does not have a music program or an
aspect of a music program, or any other fine arts
program that's not at your school, start asking why. That's
the first thing. To make as much noise as possible

(51:29):
and ask why, because that's an opportunity that your child
may not have. We have students that leave here and
go off to do things in the arts that may
that you have to think about how many schools in
your area Birmingham included that don't have these programs, uh,
and how many students are how many of the greatest
musicians are out there. Um. I'm gonna quote a friend

(51:51):
of mine once he made a statement about saying, um
that the next Mozart probably never picked up a piece
of music and probably never got a chance to go
to a school where there was a program, So we
never the next Motart may have maybe at a cubicle somewhere. Um. Uh. Parents,
all that are at schools that have the programs, be involved. Support, support, support,

(52:18):
and it doesn't necessarily mean it's always gotta be money, time,
treasures and talent. Those are three things we always ask
of our parents. If you can devote time towards the programs,
then the treasures can come in of our our parents
base here at Ramsey are they're working now. We've got
like three or four fundraisers going right now because we're

(52:39):
trying to raise up this money. So they're the parents
are stepping in and doing their own fundraising outside of
the schools, separate from our program uh. And that's that's
been pretty helpful, uh, and so being involved supporting the program,
stepping in making a council outside of that school. That
also helps to make donations to your programs. UH. Where

(53:02):
the departments may fall short, where the cities may fall short,
that's where you can, uh the parents can come in
and take up that that spot. Talk to us a
little bit about about this trip that you all have
decided to try and organize for the choir and why
this trip is important because they know a lot of people.
It's easy when you think about big time field trips
for students, it's easy for it to be you know,

(53:26):
they don't need to be doing all that all of that,
but I really think it serves a greater purpose in
the long run. But just tell us a little bit
about this um this trip to Carnegie Hall that j
G was talking about. So you know, we got the
invitation uh one, we actually had two invitations from two
different directors here in Alabama to come up to Carnegie

(53:49):
Hall to perform a various set of works uh with
our students. And you know, one of my things that
I've said, I've said this for all of my career
and my kids from some of my former schools that
I taught at. Uh know this phrase very well. Let
music take you places, that is, that is the thing

(54:13):
to try to keep students motivated. The more you say
in music, I mean, look, I'm from Birmingham to Uh.
Like I said, I went to Ramsey. My family was
not all that well off. We had enough to make
it work, live comfortably as well as we could and
make it through. So traveling going on vacation was a
neighboring state at best, you know, going Atlanta on the Tennessee, Georgia, Florida. Uh.

(54:37):
But at Limburg, yes, yeah, if you're lucky, you got
you get a Panama City trip in now. Uh. That's
that's living it up right there. Um. Uh. But once
I got into college, once I started hanging out with

(54:58):
people like Rod down there and then going out to college,
you know, going to college, getting a chance to go
to so many places and getting a chance of going
on tool with choirs. Uh, going to perform in different places,
being a part of the church choir, is, going to
perform in different different churches, doing all these things. I
just got from got back from London a month ago. Uh,

(55:18):
and that was being in a church choir and so
and that trip was mostly paid for. In fact, I
actually got paid for being there for singing in the
choir while I was there. So it's that's the kind
of stuff where I'm just saying, look, I'm getting this
because got offen some doors for me and I walked
through and I knew I had a voice, and I

(55:39):
kept going, Um, I'm trying to give that opportunity to
these kids and for the parents that are you know,
I got parents at Ramsey that can take pay for
their kids and go right now. If I said, hey,
trips three thousand dollars covered, they got to cover it.
But I also got parents that their kids have not
been too far out so out of Jefferson County, and

(56:02):
so yeah, this is the trip that when we work
hard to get these kids get these experiences to CD
places and to make something that's fantasy that they see
on TV and on the internet be real. When they're
standing in front of One World Trade instead of just
looking at pictures of it, when they're standing on the
stage of Carnegie Hall, instead of looking at pictures of it,

(56:23):
when they're standing looking around the the the metropolis of
New York City, and it's not just a thumbnail or
not a background on my rats. I don't forget about
now I've been, yeah, I've been in New York. Now
I thought we could kick one. But that's just not
that that idea that you will New York City rats

(56:49):
like Alabama cockroach just they don't even flinch when you
start your foot that you all got cockroaches and dog
on mosquitoes, that I take you up like a damn terradactyl.
I love everything you're saying, brother, Like, what what can
we do to help? What can we do to help
to get these kids at the cartuge so they can
have this experience, so they can see more of the world. Man,

(57:09):
Because the only other person, the only other person in
my life we were told me letting music take you somewhere,
the only other person who you sound like to me
is Dr David Murrow at Morrow's College. Um, and and
that's that's a powerful thing, you know what I'm saying.
So what can we do to help? What what can
I do to help? So you know, continue to spread
awareness like y'll doing right now. And also you know

(57:32):
we've got a cash out that we use RHS choirs
and make sure I get the right things send them
money to the wrong place. But yeah, dollarsign RHS choirs
uh and you'll see the logo for our choir. UM.
People can send money to that to help us find
this trip. May I suggest on the back end you

(57:53):
consider and I don't know if the school board of
the school system or the state will allow that, but
maybe a findle C three because it would be great
when you donate money that you can write it off
as well, and then people will actually donate more because
if I can put that two thousand dollars down and
I can write that off at the end of the year,
guess what people will do it that way. So so

(58:15):
we're actually working on that. My parents, the parents on
the side, are working on that nonprofit status in what
is being called the Ramsey Booster Club. So that is
that is something that they're working on right now to
get that status active so that we can start doing
things like that taking donations that r H S C

(58:37):
H O I R S alright all the sign at
the front of that. I was like, okay, well, brother Zachary,
we appreciate you for coming on. UM appreciate you. I
will make a I remember my cash that password. First,

(58:59):
I don't know the cash at password. Put me put
me down for a thousand, put me down for a
thousand now. But I'm challenging our job for listeners to
match that, to make sure that these kids are able
to come up to New York City to fulfill the
dream of being bitten by New York City. Right, and

(59:22):
with those superpowers these children, we'll be able to take
over the world. Shoes left and right. Brother, to do
give black kids superpower. I know it's all about music education,
but that ain't gonna We gotta market this this bad exactly.
Give black kids superpowers. They survive the mosquito bites out

(59:46):
here like the get the American cross Man got none
of these. But we wish you regrets. We wish you
nothing but the best with everything that you're doing. Thank
you so much for being educated. Thank you for going
above and beyond for these children and making sure that
they're able to see a little bit more than DeSoto caverns.

(01:00:08):
Just also under brown and have a little disrespect to
the Soto caverns. I know you'll listen. Uh, thank you
so much for coming on the job for brother. Thank you,
Thank you guy for having me that's the show. Royce
Job has a product of iHeart Media, Comedy Central and
South Park and Princeton Productions. And thank you again to

(01:00:29):
brother Banks and Ramsey High School and good luck to
them coming up to New York City to get themselves
a rent. Like we'll see you all next week. This
has been a Comedy Central podcast.