S2 [BONUS] I'll Call You Back | The Ballad of Billy Balls

iO returns some of the many compelling listener calls, while Austin checks in with old friends.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we're in the studio today and we thought it
would be fun to call some of the people back
who have called us and left us great voicemails. And
I've got somebody here with me, a very special guest.
His name is Sweet Kevin. Yo. Sweet Kevin is Kevin Shephard,

(00:23):
our associate producer. He's the guy who responds to your
tweets or Instagram messages. He's also in charge of the
voicemails you leave us we call bananas. The first message
he's pulled is one you heard in the last Bonus
episode from someone we've come to call parking lot. Okay,
what the fuck? This is such a good podcast that

(00:48):
I had to stop driving. I'm on episode six. It's
in a grocery store parking lot, like just sitting here
listening because I'm so enthralled. This is the best podcast. Dope.
Let's call her. Hello. Hey, this is Io from the

(01:15):
Ballot of Billy Balls. Okay, wait a minute, I was listen.
This is some crazy Okay, what's up? Parking lot? Where
is this? Uh? The grocery store parking lot that I
now imagine you to like pay rent in. I am

(01:38):
in a public's grocery store, parking lot. Um what town
with city with state? Country? Oh oh oh like outer space. No,
it might as well be to you Boone, North Carolina,
where Appalachian State University is. Wow, I'm from the city.

(01:59):
But here's the thing. I left home when I was
like fifteen and a half and I worked to kitchens.
I come from four generations of bakers, you know. I
spent a lot of my youth being, you know, just
on the streets and like living that kind of life.
So that was like the biggest thing was your podcast
is I was like, as your mom, not to just
kind of bust in, but I just want to get

(02:19):
it out. As your mom was like discussing the streets
and she was saying the words, I was like, fuck yeah.
I was like, it is volumptuous, it is sticky, it
is sweaty. That's the beauty of it. Like everyone else
is a voyor to what she's saying. But for those
of us that have lived in those moments, it's like

(02:40):
reminiscing today. I talked with some of you about the
connection you felt to the show, and later you'll hear
from some other characters you've gotten to know well from Crimetown.
I'm Io's till it right, and this is another special

(03:02):
bonus episode of the Ballot of Billy ball Feel. Hey, Cheetah,
it's Io. How are you good? How are you doing? Yeah?

(03:25):
Hold on, I'm gonna throw it off. Sorry, watch the
South Park Ron. I do have one more question, though,
How do you think we should refer to you because
you're not our lawyer? Law outlaw, higher gun the law Linger.
Pretty much anything works great? Hello, Hello, Yes, Hey, this

(03:51):
is Io, Rebecca Wright's kid. Wow, I can't believe you're
called epilogue two. I'll call you back. Get my phone

(04:11):
voice ready. Let's see. We've got three new voicemails since
we started this. Oh wow, do you want to um?
What about that guy Dom? Dom? Yeah? I liked this
voicemail when it came out a lot. Yeah, that's sweet.
We actually featured that. It was featured in the credits
of chapter four. To be exact. Hey, this is Dom

(04:34):
from Los Angeles. I just wanted to say that this
podcast is making me feel all kinds of stuff, specifically
about my friend Gregory Capri, an amazing soul who got
taken too young. And I think of Billy and Gregory
are somewhere special beginning. Can we call him? Call him?

(04:54):
Yeah you do? Hey, Dom, this is uh I, the
host of the Ballad of Billy Balls. Oh what's up, Hey?
I heard that I got featured. That was freaking crazy.
Yeah you did. We really liked your voicemail. Thank you
for calling in and sharing that with us. I wanted
to call you back and talk to you a little
bit more about Gregory. Yeah, let's do it. I'm actually

(05:19):
walking with my mom too. Hi. Mom. I know that
we're both really connected to our mom. She's going through
crazy times right now too. She's like got like stage
four cancer and it's just kind of crazy, Like life
is wild. So I'm really sorry to hear that. Tell
her I said hello. And also, if you want to

(05:40):
hang out with her and don't want to talk to
us about this, you totally don't have to. Oh let's good.
We're just enjoying a walk together. So this is perfect timing. Well,
who was Gregory to you? So? Greg was a friend.
We were both born like fairly close to one another
and small towns in Oregon, and so we have like

(06:03):
some kind of weird kinds of spirit. We used to
have a bunch of uh, you know concerts and stuff
at our house in the basement, you know, stuff like that,
and he would just come through and supply the party.
You know. So he just had like a fire under him,
like he you know, he'd go up to Alaska and

(06:25):
fish and like do a super dangerous job to get
money and then would just do whatever else he wanted
for the rest of those months. Like he was just
a wild man. But you know, you hang out with
him and talked to him, and he was just like
a lover, you know, just kind of reminded me like
how Billy was. Just everyone talks about how charismatic he was,

(06:50):
about how talents he was. Like that was like Greg,
what ended up happening to him. He got busted on
Saint Patty's Day in his car with like twenty four
vials of ascid as something crazy. We just started to
drift because like he got arrested and I didn't know

(07:10):
what was going on with him, and then I knew
he got out, and I think that he just got
like super an academy and I think he was just
using one night with somebody and just indeed and it
was just like terrible, you know, like it was a
huge shock to all of us, even the people that

(07:30):
knew him, like thought that he was able to understand
his limits in that regard. But I mean he was
just shot out of the cannon. So that was Greg.
And I mean it really hit me though, because, like
even now, it's like my desire to get fucked up
and be crazy. He kind of died with Greg. You know.

(07:52):
I was just like, what's the point if Greg's not around?
You know, do you think there's an afterlife down and
you think that Greg and Billy are hanging out somewhere
ripping the world apart. I think they're both writing like
dragon like Game of Throne style somewhere, just like wrecking zombies,

(08:16):
playing guitar, like that dude strapped to that monster truck
in Mad Max, you know, just like craziest scene you've
ever seen. Who else is there with them? Shit, I'm
sure Jane's Choplin's there, maybe George Herbert Walker, but but

(08:40):
hopefully it's a good ratio party. There's not too many dudes,
you know. Well, thank you, Tom, I really appreciate it. Yeah, Hey,
say hi to my mom. Her name is Leslie Chris Chris. Hi,
Leslie Chris. He's also a wild woman, and she had

(09:03):
some wild time to recommend day. Best wishes to Leslie
Chris for good healing and health. Thank you, all right,
I'll talk to you so now by unbelievable. Well that
was beautiful. Thanks again, Dom. What's next week? Kevin? H

(09:29):
Let me go to this one right here. Your podcast
has gotten me thinking about the disappearance of my mom,
who disappeared in twenty sixteen. M it's a really strange thing. Um. Yeah,
I trying to figure out how to Yeah, I don't know, huh,

(09:58):
just not sure how to talk about all right. So
my name is Brian Safer. Thank you. I was out
to lunch when that call came in, and I kind
of just listened to them as they come and I
stopped and cried for a couple of minutes, just like
the you can't even get the kid. Hello, Hey, Brian,

(10:25):
this is Io from the Ballad of Billy Balls. Yes,
how are you? I'm doing okay? Is it okay that
I'm calling you back? Yes, it's okay that you're calling
you back. I thought I had my ship together, and

(10:46):
just saying that on that voicemail was really hard. I'm sorry.
It was just really a lot harder than I thought. Yeah,
I mean it makes perfect sense to all of us. Yeah, well,
do you want to tell tell me what happened. Well,
my family all went up to Lake Alpine a camping trip,

(11:10):
and my mom wanted to go for a walk down
to the lake. So my dad walked with her about
halfway down and then you know, walked back to the
campsite and then never heard from her again. They did

(11:32):
a sonar to the lake. All they found was some
logs and whatnot. They didn't find a scrap of clothing
or object that belonged to her, and they scanned the
whole area. Yeah, like miles and miles. How long did
the search gone. It went on for about two weeks.

(11:53):
They expended as much resources as they could, and they
got to the point where they couldn't expend any more resources.
At the time, at least, it was a large search
and rescue in California state history. Wow. Really, they found
absolutely nothing. She just disappeared, She vanished. Do you mind

(12:21):
if I ask did your mom have any history of
any kind of mental illness or anything going on? Well,
she was hiding a lot of things. What we had
figured out is she had been hiding a lot of
beginning stages of either dementia or what has it done
Alzheimer's Alzheimer's. Yeah, she didn't want to admit that stuff.

(12:47):
You don't want to admit that you're getting older, you know,
it's kind of hard. So do you have a theory, Brian,
of what happened? I think that probably her whatever she
was going through, whether it be dementia or whatever, you know,

(13:07):
was way worse. Yeah, and she was in a place
that she didn't really recognize. So my faught is someone
offered to give her a ride. Yeah, and she got
confused and she may have gotten a car with someone
that had not necessarily good intentions. Yeah. What was her name,

(13:32):
Rosalind Saxon Mayer, Rosalind Saxon Meyer. Yeah. How have you
made peace with this, Brian? Or have you? I went
through therapy for like for over two years. Before that,

(13:54):
I had two friends get basically murdered. I was being
evicted from my home. I had a cancer scare that
turned out to not be cancered, thankfully, And then I
had this and I went in to go see my

(14:16):
doctor and I was telling her. She asked me how
I was doing, and I told her everything is She went,
do you get a therapist? Like, yeah, that could be
a good thing, I think. So. You listen to some

(14:39):
people tell their stories about their parents dying, and they're
preparing for their parent to die. I didn't get to
prepare for my parent to die. My parents vanished. I've
always wondered how to really properly tell the story. It was.

(15:00):
It's hard to speak it into that voicemail. It was
very hard to find those words at that point in time.
And I thank you for listening. If I could say
anything to you after hearing your story and speaking to
you a little bit, is like if me opening up

(15:20):
impacted you, remember that as you go through the world
and the power of you opening up, because that will
open things up for other people too, And your story
is really powerful and we'll be helpful to someone else.
So keep finding your words. Man. Thank you all right, Brian,

(15:41):
thank you so much for talking to us and sharing
your story. Have a beautiful day, you too, have a
wonderful day. Bye bye. Coming up, we check in with
some old friends. That's after the break. Hello, Hi, this

(16:19):
is Austin. It's Austin, Austin the Ballad of Billy Balls Austin.
This is someone we called Natasha in the show. Oh hey,
how are you doing? Hi? You met her in chapter four.
I'm just curious how you're feeling after listening to the season.
I think you guys did in the marvelous job. I

(16:40):
loved every second of an except it still an emotionally
training and a very upsetting story, and I feel very
sorry for Rebecca. Did it change what you think happened
to Billy or why you think he was shot? Well,
you know, after listening to Ron, that really was the
turning point for me, because I actually do believe Ron

(17:02):
was very serious and genuine Ron the undercover cop. I
really don't think he was lying, So I think all
that's true. And he was a drug dealer and he
definitely dealt in heroin because he knew where to get it.
And the trigger happy stuff that happens with a lot
of testosterone with guns involved in fear, and you know,

(17:24):
it's really too bad, and I really do think Ron
is remorseful that I actually shot and fell them. How
did you feel about being involved in this? I wanted
to make a contribution. I love the show. I think
you did a fabulous job. I think it should make

(17:47):
a good movie. I hope you put me in it
to it. I will reveal who I really am in
that case and the music that came out of that place.
I wish you would use a little piece of my
music from that time. Okay, all right, I'll throw it
consider that. I'll throw in a piece of music right here.

(18:08):
You're just a bad boy. What can you give me?
You're just a bad boy. The lean and lanky. You're
just a bad boy. You're just a bad bad boy.
Didn't get you? Well? Good luck with everything, and thank
you for talking with me. Yeah, and I hope you
stay in touch. Yeah, yeah, definitely. You can tell me

(18:31):
who might want into my podcast. Um, so are you
gonna do a movie? You think you're gonna going? Hello?
Hiy Cheetah, Yeah, Hey, hey Cheetah. This is Austin. This

(18:52):
is Cheetah, Chrome Billy's close friend and fellow musician. Have
you had a chance to listen to the show. I
listen a part of it. I didn't get a chance
to listen to all. I don't know. Do you want
to know what we found? Yeah? No, I was Elvin?
Would your fine? Okay? So we um found the police

(19:12):
report and the police report said it had the story
from the undercover cop. Austin tells Cheetah about the police
report and that we talked with the undercover cop. He
said that Billy pulled a gun on him while he
was trying to buy heroin from him and cocked it
and that's why he shot Billy. I don't find Billy

(19:39):
would have never pulled a fucking gun. That's my first
reaction to that. Billy was a musician. Yeah, he was
some street criminal. Yeah, you know, yeah, our cops little shit.
No Billy. I don't buy it once. Second, when Billie

(20:04):
never sold heroin to any of us, these old pills
to you know, volumes and fucking second halls and shit
like that. Speed, I don't buy that. I don't buy
it at all. Unless he was into something deeper than
I know about. Yeah, and there is that chance. Well,

(20:29):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry to tell you the story. I
know it sounds it's probably upsetting. Man. I'm up saying, shit,
he was a good friend. Yeah. How many people do
you find at midnight a roller skates and snow show,
little snug in a blue jumpsuit, in a blue jumpsuit. Yes,

(20:53):
Tima's roller skate. Did he roller skate everywhere? We've heard
a couple of times, yes, any body else roller escape? No?
And he wrote great songs. You maybe just to win.

(21:18):
There's just much too much for you. I was awesome guy,
and I mean what happened just fuck? Yeah, I'm sorry. God,
that's okay, man, because it is closure one. I mean,
getting the fucking cop on the phones boss, far as

(21:38):
you can get it. Yeah, that's how we feel. Well,
thanks for talking with me. Yeah, yeah, thanks all right,
well thanks, thank hello Boston, it's ub How are you man?

(22:02):
And of course we had to talk with the law
slinger ron Kuby. Did you listen to the final episode? Yes,
of course I did, deeply sad, deeply moving, realizing that
in the guise of a true crime story, it was
really very much a love story between mom and her son. Yeah,

(22:30):
and you know, it illustrated something that we don't need
much illustration of these days, which is the power of
false narrative to affect people's lives and behaviors, and their
persistent refusal and unwillingness to examine actual facts that could

(22:51):
contradict that narrative or add a way of nuance to
that narrative, and you know, it made me feel really
bad for Rebecca, who kind of is now and has
kind of always been a child who needed taken care of.

(23:13):
And I think different people played that role in her life.
I think Io ended up playing that role. And to
be self referential to it, you know what what you
guys called it was just like, Okay, you want to
do an interview or you want to ask me some
questions about this aspect of policing or whatever. Fine, Fine,
And then you know the level of depth and discussion

(23:37):
and your charm and Io's charm and everything. The two
of you were really serious about this project and we're
really seriously trying to get the documents that would tell
a version of the story that it had not been told.

(23:58):
And you went about it in all the role long
way now you did. I mean, it's not your fault,
your your life people, your lawyers. Yeah, and you talk
to it all the wrong people who gave you all
the wrong answers. And this was k of those things
like I know, if I spend two hours on this,
I can do this. And it made a real difference

(24:19):
in how the story got told and what the story
really was and I'm just I'm very happy I did that.
Is there any advice for somebody who is wanting to
do a kind of foil request like we did if
they don't have a lawyer involved? The answer is find
a lawyer, don't call me or you know what, I've

(24:43):
got an idea. They should like email or call you
and you just spend a mc comfy to watch set. Okay,
that's true. Maybe we can put this make public what
you put in for us. Sure, we're going to do
just that. We'll put Ron's full foil request on our
social media pages. That's so nice of you. We can't
thank you enough. Sure you can't. Trying to figure out

(25:07):
a way to thank me or not? Yeah, okay, thanks Ryan.
I just realized I should also. I have it on
Do not Disturb and go straight to voice. Man. I'm
back in the studio with sweet Kevin. This is a
funny one. It's funny, but then it gets real. Oh,

(25:29):
we've got one last person to call back. You got
k Balls here, a ka Ralph Tillman, a K cooking Kimball.
I've been in a rock and roll business currently drive
a rock and roll bus in Your podcast has filled

(25:51):
many many miles of joy. I've laughed, I've cried, question
my owd fucking reality. Keep up the good work party home.
That message was awesome, but then we got another message
once again, K Balls, And I believe this podcast made

(26:16):
me gonna change my life. When I get home, I'm
gonna quit rock and roll business and spend some time
with my daughter before she is grown up at jug forever.
Holy shit, call K balls right now, we're calling K balls. Hey, Hey,

(26:44):
is this K Balls? It is K Balls, K Balls.
This is I am. I'm the host of the Ballot
of Billy Bass. Wow. How are you. I have thoroughly
enjoyed your program, Thanks man, thank you. Where are you?

(27:08):
I'm in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Cool I drive to the
Marshall Checker Band and you want the guys called me
kay Ball. I like cooking Kimball too. That's another one
of your nicknames, Cooking Kimball. Ralph Tillman, I got a
whole buck you eliot said you never use your real

(27:29):
name out on the road, So Ralph Tillman's not your
real name either. No Kimball, Hi, Kimball. It's a pleasure
to make your acquaintance. We all really loved your voicemail.
When I'm just sitting there listening to shit a baby
and it was me, I said, just that get good.

(27:56):
But hey, I have a question for you. Go for it.
Your second voicemail, you said, I'm gonna go home and
quit the rock and roll business and spend some time
with my daughter. What's that all about. Well, I've been
on the road all these years. When you're gone two
hundred days a year, you're gone, and you know, you know,
you missed some things. So like the first formative years

(28:18):
seven years of her life, I was there, and then
her mother and I just split up, and then I've
just been on the road ever since. My daughter's a senior,
and so I said fuck it and came straight home
and I'm at home. No shit, no shit. I'm not

(28:41):
going to presume that that's because you listen to our podcast.
Well you sort of, because you know, as a driver,
you know I'm up all night, you know, self medicated,
you know how it goes and all that shit. So
I just got really emotional listening to y'all thing. That's it.
Damn you found Amanda. And when you found Amanda, you

(29:08):
know you just think it just look at the life
that she had to live. You know, it's crazy, and
you know life's too fucking short to just let it
just fly on by you, you know. Yeah, And I've
got a farm and all the things that you want
on a life except happiness, oh that little thing. But yeah,

(29:34):
I think it did influence me to just say fuck it,
and I did. That's amazing, Cables, what's your what's your
daughter like? She is a sack of hell. She's just
the best kid, She's honest. I don't know how that's possible. Well,

(30:00):
what are you gonna do with her? Now that you're home?
So I'm gonna just hang out with her. Um, take
my daughter to the beach for grad week, and we're
gonna do dinner tonight and hopefully you can get your
ash from here tomorrow. Help me with this garden. We
got stuff to do. But you know how seventeen year
old girls are. Oh, you're in for it, man, Kimball.

(30:23):
It's been a real pleasure speaking to you. Thank you
for picking up and and thank you for calling us
in the first place. And I'm really proud of you. Man.
If I'm allowed to be, I'll tell you what. Keep
up the good work kids, all right, take care. If
you guys drink moonshine, I'll send you some great man
all right. Don appreciate the call. It means so much, Jimmy, Hello,

(30:53):
ky Balls here, I'm just laying in bed here. I've
been at the fucking beach with bunch of senior girls
that have graduated. Oh God gives on the un party anymore?
Kate Balls, k Balls, wherever you are. Party on Crimetown

(31:29):
is Zach Stewart Pontier and Mark Smirling. The Ballad of
Billy Balls is hosted by me Io till It Write
and made in partnership with Kaden's thirteen. You can find
me on the Internet and Io loves you on everything.
I love it when you say hello. And if you
want to know more about my story, you can pick
up my memoir Darling Days. It's inaudible too. If you'd

(31:50):
like to leave us your own voicemail, please do you
never know when we'll be done, give us a call
at five to seven zero three nine two nine six
six zero. This episode was produced by me, Kevin Shepard,
and Ryan Swikert. Our senior producer is Austin Mitchell, editing
by Zach Stewart Pontier and Mark Smerling. This episode was

(32:12):
mixed by Sam Baer, music by Kenny Quciak. Our title
track is Dark Allies by Light Asylum. Special thanks to
David Williams at Melrose Music and Palm Springs for all
your help this season. Thanks to Daniella Ariah Rachel, Lee Wright,
Emily Wiedemann, Green Card Pictures, Alessandro Santoro, Bill Clegg, Cassie Evashevsky,

(32:36):
Ben Davis, Orn Rosenbaum, and the team at Caden's thirteen,
And of course, as always, my Mom, without whom none
of this would be possible and fe