Pipeman Interviews Thunder and Rain Band at Bourbon & Beyond 2025

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Bourbon & Beyond is the World’s Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Fest

Bourbon & Beyond Kicked Off America’s 8 Biggest Days In Music on September 11-14 In Louisville, Kentucky  

World’s Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Festival Featured Headliners The Lumineers, Benson Boone, Alabama Shakes (Thursday), Phish, Khruangbin, Joe Bonamassa (Friday), Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson, Jack White, Vance Joy (Saturday), Noah Kahan, Goo Goo Dolls, Megan Moroney (Sunday), Plus Dozens More Rock, Americana, Bluegrass And Alt Rock Artists Along With Elevated Bourbon & Culinary Experiences.  

The seventh Bourbon & Beyond welcomed fans from over 50 states and around the globe and over 120 music artists on five stages to Louisville, Kentucky over the weekend. The World’s Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Festival was held from September 11-14 at the at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky and featured an incredible music lineup of music legends and rising stars with headliners The Lumineers, Benson Boone and Alabama Shakes on Thursday; Phish, Khruangbin and Joe Bonamassa on Friday; Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson, Jack White and Vance Joy on Saturday; and Noah Kahan, Goo Goo Dolls and Megan Moroney on Sunday. The lineup also included Cage The Elephant, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Collective Soul, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Iron & Wine, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Switchfoot, Third Eye Blind, Ringo Starr & His All Star Band, Pixies, Lake Street Dive, Dashboard Confessional, Foreigner, Blues Traveler and many others.  

This year, Bourbon & Beyond’s newly expanded footprint doubled the square footage of past layouts, and made greater use of the Kentucky Exposition Center’s infrastructure, creating a more comfortable and resilient experience for fans. In addition, all festival passes included FREE access to amusement rides inside Kentucky Kingdom.

This year’s festival was packed with unforgettable performances, surprise collaborations, and historic moments that will be remembered for years to come.   Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes.”  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, you unto, Yes, that's true. Why were you you?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
It's it's the pipe Man here on the Adventurers pipe
Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
With Thunder and Rain.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nice and don't take this offensively, but at this venue,
I don't like you guys. You guys I like, but
every year there happens to be issues at this and
Louder than life because of those words.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
I'm not gonna say, because like same beetlejuice is that.

Speaker 5 (00:54):
Well, we're not responsible for the weather. It's a part
of our contract.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
I'll bet you.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Though. There's some people out there. They're conspiracy theorists. I
think you are trying to control the weather.

Speaker 5 (01:04):
There's definitely some unhappy wedding couples that think we controlled
the weather, and they're guests who tease them for hiring
a band with our name.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, right, and you know what you should do like
in your show, you should like, I don't know, figure
a way that you can make it like thunder and
Rain like during the show.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
Yes, that would be cool.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
That did happen very early on with this band.

Speaker 5 (01:27):
We opened for an artist named Peter Rowan and like
right before a very last song, this huge clap of
thunder in the Colorado Mountains just like like bam, right
before the last song, and everyone was like staring at us,
like who did that? So if only that could happen again,
maybe it'll happen today.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
No no, it won't. No no no no no no
no no no no.

Speaker 6 (01:48):
I think we're in the clear today. It's a beautiful day.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
It is.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think it's because you're wearing a slipknot shirt so
you're throwing the weather gods off.

Speaker 6 (01:56):
Yes, I've charmed the weather gods today.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
There it is.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
So tell me how somebody comes to Bourbon Beyond and
where's the slipknot shirt? Only because listen, I'm a huge
They're in my top five for sure. I'm like, sure,
Oh a slipknot shirt this week?

Speaker 4 (02:14):
I'm excited now.

Speaker 6 (02:15):
Yeah, I know you're getting pumped for next week.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Oh I was yelling out fucking Sligher during fish Ah.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
Yes, yeah they need a little of that too, I know.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Right, Yeah, So I want to hear about that, because,
you know what, it's cool to find out people like
different genres, Like it's so stupid the gatekeepers out there.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Yeah, ooh, you can't like that. Yeah, because you like this.
I mean, music is music. It's the best erapy and
there's different vibes.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, I do love slipknot, I love metal,
and I do love people's faces when I tell them
that because I play the banjo, so it's a little unexpected.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
You should just start another band, all of you, where
it's banjo in the metal band.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
Yeah, to a metal version.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Those guys on YouTube that did the I think they
did like psychosocial or something with a banjo, and then
they did the ACDC songs. I can't think of their name,
but I think I've seen that millions of views.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, my previous head engineer at the station, who was
also one of my best friends, he passed away, but
he was He had a country rock duo, but he
also had a metal band in the eighties and he
sang Neil Diamond. You swore it was Neil Diamond. So
he always used to say, I love metal, I love country,

(03:36):
and I love Neil Diamond.

Speaker 6 (03:37):
There you go, can't go wrong.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
There it is, can't go wrong. So tell our listeners
how you're not metal. Tell them a little bit about
your music.

Speaker 6 (03:45):
Okay, well we are not metal.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
I mean, we kind of have a cool swagger like
we are, but I guess we're bluegrass, but we have
to walk the line of that because there's so many
different versions of bluegrass. The super traditional, there's the billy strings.
He's got a metal he's got like a metal vibe.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Yeah, we'll use the term.

Speaker 7 (04:06):
New grass sometimes because we we're a little bit more
poppy though. Aaron brings the pop music to the group,
and so we have more like pop lyrics, modern day stuff,
but then the old timey music and I like it.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
Next, you said new grass.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
That sounds so cool, Like we need to spread that out,
We need that to go viral because that is cool.
I'm just thinking about, like my lawn just got freshly
mode and that's your music.

Speaker 6 (04:32):
Yeah yeah, Hey.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Smells goods are singing.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
Yeah, it's a good day.

Speaker 6 (04:41):
Hell yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
And so how did this all start?

Speaker 5 (04:45):
Well, the band was formed twelve years ago this month, rats, Yes.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
You're only eight years from your overnight.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Success exactly, so close.

Speaker 5 (04:56):
And for the band originally formed in Colorado, and then
I formed it originally and then in twenty twenty I
ended up moving to Nashville and the band had disbanded
as it were, and you know how the pandemic sort
of changed everything for everybody. So I decided it was
time to move to Nashville and met these two gals,

(05:16):
Laura and Amelia, and they we were just having beers
one afternoon and talking about stuff, and I just realized
we should be a band together, and we can. And
I really had missed making bluegrass or string band music
because I when I first moved to Nashville, I tried
to do like a solo thing and made some more
pop poppy rock music, but I really missed being in

(05:37):
a string band. So I asked these gals if they
wanted to reform the band with me, and that's what
we did, and we're on your three of being together.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
So wow, that's cool.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, and you guys still love each other, like yeah,
the kill r yet, So we're gonna be this is
the band forever.

Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yes, love is a strong word.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
I told them, like, this band is no not happening
without you guys, mostly because now our signature is are
harmonies together and these gals are really smart. They're smarter
than me, so without them, I can't do it.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
See that. I love that it's your unique sound.

Speaker 5 (06:19):
Now it is it's definitely our unique sound, like I
think we didn't used to be. We actually, I think
have a little bit more bluegrass cred because Laura, who
plays banjo, who loves has wearing the awesome Slipknot shirt.
She plays very scrugsy style banjo, which helps our street
cred a lot in the bluegrass world.

Speaker 4 (06:36):
And you know what, I agree.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
I think I do personally feel like bluegrass is metal
in some way.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
It totally is.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
When I see some really good blue Glass Wethers that.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
I was watching something yesterday and like, man, they're way
faster than a metal band.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
Man.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Like, it's like bluegrass is the speed Metal of the Woods.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
You got the analogies for everything.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
That's pretty good. I just made it up right now,
yes sitting.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
That's the name of our next album, speed Metal of
the Woods.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
It's freaking cool.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
You know what's cool?

Speaker 2 (07:09):
That day's yesterday. I said something and he literally wrote that.
He's like, that's gonna be the name of our next song.
I don't even remember what I said, but you're.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Out here naming people's art right here, right Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
I can't play the art, so I might as well
name it exactly. I tried, but I sucked, so now
I do this.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
I suck at a lot of things, so this is
the one thing I'm kind of good at.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
There you go, That's why I'm here.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
And where did it all start for each one of you?
As far as that time you knew music, that's what.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
You were going to do?

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh, it was like day one for me.

Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (07:45):
No, Like I'm the youngest of four kids, and like
all my older siblings played music before me.

Speaker 6 (07:50):
So from the time.

Speaker 8 (07:52):
The earliest recollection I have is being three and going
to violin lessons with my sister and just sitting there
and listening and like begging my mom when we got home.
I would beg to like play my sister's violin and
sometimes she would let me. And then finally, after about
a year, she's like, all right, you can get a
violin too, And so I got a violin and she
enrolled me in lessons or whatever, and I showed up

(08:13):
and I already knew like the first like book of
material because I'd listened to my sister do it and
like absorbed all that.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
So she was like, oh, you actually like really want
to do this.

Speaker 8 (08:22):
I was like yeah, literally, So like I've always known
that like I wanted to do music.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
I love that that's a true artist, because every true
artist I've ever met, or that's how it started.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
Like oh yeah, it's not like, oh well I decided
why I was like twenty nine to start playing music.

Speaker 8 (08:40):
Yeah, well, I also grew up playing classical music, so
it was like it's something that I studied for a
long time. And then I really got interested in like
fiddle music and bluegrass music when I was like nine
years old, I think was the first time I learned
a fiddle tune. And Alison Kraus was my gateweight drug
as she asked for a lot of us love her,
and so yeah, it just kind of like going.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
I got to see Robert Plant with Alison Krause together.

Speaker 8 (09:03):
Yeah, I saw them. The only time I've ever been
to Red Rocks was Robert Plant Alison Crouse one of
the best shows ever. So and I saw Alison Krause
and Union Station here in Louisville in April. Yeah, Laura
and I drove up and saw them.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
So yeah, very impressed with how you say, Louisville, Louisville.

Speaker 6 (09:20):
We've been hard.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
I've been praying them listen, I've been practicing for fifteen
years doing these festivals. But I'm a Yankee, so I
still have a hard time with it. I started at Louisville.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
I'm yeah, that's the thing.

Speaker 8 (09:34):
I grew up in Louisville, Colorado spelled the same wage
l O U I S V I l l E.
That's right, yeah, and we like pronounced that s and everything.
So yeah, I've had a native Kentuckian that schooled me
on how to pronounce it, so I'm trying not to
mess it up.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Nice, Okay, who next? But first you have to pronounce
the town, Oh, Louisville.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
I'm from Georgia, I know how to see. I didn't
start getting into music seriously until I was about thirteen.
I started taking guitar lessons, But I grew up in
a musical family too, and my dad played in a
gospel band and he let me, when I was fifteen
come and strumley guitar on the stage with the band,
and that that was really fun and cool. And then

(10:18):
I picked up the banjo at sixteen and loved bluegrass
after that and just been trying to get somebody to
let me play with him ever since.

Speaker 4 (10:28):
Nice and you found the perfect partners for that.

Speaker 6 (10:30):
Yes, I sure did.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
It took me a while to find It's been a
while since sixteen year old me found the banjo. But
found these gals and all is well nice.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (10:40):
I started playing guitar on the same time Laura did.
But I didn't come from a musical family or a
bluegrass family, because I grew up in Rodondo Beach, California,
which is why I say Louisville, which is terrible.

Speaker 4 (10:51):
You're from Rodando.

Speaker 5 (10:52):
I'm from the Verdondo Beach, California, that old wild West.
Oh yeah, I had to find blue grass in a
just backwards way canyon. We never really left Rodonda Beach.
That was the problem, one of the problems.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
But I was writing songs from a really young age,
and my parents were very supportive of my writing and creativity.
And this is a cute story, but when I was
in first grade, you couldn't do the talent shown till
you were in second grade. And I had rewritten this
whole Disney song to be about myself, and my mom
begged the principal to.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Let me do because she was like, she wants to
do it so bad, And.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
He let me do it, and I galloped up on
a stick horse in like a cowgirl outfit and sang
a cappella in first grade. So I was always born
to do this. I always wanted to be up there.
But I think the one country act that actually got
through to me in Redondo Beach, California, because there wasn't.
I was raised to think country was dumb. Now I
know it's awesome. But the one country act that got
through to me.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
Was the Chicks. The Dixie Chicks nice and when I
met these gals, that was kind of my vision for us.
So I was like, we could be the Dixie Chicks.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
Let's go there, you are here, we are.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
You're the new and improved Dixie Chicks.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
After a thunder and rain storm.

Speaker 5 (12:05):
That's right, that's right. And because the band name has
been this way for so long. A lot of women
bands have women themed names, We're just the freaking weather,
which isn't that Mother Earth?

Speaker 4 (12:16):
Right?

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Well, not only that makes sense, because like I'm divorced
twice and I could tell you.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
Thunder and rain it tracks, doesn't it cut?

Speaker 8 (12:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (12:23):
It definitely does. Like that just describes both marriages the.

Speaker 5 (12:30):
Person second one, no, actually same, thema Piperman.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Well, Raish's thunder, Who's rain?

Speaker 2 (12:37):
The funny thing is on my radio show, I call
them thing one and think Thing one. Well, actually, if
she ever meets you, she'll say you probably know me
as Thing one. Wow, I don't hide it. But now
thunder and rain hmmm, I would.

Speaker 3 (12:54):
Say it's thing one thunder or raining.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
One is rain for raining on my parade, and Thing
two was thunder because she was even more batshit crazy
than Thing one. Oh man, I love you guys, energy,
I love your music. I'm glad you're here at Bourbon Beyond.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Check you out.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
How do they connect to you on socials, on the web,
and more importantly, how they buy your merch? Because they
can't listen to my show unless they buy your merch.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yes, you must.

Speaker 5 (13:25):
In order to listen to this wonderful show and hear
all about Thing one and Thing two, you're gonna have
to buy some thunder and Rain merch.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
You can buy the merch on.

Speaker 5 (13:32):
Our website www dot Thunder and Rain music dot com.
You can listen to our music on Spotify, Apple Music,
band Camp. You can buy the songs digitally off the website.
That is a really good way to support us and
then you can follow us at Thunder and Rain Underscore
band on Instagram. You can type in thunder and Rain

(13:54):
band on YouTube and find our YouTube channel. Just make
sure you add band whenever you're searching for us or
else you may find Thunder and Rain meditation music, which
is lovely and we hope that helps you go to sleep.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
But we want to wake your ass up.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Nice and I'm gonna add a bonus for them. Okay,
so if they do buy merch from you guys, then
they could be entered in a contest to win to
become Thing three.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Whoa are we helping you find your next date?

Speaker 4 (14:24):
Hey? Whatever works.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
I'm a good wing woman. Okay.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Nice dates are not hard hard. It's ones that you
have to second date with that's hard. And that's what
it is. What you learn after a couple stupid mistakes
is you're like, maybe I should think first, close down
the emotion, close down the heart, think first, and then

(14:48):
open that valve, not the other way around.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
Yes, it's good not to be too open hearted effort.
You got to keep those walls up, gotta stay mysterious.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Besides women like that.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
Oh my good, darken, darken moody. That's whatever girl likes,
no doubt, play hard to get.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
We can't access your emotions, let us fix you.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
And I I've been that way too, and I've come
to a conclusion I don't want to fix nobody anymore,
you know, and that save syndrome shit, and that doesn't work.

Speaker 5 (15:15):
Projects are objects, That's what me and my friend always say.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
And if you're not people, and if you do fix them,
all you're doing is fix them for somebody else.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
Exactly, yes, exactly exactly.

Speaker 5 (15:25):
Sometimes you got to get a second hand man, That's
what I that's my advice.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
To everybody out there. Get yourself a secondhand man.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
And my advice is to listen to thunder and rain.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
Yeah, and not out your window whatever you listen to music.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Exactly Scott, not this guy, but this guy too. Oh
this is good. But yes, you're gonna have that in
the background exactly exactly.

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Like that could be like that could be like your
backing tracks. Yes, at somebody's house. Yes, why that's somebody's house.
It's the thunder and rain.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Like whenever it's thunder and raining, which happens every day
in Florida, you need to turn on thunder and rain band.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
That's right band Smith.

Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yes, I can't speak now. That means we're done.

Speaker 6 (16:08):
Thank you guys, thank you for having us, thank you
so much, thank you.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
My pleasure, and thank you for being on the Adventures
of pipe Man yay.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Thank you for listening to the Adventures of plate Man
on w for c u I Radio