November 13, 2025 • 51 mins
Best known as the author of Family Reins: The Extraordinary Rise and Epic Fall of an American Dynasty, Billy opens up about the triumphs and challenges behind the legendary Busch family legacy. From unforgettable days at Grant’s Farm to the behind-the-scenes drama of an iconic brewing empire, he shares a rare, candid perspective on what it means to carry one of America’s most storied names.
Now, Billy is forging his own path with Busch Family Brewing & Distilling—a bold new chapter blending tradition with innovation. Tune in for laughter, legacy, and a toast to the future as Billy Busch takes us inside his world of family, business, and brewing.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Welcome to In Your City Show.
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(00:55):
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(01:16):
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So we got an exciting showtoday.
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Looking forward to it.
So of course, it's brought toyou by City Lifestyle Magazines,
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15 zip codes, actually, um, wego to.
(01:37):
That's quite a few.
It is quite a few.
With the 3,000 plus businesses,45,000 homes every month, a new
theme, different stories toshare with you and enjoy.
And so we love it.
Though sometimes they're fromaround the world, local.
Um, you're always gonna havewhat's happening local in our
magazines, but everything's alittle bit uh, depending on what
our theme is for the month, it'sperfect.
(01:58):
But so we're excited.
So let me tell you what's on ourshow.
I think you know Gordon, butthose listening might not.
So we are gonna raise a glasstoday with none other than Billy
Bush, Billy Bush Sr.
That is, for an exclusiveconversation that you're not
gonna want to miss.
It's best, he's best known asthe author of Family Reigns,
which you can see the gorgeousbook right there.
(02:18):
And of course, uh, it's theextraordinary rise and epic fall
of an American dynasty.
Billy opens up, he's gonna talkabout the triumphs, the
challenges um behind thelegendary Bush family legacy.
Also, of course, he's gotsomething that we got to
experience that we're gonna talkabout too.
His beautiful farm.
So we're gonna get into thatconversation as well.
(02:39):
He doesn't know it, but I needsome scoop.
I'm gonna need some answers.
He didn't bring his wife,Christine.
I probably need to sit down witha glass of wine with her so I
can get the details.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
Billy, Billy, Billy.
He made one piece, he made oneof how to really set you up for
this and how to keep you in themood.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
I'm that girl, like Gordon comes home and he's been
with friends, you know, andthey're talking, and I ask him
question after question afterquestion.
I want the scoop.
And he's like, I don't know.
I didn't ask that.
I'm like, you were with thatperson for three hours.
How do you not know how manykids they have, where they're
going on vacation, who they'redating, if they're anything
that's going on the thing, goes,No, we just play golf.
(03:18):
I know we got a new driver.
So I need the info.
I need the 911 or the 411,whatever.
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
You're not gonna get it from me because I am not Rona
Barrett.
Remember that?
Gosh, that's a name we haven'theard in a couple of years.
SPEAKER_01 (03:30):
I can't even believe that just came out of your
mouth, actually.
It could have been a millionpeople you said.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Well, she was the one that always got the scoop,
you know.
SPEAKER_01 (03:39):
You gotta have the scoop.
That's what makes life exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (03:42):
We had Jerry Berger.
Remember him?
SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
Oh, yeah.
That the that was the column,wasn't it?
Yeah.
Uh that whatever you and if yourname was in it, you're worried,
is it good or is it gonna begood?
SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
Gosh, I can't believe I thought of him too.
It's like those are names that Ihaven't even heard of in like
for a while.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
You can't even remember someone's name that
you're talking to that you knowreal well in front of you, but
then you're pulling Rona Barrettand uh I just forgot his name.
Jerry Burger.
Jerry Burger.
Burger's Bits, wasn't it calledBurger's Bits?
And that even came to your head.
Yeah, something like that.
It's back to school.
I wonder how the parents aredoing right now with their kids
back out of the house.
Nobody's gonna be.
SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
How many of them open the liquor cabinet when the
kids out of the pool?
Oh, wow.
Have you ever seen the memethough?
When it's on Facebook, it's themom.
She's out by the pool, laying bythe pool, she's got a cigarette
and a drink in her hand, and thekids are behind her.
She's like, first day of school.
See you later.
Vacation time for mom now.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Don't want to be, right?
So you said that uh your friendTom Sandoval, what's going on
there?
SPEAKER_02 (04:37):
It's tomorrow night.
He's uh it is the uh gettingclose to the finals.
Steve Ray Latson, Circa Mara,which look they look like a
dance team, and then TomSandoval and the Most Extras is
the name of his band.
Oh, the most extras.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Now this is his coming back because he's already
he's already uh won a fewrounds, right?
Is that how it goes?
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Yeah, so the the top three, that's who he was.
Okay, the top three then.
SPEAKER_01 (05:01):
So was ton is is that tonight or when is that?
And they're gonna and tonightwill be the winner?
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Ton tonight at 7 p.m., I think so.
Yeah, well, yeah, somebody'sgonna move on.
SPEAKER_01 (05:10):
Yeah, you know, he got pretty deep when he got up
there on stage when he was, Iguess when he went up for the
very first time to perform to onthe show.
He got pretty like in depth.
I think he was gonna cry therefor a minute because he was
talking about what a dark blacktime it was for him because he
was actually um they he had beenthrough he got, you know, um, I
(05:31):
guess the celebrity gossip hewas part of.
SPEAKER_02 (05:34):
He thought he was named the the the the most hated
man in America because becauseof some girly cheated on,
cheated on, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
But still every girl hated him.
SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
Yeah, you don't want to do that, you don't want to be
like the Coldplay couple and doit on TV, you know, where
everybody knows about it.
SPEAKER_01 (05:49):
Well, they do, but he's gonna show them right now
making it.
So we kind of get a littletearful up there on stage, and
now you know you knoweverybody's feeling sorry for
him now, right?
SPEAKER_02 (05:58):
So he he's he's doing well.
His band sounds good, he soundsgood.
I remember Tom when he was as alittle kid, as a little kid,
it's because we're old, and hehas come so far with his uh
vocal ability, I mean hissinging ability, it's just
amazing.
He's made.
Yeah, he's he's doing reallywell with it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:17):
Yeah, he's he's a nice kid.
It was funny because we ran intohim that night we were out, and
you're like going up to him,like, oh, you know, he's he's a
friend.
You've known him as a littlekid, and everyone's going, Is
that Tom Sandoval?
Yeah, pump rules.
We'll let you talk to him.
Hang on a second.
SPEAKER_02 (06:31):
I think I maybe watch two episodes.
SPEAKER_01 (06:33):
Sorry, Tom.
Sorry.
Well, the reason why we're heretoday, the only reason why we're
here today is get to talk toBilly Bush.
And he's actually here.
So we're gonna bring him over sohe can sit in the chair so that
I can get the scoop.
I need the scoop, darn.
I'm sorry.
I cannot see you.
SPEAKER_02 (06:52):
I cannot protect you, brother.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
You know, it's it's a great to see you.
Oh my god, so good to see you.
Thank you.
It's you know what's so what'sso much better about you coming
in today and makes it so mucheasier is that I have to say, if
I would have been reading yourbook first and then knew you
were coming in, I'd probably belike sweating and doing all
those nervous, you know, thingsthat you do because it's like
(07:16):
that's you like come from likeroyalty.
But I met you on a well, we dida photo shoot.
First we came to your event, soI got to meet you as a person,
and you're so normal.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
I think that's growing up on the farm makes you
make you normal.
SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
Didn't I come home and say how nice and real you
were?
And and to find out that, youknow, I grew up not on a farm
like you did by any means, but Ihad to clean the horse stalls, I
had to water the bucket, fillthe buckets up, I had to do my
chores, and I didn't get out ofthem very often.
So to find out, you know, youdid that, you were cleaning
(07:55):
stalls and doing the things thatyou had to do.
I did not get to take care ofTessie the elephant.
I'm a little jealous of that andride around with glidesdales,
but you know, you led quite thelife, and when you read about
that, I probably have been alittle bit like, I mean, you
grew up in a castle for God'ssakes.
Yeah.
How do you talk to normal peoplelike us?
(08:16):
You're in a castle.
You know, it's funny.
SPEAKER_00 (08:18):
I um Kelly, you're right about all that.
I mean, I got to grow up uh in away that a lot of people don't
grow up, and most people don'tgrow up that way.
And I really didn't realize Iwas any different for many, many
years.
I think it was growing up on thefarm.
I think it grounds you growingup on the farm.
You know, we were um asked towork by our parents, not asked,
(08:40):
but uh told to work.
We had to work, like you weresaying.
Um, we had to take care of allthe animals on the farm.
Uh, we had to maintain the farm.
Of course, Grant's farm was opento the public.
So it always had to bebeautiful.
And uh, I got the lucky job oftraining the elephants one
summer.
And so I got to get close to uhan elephant, like you said,
(09:01):
named Tessie.
And uh she was an amazinganimal, and I talk about it in
the book Family Reigns about howshe protected me from bullies.
But I think growing up with theanimals, growing up with the
farm hands, the people thatworked there, um working on the
farm physical labor, I think itjust keeps you grounded and
keeps you normal.
I think um, you know, we neverthought we were better than
(09:22):
anybody else, or you know, we'rebut you are.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
I'm so jealous.
So stick with it.
So now, but but it is adifferent life too, because your
dad was, I mean, he was a bigman.
I mean, he was somebody that wasvery powerful, so to speak, in
in the world of you know,Anheuser Busch, which I have to
say, I sometimes I feel sosheltered or something in my
(09:48):
knowledge of knowing things.
And and honestly, and you I'msure you know this, but I didn't
realize that Lily Anheuser,right?
Yes, that's your great grandma.
Exactly.
So Anheuser and Bush cametogether.
Did you know that?
SPEAKER_02 (10:01):
They came together?
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
Yes, yes, I did not know.
I that's kind of the sillythings that people don't know.
That that's actually yourgreat-grandmother's last name,
and then your great grandfatherwas Bush.
And that's I mean, I just grewup in St.
Louis, just Anheuser Bush.
I didn't really think to go,okay, how did that name come
about?
Making fun of me again.
I'm not making fun of you.
No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02 (10:22):
Take you out of this room.
I'm not making fun of youbecause I'm sure a lot of people
don't know that.
I mean, there's so many things.
You guys have been in thecommunity for how many years?
It's taking you know a longtime, yeah, many generations.
And probably reading this book,people are like, do the Johnny
Carson.
I I did not know that, you know?
It's like it's just incredible.
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
Yeah, so I mean, just that small little bit of
knowledge.
I was wowed by that.
Then I I kept getting gross.
Then we have to tell you, webinged watched uh uh Family
Brood.
SPEAKER_00 (10:51):
The um behind what was it called?
Family Brood.
SPEAKER_01 (10:53):
I can't even Oh my gosh, this is terrible.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Bush Family Brood.
Yeah, that's what it was called.
It's been a while.
SPEAKER_01 (10:58):
You know what I mean?
It was really fun.
I'm not gonna, I it's 10episodes.
We watched them all.
We're like, okay, I think wetook a break put pizza in on
three more.
We watched it.
And then we watch it.
And I feel like I'm part of thefamily now.
That's why I said wish Christiewas in here because I've got
some scoop that I need I need tohave happen.
First of all, um, we've gotClark and your daughter.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
This is five years ago, Kelly.
Remember, Clark and yourdaughter.
SPEAKER_01 (11:21):
I had had me in an uproar when they're breaking up
in the car.
Then we've got your son Billy,who's absolutely adorable.
We're Facebook friends anddidn't really I go, Gordon, I'm
friends with his son.
I get on there, so I'm so happyto know that he did move on and
married a surfer babe.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
He did, he moved on, married surfer babe, and twins,
which guess what I bought.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
Beautiful twins.
You have grandkids now, however,oh your book.
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
I have two grandkids now.
Yeah, those two.
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
These are yours to take home.
That's what I thought of.
So I'm excited that I guessyou've got to go.
Are they in Hawaii orCalifornia?
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
Well, they're in California now, but I think they
might be moving to Hawaii.
So they're even going furtheraway away, which is a bummer.
But uh, we you know, they docome here to St.
Louis and they stay with us forum, you know, extended periods
now and then.
And we have more doggone fun.
They there's the kids are sofun, and to be able to bring
them out to the farm, we'll getthem on horses the next time we
go out and get them riding.
(12:12):
I hear they're riding dirt bikesnow.
They're their um theirgrandfather from Kira, uh
Billy's wife's side, is um a bigdirt bike rider.
Really?
Yeah, so he's teaching them toride motorcycles.
So if he can ride those motors,if they can, they can ride
horses, wouldn't they, right?
SPEAKER_02 (12:30):
Horses have a mind of their own, though.
Motorcycles don't.
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
Sometimes you can't.
I don't know what's moredangerous, honestly.
SPEAKER_01 (12:35):
But do you and your wife still take carriage rides?
Oh, yeah.
Is that what it's called?
All the time, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:40):
Yeah, we go coaching, we call it coaching.
SPEAKER_01 (12:42):
Coaching, okay, where you put the theory.
And you know what I was excitedabout?
You said, come on, Callie.
Is it Cali Callie?
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
Uh uh, that was Callie.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
Well, she was at the farm.
I met Callie because I heard yousaying hi to her, and I'm like,
Gordon, I met Callie.
I was really invested in theshow.
I just have to let you know.
So I do have some deepquestions.
I need to find out what'shappened because not you didn't
come back with another seasonyet, and you're leaving me
hanging.
I just need you to know that youneed to come back and kids.
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
I was hoping we would come back with another
another season right away, butit was during COVID.
I was gonna say that kind ofmessed things up a little bit
for Hollywood.
And uh they, you know, theytalked to us about coming back
another season.
They interviewed us all again totalk about content, what we were
gonna do for the second season,and you know, what was going on
with the brewery and the farmand and all these things.
(13:30):
And we uh we are we all had towrite out the different things
that we could talk about and thedifferent things we could deal
to put your life in front ofeverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
I mean, honestly, that is a really big deal to to
talk about you know yourproblems or things that are
going on.
And I know it's a show, and Iknow you can redo things, or but
it was still real, it's stillthings that are happening in
your life that you shared witheveryone.
SPEAKER_00 (13:55):
Oh, you're right.
It's it's not easy to do,especially for a guy who grew up
not talking to the media.
My parents were like, you don'ttalk to the media because the
media um that time they wantedto chase things, they wanted to
find some scoop out that youknow, and they were afraid it
was gonna hurt Budweiser sales,you know.
So, you know, you couldn'treally talk to the media, so I
was scared to death to talk tothe media back in the day.
(14:18):
Um I think I've gotten overthat.
The reality show helped me alot.
SPEAKER_01 (14:21):
I think you did great.
In fact, we really enjoyed it.
I can even tell you the lastscene you went into the water.
Okay.
And then she drives.
Coaches on, whatever you want tocall it.
But it really was fun.
And you can, you know what Itold him we talked about
afterwards.
You have seven children.
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
You and your wife have been together for how many
years now?
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Uh 35.
SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
Wow.
And and your kids were darling.
They all are very close.
Oh, thank you.
I mean, you can only fake somuch on television.
There's only so much you can,and you could tell the real deep
seated love that you all havefor each other.
And I think that was good to beable to see.
I think it really projected whoyou are.
You could tell your boys arevery well mannered, they're
(15:03):
hilarious at the same time,having fun.
And I just I thought it wasfantastic.
And the the family party, yeah,we want the next invitation.
You got a job.
I want to put on a water slideinto the lake.
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
I I I looking back at it now, um, you know, a lot
of reality shows aren't verywholesome, uh right, in a in a
in a way.
Um, but looking back at ourshow, I was I'm really proud of
it now.
You should be.
I'm right, I'm proud of the factthat we were close, that it
showed great family unity andthe importance of family and
being together and stickingtogether and working things out
(15:35):
together.
And we've always been like that.
I gotta hand that off toChristy, though.
Christy, I wish you were heretoo, Kelly, with us right now.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
But uh, this chair right here for her and a bottle
of wine.
SPEAKER_00 (15:44):
She really is a great mother, and she really one
of her her priority was always afamily and making sure we all
stuck together and we're closetogether.
And still.
So um, and I appreciate thatbecause I don't know if I would
have kept us all that closetogether like she did, but she
was really the blue.
SPEAKER_01 (16:01):
And I think I I I'm sure she's a big grounding force
for you because one of thethings that again, I feel like I
know you all from her words andthings that were said, and she
talks about where she came fromand who she is, and she talks
about coming into a family oflike royalty.
I mean, going into that castle.
I remember the part where shesays, I came in a little mini
(16:22):
skirt, your cute little body atwhat, 20 years old, whatever it
is.
And it was a gala, formal, andall the women you can just
imagine, and your elegant styleof your mom and these gowns, and
she's like, and I got a minidress on, and I'm like little
too.
That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
And she was the hottest girl there.
Now I'm like, look at this one Igot.
Oh, more ass so brown.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
So brown and still are, you can tell that as well.
So I think it was just great.
She stayed real and then dancedon the bar top.
It was so funny, but it wasjust, I really got a sense of
just it made it so much more funto get to talk to you today,
knowing the other side of y'all.
And there's always one that'sthe stronger root of the family.
And she, you know, that that'sjust the way it is.
(17:03):
But I think that you probablyalso came into it because you
talk about your relationshipwith your dad, and one of the
times where you were right inthe middle of your mom and dad
on the coach, and how you hadtheir full attention when you
come from a family of seven aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (17:17):
And seven kids also have to be.
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
Yeah, and then you go and have seven too.
Yeah.
So you seven is heaven.
There, yeah.
So you had that that time inbetween them, and your dad, you
felt like you were pals.
Right.
When you're usually your kidshad a job as a kid at house.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
Uh yeah, you know, we were almost like an employee
of dad's to a certain degree.
Dad expected a lot of us, andum, and mom supported him and
made sure that we followed whathe asked us to do and and again
told us to do.
And it um it was like uh kind ofa boss employee relationship a
lot of the times.
So we weren't real close thatoften.
(17:51):
But the to have the uh occasionwhere I could be with my mom and
dad, and I remember that sowell.
That's one thing that stands outas a child.
Driving through the deer park onGrant's farm with mom and dad,
because mom and dad or mom wouldalways request one or two of the
kids to come coaching with themafter work in the afternoon at
(18:12):
Grant's farm.
That was dad's way of getting uhhaving relaxation and you know,
uh chilling out.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
Like some guys go play golf or whatever.
Your dad wanted to go to show.
SPEAKER_00 (18:21):
He wanted to drive the horses, exactly.
So we so to be able to get onthe coach, sit between mom and
dad, and just listen and watchand not really say much because
back then it was you could beseen but not heard, right?
That's so very difficult.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Now the kids speak too dang much sometimes, right?
But um, but just to listen andand to really feel what was
going on.
And I talk about it in the book,you know, it was uh late summer,
it's kind of this time of year.
Uh I'll never forget, and theelk were starting to bugle out
in the deer park, and you know,the leaves were slowly starting
(19:02):
to change, and the buckeyes werecoming on the trees and starting
to um almost starting to falloff, and and we always loved
that.
And to be able to be with momand dad and listen to him talk
about his day and how thebrewery was going and um how
sales were going and you knownot only the good stuff but the
challenges was always veryinteresting to me, and it was
(19:23):
great to listen to.
And then he'd ask me, What didyou do today?
Well, it was still summertime,so I wasn't in school yet.
I said I worked on the farm, andhe'd asked me exactly what I
did, and so I had to explain itall to him.
You know, I took care, I I tookcare of the sheep today.
I had to muck the stalls and thesheep pen and um whatever there
else there was to do.
And then he would he had such aneye for detail, and that's I
(19:47):
think what made him such anincredible executive at the
brewery and such a great leaderat the brewery, was because
everything had to be in perfectplace.
Um not you know, on Grant'sfarm, I'm so I'm sure sure very
similar to what how things hadto be at the brewery, you know,
the beer had to be perfect,everything had to look great,
everything immaculately cleanedand all that.
(20:08):
And if something was out ofplace, he'd see it right away
and he'd let us know, go takecare of that.
Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
But I think too, you even though you grew up in a
castle and the life that youled, it also was a different
time in the fact that we're justtalking about speak when you're
spoken to.
But your dad, when he came home,w would which is nice, we're so
distracted we come home withcomputers and phones and
technology.
And so when you came home in inthe days when we were little,
(20:34):
you came home.
It was that quiet time of youactually talked to one another.
You weren't, you know, he didn'tget to catch up what you did
because you put it on Facebook.
He had to actually ask you, youknow, what you did for the take
it off because it's on Facebook.
Or take it off because it's onFacebook.
Yeah, maybe that too.
So it was probably, even thoughit was different the way you are
with your kids now, therelationship and the
(20:54):
communication that you had wasreally strong at the same time
because it was goodcommunication, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
And you're a hundred percent right.
I think sometimes I even catchmyself like when we're all
sitting together, getting on myphone, looking to see if I
received an email or a text orneeded to talk, you know, it
never stops today, right withall all this, all these
instruments that we have.
Um, and so yeah, to be able toput that away is so important,
(21:21):
especially this day and age whenyou have all this stuff coming
at you.
SPEAKER_01 (21:24):
Well, before we take to a commercial break and come
back and talk about your newventure in life and that as
well, and you say in your bookthat you felt like elf.
You lived in this bubble of theNorth Pole, and when you finally
ventured out and saw thatthere's a whole nother world out
there was quite incredible.
So just tell us before we we goto break what it was like living
(21:46):
inside, knowing now that there'sa difference.
Of course, you live in abeautiful home now as well, but
the difference of growing upthere, what what is that?
I know you told us your fondestmemory, but what it was like
there, then we're gonna go tonow when we come back after
break.
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
I'd love to.
SPEAKER_01 (22:00):
So tell us now before you just give us
something to go to break to talkabout of what it was like
running around the castle.
Yeah, you just get told thatfrom afar.
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
Growing up on Grants Farm, it was a gated community,
right?
So you're all fenced in and uhthe people there all knew you.
And then when you when finally,you know, I started moving out,
and and uh one great greatexample of that was when, and I
talk about this in the book,when my brother and I went to
Switzerland to stay with mygrandmother over there, because
(22:29):
my mom was from Switzerland, soI stayed we stayed with her
mother, and we got on these wecalled them trochyness, but
they're like little scooters,um, and we rode them around all
all of Lucerne, Switzerland,there, where my grandmother
lived, and we stayed with herfor six weeks, and we thought
everybody around there knew us,and we got lost one time.
And we went to uh up tostrangers and said, Hey, where
(22:51):
the bushes, where the where'sour house?
Where do we live?
SPEAKER_03 (22:53):
And they looked at us like, Who are you?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:59):
So it was like it was like, what?
They don't know who the heck weare.
SPEAKER_03 (23:03):
Who are you?
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
So that was the youngest, that was, you know, uh
the youngest memory I have ofbeing out and not and realizing
a person.
Yeah, being a person.
SPEAKER_01 (23:11):
Oh well, we are here with Billy Bush right now.
We're gonna come back, talkmore, find out about the great
things that's happening out inDefiance, Missouri, right here
on the Loot Information Station,KLIS590.
We'll be right back.
(27:33):
I think I do.
It's just so high.
Normally we just walk right inthe door off.
Yeah, we're not in a castle likeBilly over here, but we are in
like the high-rise apartment uphere.
So we're feeling kind of cool.
So welcome back.
We appreciate that you're here.
We're coming back for the secondhalf hour, and we still have
Billy with Billy Bush with us.
Thank goodness, because we haveso much more to talk about.
(27:54):
It's kind of funny.
Like, I come in and I have allthese notes and these questions.
I really have any, I don't evenknow where I'm at or not,
because I've just been liketalking away about it.
Oh, this is more fun.
Don't look at the nice.
Well, I just want to make surethat I don't miss anything or
talk.
I mean, your book has so muchinformation in it, and it's it's
it's really a very good read,and it really takes you into
(28:15):
your life, and you're veryhonest as well.
And that's so appreciativebecause you were just talking
about in the break thatsometimes you almost wish that
you could be on still during thebreak, because there's like so
much more that get talks aboutthat your great grandfather um
was of 22 sisters.
SPEAKER_00 (28:30):
He was 20, he was there was yeah, he had 21
brothers and sisters.
So he came from 22.
He was 21 of 22 kids, the 21stof 22 kids.
SPEAKER_01 (28:39):
And then he had 13.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
And then he had 13, and then my dad had 11.
My grandfather had five, so mydad's dad had five.
So we come from a big family,and then um my.
Together.
My mom and dad had seventogether, and dad had two from
his first wife and two from hissecond wife.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
And I love watching the show because I remember the
girls saying, Oh, we have bigparties, and it's like hundreds
of people there now thinking,well, it was just the family.
SPEAKER_01 (29:06):
Yeah, exactly.
Just the family there.
So your your kids are so you'veyou have a Billy Bush Jr., which
is your oldest son.
SPEAKER_03 (29:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
And then Gussie, of course, you've taken a family
name.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
Peter's a family name.
Are the other, are the girls,are they family names?
SPEAKER_00 (29:20):
They are not.
No.
And then there's Haley, Abigail,Abby, uh, Grace, and Madison or
Maddie.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
Do they ever say why didn't we get a name?
Why aren't I Lily?
Why didn't I get Lily's name?
SPEAKER_00 (29:32):
Yeah, they could have been Gertrude, you know,
there's a Gertrude or Beatriceor something like that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:36):
Beatrice, that's good.
Gertrude, Bertha, those kind ofnames that you don't hear
anymore.
Yeah, you just don't hear thatanymore.
There's a good reason why,maybe.
Right.
Right.
Like my dad's name was Harry,which came back because of
Prince Harry, I guess, but it'snot really a name.
How do you look at a little babyand go, Harry?
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Harry.
I isn't that the truth.
A little bald kid.
Harry.
SPEAKER_01 (29:58):
So your family gets together, you decide.
You know what?
It's been well, first of all,you're the first to write a book
that's coming from the sourcerather than somebody coming up
with their their own words andthen trying to get someone to
stand behind it.
You you and your wife actuallysifted through letters and boxes
and things to find out more,because obviously you're here
(30:19):
for only so long to be able toknow about the family.
And then you were very honest,talking about everything from
good to bad.
Oh, sure.
How was that doing that?
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
It was um it was really it really kind of helped
me understand myself better.
It was um it was I I enjoyedevery minute of it, honestly.
Um, you know, just to be able totalk about some of the sad times
and understand a little bitbetter what happened in life and
how my life turned out the wayit did.
(30:48):
And then to be able to relaythat to my kids and let them
know kind of where they camefrom.
But I was so lucky, you'reright.
I I was able, my dad left boxesand boxes of letters and relics
of things that uh from hisgrandfather, from his father,
excuse me, from s uh from his uhwives before my mom, uh from
(31:09):
even some uh girlfriends that hehad.
And uh from, you know, he talkedabout the business and some of
the th some of the documentsthat were left behind.
And so to be able to siftthrough all that and to read
these letters, um, and some ofthe letters that mom and dad
wrote back and forth to eachother, and even some old some
letters um where they were goingthrough the divorce, and they
(31:32):
were, you know, you could tellthat it wasn't quite at the
point that they got to thedivorce, but they were they were
having big problems.
Um and that uh things, you know,from those letters you could you
could just read into a lot ofthings, and to be able to have
those letters and to talk aboutit and to really understand
where I came from was was coolas heck.
(31:54):
I mean, to know that mygreat-grandfather came over here
um as an adventurer to come overfrom Germany, it wasn't called
Germany then, it was Europe, um,and to to come over and and be
on the uh Mississippi Riverbecause he was uh he knew the
rivers very well because he hegrew up on the Rhine River over
in in Europe and um he knewbusiness and to learn the
(32:18):
business and then to have theskill to get into the beer
business and to grow the beerbusiness with the innovation and
the work that he had to put intoit and the people person that he
was was just so interesting forme to see how that all
transpired and how he grew thisincredible company.
Um he must be.
(32:40):
Yeah, and he was able to do thathere in America, you know, and
then to have a son who took overfor him and kept it going, and
then was able to keep it goingthrough prohibition through a
very difficult time and keepthousands of employees employed
during that very difficult timebecause you had the Great
Depression during that time too,was just it's just an amazing
accomplishment.
(33:00):
And I'm so that I'm so proud ofafter reading that, and how they
stuck it out and kept it going,and then how his um how my
grandfather's uh oldest son,Adolphus, took the company over,
and he was older than my dad, sohe um he was first right he had
the first right to take it takethings over, and how he kept it
going through World War II andthe patriotism that he exhibited
(33:24):
during World War II to give backto the country to help the
country win the war was justamazing and and uh did you meet
some of the any of the and anyof the presidents uh and coming
through your home?
Yeah, you know, um LyndonJohnson came to our home.
I don't I kind of remember him alittle bit, but I remember my
mom and dad going to Texas andhunting on uh on their farm on
(33:48):
their ranch in Texas with LadyBird and and Lyndon Johnson.
And um other than that, I don'tremember any other people in
your butry truman came toGraham's farm and went coaching
with dad, and and dad lovedHarry Truman.
And of course he loved FranklinRoosevelt because Franklin
Roosevelt ended prohibition.
(34:08):
Yeah, yeah.
You could you could sell beeragain.
SPEAKER_02 (34:15):
And I didn't know that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (34:17):
I'll be darned.
SPEAKER_02 (34:17):
Yeah, he was one of our youngest presidents.
I gotta ask you, becausesomething that was on my mind,
while you're sifting throughphotos and letters and things
like that, what is the one thingthat just jumped out at you and
just surprised you the most outof looking through all of that?
SPEAKER_00 (34:33):
Um I would have to say the thing that surprised me
the most was the fact that uhthe family was able to keep the
b the business going and becomethe number one brewery in the
world.
Um uh and the uh and just whatit took, the the grit and the
(34:54):
determination to succeed.
And um and nothing was given tothem, you know, they had to work
for everything.
And it killed my great mygrandfather because that 13
years of prohibition where hecouldn't sell where they
couldn't sell a beer put so muchstress on him, keeping all his
and and how they loved theiremployees, and how their
(35:16):
employees loved working for thecompany, the pride that it had.
Um, all that just took me by agreat surprise, and also about
how patriotic the um the companybecame, how it backed the USA
and all the different wars thatwe got into.
Desert Storm was one of them,and then of course World War I
and World War II, and and my dadwas a colonel in World War II,
(35:38):
and his job was really to go outand get industries to support um
uh America during the war.
And um, and he uh he became acolonel doing that.
And they really gave a lot back.
You know, my family gave a lotback to um to the country, to
the community, and I thoughtthat that was just amazing.
(35:59):
Then the other thing that reallystepped uh stood out was the
fact was how what a genius myfather was in marketing.
You know, how he built themeparks around the the uh
breweries when he opened up ninedifferent breweries around the
United States, going just fromthe one here in St.
Louis and then nine more aroundthe United States, and opening
up the theme parks.
And you know, the first thingwhen the kids turn 21 after
(36:21):
going to the theme BuschGardens, what are they gonna
drink?
They're gonna drink a Budweiser,right?
Yeah, and that's what and that'syou know, that's what made it
the household name it became theuh Budweiser.
It's because of that greatmarketing, and then buying the
Cardinals um just really tomarket the products and not
being able to call it BudweiserStadium, so we they named it
(36:41):
Busch Stadium, and then theycame out with Bush Bavarian, a
beer.
SPEAKER_03 (36:46):
Wow, that's incredible.
SPEAKER_00 (36:47):
Yeah, he so it was just incredible marketing, and
then you know that carried onwith my brother and um and then
his son, August, uh August the4th, and they did the frogs and
Spuds Mackenzie and all thosedifferent wonderful marketing
that that um that A B had, whichwas so which won all the Super
Bowl awards, right?
(37:07):
When we were there in the SuperBowl, and the Clydesdills, of
course, were the biggest.
SPEAKER_02 (37:10):
Do you find that fascinating that all of the
stuff that you see and how theirfamily values and everything
that they've gone through?
But now we see that in you.
And so it's kind of like it'sinteresting.
Does it does that kind of touchyour heart to say they instilled
that into me as a as a youngchild, but even reading it from
your great-grandfathers andstuff like that, do you see a
(37:31):
lot of yourself in them now?
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
You know, um, I wish I could say I saw more because
they were so successful and andthe beer business today is I
mean, as a person, it's sothere's so much to be said about
success.
SPEAKER_02 (37:44):
Yeah, but success can be talked about in many
different levels, not just somuch in money, yeah, but as a
person.
SPEAKER_00 (37:50):
Yeah, I hear you.
As a person, I do feel like I'mI I have been um gifted uh the
ability to go out and to um youknow build a f a wonderful
family and to be faithful and toum really have my prior
priorities right, and I didlearn a lot of that, not
(38:10):
necessarily from my dad.
He was kind of a wild guy.
Yeah, but looking back at mygreat grandfather and my
grandfather, they were very,very loyal to their wives and
they were they gr and they hadum incredible, tight, very
structured families.
I think what happened when itstarted to kind of break apart
was and and I'm not speakingbadly about my dad, but I'm just
(38:33):
telling you that I think um whenthings when you're when you're
married several times and youdon't have that tight-knit
family anymore, and then youstart passing trying to keep the
company in it in the family foranother generation, it becomes
more and more difficult.
And looking back at it now andand understanding it the way I
(38:56):
learned to understand it fromwriting the book, I really think
that uh tight families are veryimportant to really um have in
order to continue a genergenerational businesses.
SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (39:11):
I think that's very important.
And and um, you know, but uh youcould start seeing after
learning about this the cracksthat started appearing.
And then of course, you know,what happened with my dad and my
half-brother, um, how thecompany was taken from from my
dad in a kind of a harsh, in avery harsh way, actually.
And um, you know, it was becauseof the competitiveness.
(39:33):
We didn't come from the samemother, so I'm sure, you know,
there was compet competition andum and worry, if you will, about
who was gonna get it next.
Could it be my dad's oldest mymy oldest brother from my um
mom, or could it be the oldestson of my dad from another
(39:54):
mother?
And so I'm sure, you know, soeverybody was kind of jockeying
for position and absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (40:00):
Yeah, well, you're I love I like one of my favorite
songs, it's called Chainbreaker,and I think you're a
chainbreaker because you're afamily man doing everything
great, and you're you've you nowyou're starting this new let's
talk about the new thing.
Let's talk about the new stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (40:13):
Let me just say, let me just say that I've been very,
very fortunate because of whatwas left to me because of the
hard work of my ancestors and mydad, um, that I have not had to
go out and kill myself workingbecause um I was left enough to
be able to really spend timewith my family and and have a
you know and and raise mychildren with my wife and and
(40:36):
take a big part as a father inthat.
So I'm very, very fortunate forthat.
So I have a lot to be thankfulfor to my family members that uh
that did that worked so hard.
SPEAKER_01 (40:47):
Well, I hope your family will read your book.
I hope that they will maybe takethe time to even watch your show
to really see what kind ofpeople you are, and hopefully
some of those family membersthat maybe you've been not able
to be part of.
I mean, we can't choose ourfamily, we can choose our
friends, but maybe it will helpsome understanding and bring
that back.
But I'm really excited about umbeing able to find out about
(41:10):
your new place, which is yourBush family brewing and
distilling, your Bush farm, um,which is out there in Defiance,
which is absolutely gorgeous.
We went out there, we took ourgrandson and got to enjoy uh a
night, an evening with theconcert.
SPEAKER_02 (41:24):
I thought we were going to see I was out there for
the flag run too.
That was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (41:28):
I thought we were going out to see the Bunker
Broncos.
Yeah.
So we're gonna have to come backbecause I missed that.
I had the wrong night.
So September 6th, that's comingup because that just that that I
cannot wait to watch.
But you go out there, it'sbeautiful, you have so much
going on.
And in the show, Gate kind ofenlightened us how you know you
you wanted to bring brewing backto the Bush family.
(41:51):
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about that and the
name of your beer, which uh wellyou're not wearing that hat,
you've got the Bush family on.
You usually have the craftic on.
So tell us a little bit aboutthis dream that's happening.
SPEAKER_00 (42:04):
Yeah, um, and you're oh, sorry about that.
And you're and you're right.
I uh I really I really felt astrong tie and a and a strong um
reason or calling to continuethe brewing uh portion of the of
the the brewing business becauseuh my family had done it for so
(42:24):
long, and I just felt um, youknow, I was in the beer business
all my life and one respect oranother, whether it was on the
entertainment side with GrantsFarm and maintaining Grants Farm
and keeping the place beautifulfor the public, or whether it
was in the distribution um sideof it when I um had we had
distributorships and I worked atthe distributorships delivering
(42:44):
beer to retailers uh down inHouston and down in Florida.
So um I, you know, I was aroundit all my life and I loved it,
and it was always something thatwe were very successful and good
at doing.
And when it uh came when it leftour hands back in 2008, InBev
came in and took over our uhover the company.
Um I just felt a strong callingthat we needed to keep that
(43:08):
wonderful tradition alive.
So we started a company calledthe William K.
Bush Brewing Company.
We came out with two beers,Kreftig and Kreftig Light, and
we contracted those beers.
We didn't have our own brewery,so basically we were more of a
marketing company than a brewingcompany, but we felt that um you
know we could make the beer, wewouldn't have to spend the money
on the on the on the brewery,and we could spend the money on
(43:30):
marketing and grow the beer thatway, and then eventually have
our own brewery.
Well, it didn't work out thatway.
At every turn, we were gettingshot down by the bigger guys,
you know, out there, um InBEV,um with AB NB and Miller and
Miller Light Miller and theSecores, and they were always,
you know, not allowing us to gettraction.
(43:50):
We couldn't um we couldn't getthings going in in uh different
retail uh stores.
SPEAKER_01 (43:55):
Do they not know who you are?
I need to call them.
SPEAKER_00 (43:58):
No, I think they knew who I was, and that's
that's what worried them,worried them.
So to get promotion.
Yeah, we couldn't get momentumand to so to get promote uh
promotions and uh we had a greatfor instance, we had a great
promotion at uh Bush Stadium,which um NBEV came in and told
uh told uh the um the concessionera there they better take it
(44:19):
down or else uh they'd pulltheir products out.
So of course they had to take itdown.
It was just that kind of stuff.
We kind of had a target on ourback because of the name.
Honestly, the name helps you ina lot of ways, but it can hurt
you also.
So we did that.
I did that for about eight ornine years and you know, worked
hard.
We had uh distribution in all ofMissouri and a big portion of
Illinois and Kansas andWisconsin and Texas, and um, you
(44:43):
know, trying to grow thebusiness, and it's just
impossible.
And the margins are so thin thatif you're not selling hundreds
of thousands of barrels, it'sreally hard to um to sustain.
SPEAKER_03 (44:53):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (44:54):
And so we decided I talked to the family, I said,
let's just build our own littlebrewery out at the farm.
We can go back to our my roots,basically, our roots, because my
kids grew up at Grants Farm.
We can open the place up to thepublic, they can come out and
they can drink our own beer, andwe can have Kreftig and Kreftig
light there, which people loved.
And so we'll keep that going,and we can name some of the
(45:15):
beers after the ancestors inhonor of them.
So we have like the GussieBavarian and the Adolphus
Pilsner, and now we have theEberhard Barrel-Age beer, which
is Eberhard Anheuser, my grand,my great-grandfather from the
Anheuser side, andgreat-great-grandfather, that
would be.
And um, and so that's what wedid.
And I I gotta tell you, I loveevery minute of it because the
(45:38):
people that come out, like yousaid, Kelly, you and you enjoyed
it, you and Gordon, you had agreat time, and your
granddaughter loved it.
It's a great family atmosphere.
Yeah, parents, grandparents cancome out, sit around, eat, drink
some cold beer, or anything.
SPEAKER_01 (45:52):
I know they showed some photos.
I mean, you there's water that'saround you, the fountains out
there, the Clydesdales arethere.
Right.
Um, the you just got in thealpaca.
Yes.
Um, the the big long bullhornsof Texas longs, thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (46:06):
Uh my favorite which was bullying the the new new uh
what are they, the uh Highlandercows.
My personal favorite, I wasabout to say the Highlander
Cows.
SPEAKER_01 (46:16):
Oh my she was so muddy.
She or I think it was a she, wasit?
It was a she, she was so cute,and she had mud all over her.
And of course, we loved pettingher, but but it's really fun.
It is a very much a familyenvironment out there.
Coming up in October, you'regonna have a corn maze.
SPEAKER_00 (46:30):
Uh yeah, we'll have the corn maze out there.
We have two more rodeos comingup in September and October.
We've got two more music festsout there.
We dropped the prices to getmore people out to the music
fest.
And um, and and we've got we getalmost 2,000 people out there
for the rodeo, and they and thekids love it because they get to
do uh the the uh mutton busting.
SPEAKER_02 (46:49):
I noticed the sack races.
Did that come from did that comefrom the show because I don't
wanted it to be the sack racing?
We go, we gotta have the sackraces.
SPEAKER_01 (46:58):
You were out there dancing yourself out there, but
what a great thing to be able todo with your family and be
together on this and buildsomething that obviously sounds
like it's gonna continue togrow.
I guess I mean one of the thingsyou're careful about is not
ruining the gorgeous countryland.
What is it, 700 acres?
SPEAKER_00 (47:15):
Yeah, we have 700 acres in all, but we designate
about 150 just to the breweryand for the people.
SPEAKER_01 (47:20):
So that you're not taking away from the beautiful
land that you have.
So you appreciate that thatyou're not gonna go bulldozing
that down for something.
But it's really lovely.
You've you and it's gorgeousinside um the building where you
can go.
Now, I know that you um you havea food service, but you do you
also make some things that youcan eat when you go in that's
right on site then?
SPEAKER_00 (47:40):
Oh, yeah, we make our own food um for the most
yeah, we have our our own foodthere.
SPEAKER_01 (47:45):
But larger events, you'd have someone.
SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
And and for larger events, we bring in food trucks
or we we get a cater or two.
So we're we're partnering withButler Pantry, as a matter of
fact, on some things.
So um they help us out, and uhthen we have the food trucks.
There's a couple food trucksthat just do an amazing job that
we that we bring out, like theMexican food truck, and they
make great margaritas, by theway.
And um, and then you know, wehave an incredible chef, and he
(48:08):
makes, well, to me, it's theworld's best hamburger out
there.
SPEAKER_01 (48:11):
It's nothing better than a good hamburger, a cheese
rubber, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (48:15):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (48:15):
So when you think of you think of Bush Farm, you
think of your Bush family, BrunaDistillion, what does that what
achievement?
Well, how do you feelpassionately about that when you
walk through those gates thereor drive through the gates, I
should say?
SPEAKER_00 (48:29):
When I drive through the gates, I feel kind of like
my dad did when he came toGrants Farm and he checked out
the farm to make sure everythingwas perfect.
You know, everything had to lookjust right and everything had to
be clean.
Um, and and I feel very muchlike my dad had felt back when
he was uh, you know, the bossand he was running things at the
brewery in a grand's farm.
(48:50):
And um very proud, too, to beable to uh open a place up for
people to come out and reallyenjoy.
And what makes it great is whenyou see people smiling and
laughing and having a great timeand coming up to me all the time
and saying, we love it out here,and we get regulars back all the
time.
So that's a real good indicationthat people are enjoying
themselves.
SPEAKER_01 (49:09):
Absolutely.
Well, it's wonderful.
I'm so sad that we literally aregonna have to say goodbye.
It makes me sad.
Um, what do you want to say tosomeone out there that is a
family and they're in businesstogether?
How can you inspire them andgive them some words of wisdom?
Because you've definitely liveda life of large families and now
you're very own.
SPEAKER_00 (49:27):
Yeah.
Um, I I would say, um, you know,you first of all you have to be
uh you have to do what whatmakes you happy.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat what you um and love what
you do because if you're gonnahave your own business, you
gotta it's a lot of work and yougotta um so enjoy every minute
of it.
(49:47):
Um and if you don't enjoy it,it's not it's not gonna be it's
gonna be torture.
So enjoy what you do.
Um don't force it on your kidsif they want to be involved.
If they want to be involved,that's that's icing on the cake,
but that doesn't always happenlike that, unfortunately.
And and um, and you know, Ithink I think my kids will come
(50:08):
around a little bit down theroad.
Right now, they're not too intoit, but uh that's okay.
They've got their dreams,they've got their own dreams,
and they're doing some greatthings too.
SPEAKER_01 (50:17):
You brought them up to build their dreams, so that's
even more important.
And you've actually told meabout one of the dreams that the
boys are doing, and we lookforward to sharing that as well.
And I wish we had another hourwith you.
You can pick up the book FamilyRain.
I got my very own, that ofcourse he's gonna have to sign
before we leave.
I just went to Amazon and thereit was.
So is there any other specialplace I need to let him know?
But Amazon works.
SPEAKER_00 (50:37):
Yeah, I think you can get it at the bookstores um
around town here.
So pretty much where books aresold.
SPEAKER_01 (50:42):
You'll be pleasantly surprised.
So, Billy Bush, thank you somuch.
We really appreciate your time.
We look forward to all thethings coming up.
It's actually gonna be the onthe cover of our magazines here
coming up in October.
So you're gonna enjoy getting toread the story that we're gonna
share with you as well in theCity Lifestyle magazine.
So thank you so much for tuninginto the In Your City show.
Check us out at KLIS 590 AM orthe LouInfo.com 247 streaming.
(51:06):
And until our next show, you cansay it with us, Billy.
You guys say cheers.
Cheers.
Welcome to In Your City Show.
We are here bringing you theshow from Studio STL 17.
You know what 17 means?
We're on the 17th floor.
We are high up here.
But we are still the LouInformation Station at
LouInfo.com streaming 24 7.
Also, if you're listening live,of course, you're on the new K L
I S 590 AM.
(00:55):
But the audio is fantastic ifyou go to Louinfo.com, whether
you want to watch it or if youwant to listen to it, there you
go.
But of course, you can alwaysfind us on Facebook, Instagram,
the In Your City Show.
Go ahead, leave us a message.
Yeah, if you know, maybe youhave a story to tell, maybe you
have something great you'd liketo share.
Reach out to us, let us know.
Maybe you're interested in yourbusiness being part of our show
(01:16):
and partnering with us where wecan share your message in a
sophisticated, elevated brand.
So we got an exciting showtoday.
I'm really excited about it.
Looking forward to it.
So of course, it's brought toyou by City Lifestyle Magazines,
gorgeous luxury lifestylemagazines mailed directly to the
homes.
15 zip codes, actually, um, wego to.
(01:37):
That's quite a few.
It is quite a few.
With the 3,000 plus businesses,45,000 homes every month, a new
theme, different stories toshare with you and enjoy.
And so we love it.
Though sometimes they're fromaround the world, local.
Um, you're always gonna havewhat's happening local in our
magazines, but everything's alittle bit uh, depending on what
our theme is for the month, it'sperfect.
(01:58):
But so we're excited.
So let me tell you what's on ourshow.
I think you know Gordon, butthose listening might not.
So we are gonna raise a glasstoday with none other than Billy
Bush, Billy Bush Sr.
That is, for an exclusiveconversation that you're not
gonna want to miss.
It's best, he's best known asthe author of Family Reigns,
which you can see the gorgeousbook right there.
(02:18):
And of course, uh, it's theextraordinary rise and epic fall
of an American dynasty.
Billy opens up, he's gonna talkabout the triumphs, the
challenges um behind thelegendary Bush family legacy.
Also, of course, he's gotsomething that we got to
experience that we're gonna talkabout too.
His beautiful farm.
So we're gonna get into thatconversation as well.
(02:39):
He doesn't know it, but I needsome scoop.
I'm gonna need some answers.
He didn't bring his wife,Christine.
I probably need to sit down witha glass of wine with her so I
can get the details.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
Billy, Billy, Billy.
He made one piece, he made oneof how to really set you up for
this and how to keep you in themood.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
I'm that girl, like Gordon comes home and he's been
with friends, you know, andthey're talking, and I ask him
question after question afterquestion.
I want the scoop.
And he's like, I don't know.
I didn't ask that.
I'm like, you were with thatperson for three hours.
How do you not know how manykids they have, where they're
going on vacation, who they'redating, if they're anything
that's going on the thing, goes,No, we just play golf.
(03:18):
I know we got a new driver.
So I need the info.
I need the 911 or the 411,whatever.
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
You're not gonna get it from me because I am not Rona
Barrett.
Remember that?
Gosh, that's a name we haven'theard in a couple of years.
SPEAKER_01 (03:30):
I can't even believe that just came out of your
mouth, actually.
It could have been a millionpeople you said.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Well, she was the one that always got the scoop,
you know.
SPEAKER_01 (03:39):
You gotta have the scoop.
That's what makes life exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (03:42):
We had Jerry Berger.
Remember him?
SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
Oh, yeah.
That the that was the column,wasn't it?
Yeah.
Uh that whatever you and if yourname was in it, you're worried,
is it good or is it gonna begood?
SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
Gosh, I can't believe I thought of him too.
It's like those are names that Ihaven't even heard of in like
for a while.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
You can't even remember someone's name that
you're talking to that you knowreal well in front of you, but
then you're pulling Rona Barrettand uh I just forgot his name.
Jerry Burger.
Jerry Burger.
Burger's Bits, wasn't it calledBurger's Bits?
And that even came to your head.
Yeah, something like that.
It's back to school.
I wonder how the parents aredoing right now with their kids
back out of the house.
Nobody's gonna be.
SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
How many of them open the liquor cabinet when the
kids out of the pool?
Oh, wow.
Have you ever seen the memethough?
When it's on Facebook, it's themom.
She's out by the pool, laying bythe pool, she's got a cigarette
and a drink in her hand, and thekids are behind her.
She's like, first day of school.
See you later.
Vacation time for mom now.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Don't want to be, right?
So you said that uh your friendTom Sandoval, what's going on
there?
SPEAKER_02 (04:37):
It's tomorrow night.
He's uh it is the uh gettingclose to the finals.
Steve Ray Latson, Circa Mara,which look they look like a
dance team, and then TomSandoval and the Most Extras is
the name of his band.
Oh, the most extras.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Now this is his coming back because he's already
he's already uh won a fewrounds, right?
Is that how it goes?
SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Yeah, so the the top three, that's who he was.
Okay, the top three then.
SPEAKER_01 (05:01):
So was ton is is that tonight or when is that?
And they're gonna and tonightwill be the winner?
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Ton tonight at 7 p.m., I think so.
Yeah, well, yeah, somebody'sgonna move on.
SPEAKER_01 (05:10):
Yeah, you know, he got pretty deep when he got up
there on stage when he was, Iguess when he went up for the
very first time to perform to onthe show.
He got pretty like in depth.
I think he was gonna cry therefor a minute because he was
talking about what a dark blacktime it was for him because he
was actually um they he had beenthrough he got, you know, um, I
(05:31):
guess the celebrity gossip hewas part of.
SPEAKER_02 (05:34):
He thought he was named the the the the most hated
man in America because becauseof some girly cheated on,
cheated on, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
But still every girl hated him.
SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
Yeah, you don't want to do that, you don't want to be
like the Coldplay couple and doit on TV, you know, where
everybody knows about it.
SPEAKER_01 (05:49):
Well, they do, but he's gonna show them right now
making it.
So we kind of get a littletearful up there on stage, and
now you know you knoweverybody's feeling sorry for
him now, right?
SPEAKER_02 (05:58):
So he he's he's doing well.
His band sounds good, he soundsgood.
I remember Tom when he was as alittle kid, as a little kid,
it's because we're old, and hehas come so far with his uh
vocal ability, I mean hissinging ability, it's just
amazing.
He's made.
Yeah, he's he's doing reallywell with it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:17):
Yeah, he's he's a nice kid.
It was funny because we ran intohim that night we were out, and
you're like going up to him,like, oh, you know, he's he's a
friend.
You've known him as a littlekid, and everyone's going, Is
that Tom Sandoval?
Yeah, pump rules.
We'll let you talk to him.
Hang on a second.
SPEAKER_02 (06:31):
I think I maybe watch two episodes.
SPEAKER_01 (06:33):
Sorry, Tom.
Sorry.
Well, the reason why we're heretoday, the only reason why we're
here today is get to talk toBilly Bush.
And he's actually here.
So we're gonna bring him over sohe can sit in the chair so that
I can get the scoop.
I need the scoop, darn.
I'm sorry.
I cannot see you.
SPEAKER_02 (06:52):
I cannot protect you, brother.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
You know, it's it's a great to see you.
Oh my god, so good to see you.
Thank you.
It's you know what's so what'sso much better about you coming
in today and makes it so mucheasier is that I have to say, if
I would have been reading yourbook first and then knew you
were coming in, I'd probably belike sweating and doing all
those nervous, you know, thingsthat you do because it's like
(07:16):
that's you like come from likeroyalty.
But I met you on a well, we dida photo shoot.
First we came to your event, soI got to meet you as a person,
and you're so normal.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
I think that's growing up on the farm makes you
make you normal.
SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
Didn't I come home and say how nice and real you
were?
And and to find out that, youknow, I grew up not on a farm
like you did by any means, but Ihad to clean the horse stalls, I
had to water the bucket, fillthe buckets up, I had to do my
chores, and I didn't get out ofthem very often.
So to find out, you know, youdid that, you were cleaning
(07:55):
stalls and doing the things thatyou had to do.
I did not get to take care ofTessie the elephant.
I'm a little jealous of that andride around with glidesdales,
but you know, you led quite thelife, and when you read about
that, I probably have been alittle bit like, I mean, you
grew up in a castle for God'ssakes.
Yeah.
How do you talk to normal peoplelike us?
(08:16):
You're in a castle.
You know, it's funny.
SPEAKER_00 (08:18):
I um Kelly, you're right about all that.
I mean, I got to grow up uh in away that a lot of people don't
grow up, and most people don'tgrow up that way.
And I really didn't realize Iwas any different for many, many
years.
I think it was growing up on thefarm.
I think it grounds you growingup on the farm.
You know, we were um asked towork by our parents, not asked,
(08:40):
but uh told to work.
We had to work, like you weresaying.
Um, we had to take care of allthe animals on the farm.
Uh, we had to maintain the farm.
Of course, Grant's farm was opento the public.
So it always had to bebeautiful.
And uh, I got the lucky job oftraining the elephants one
summer.
And so I got to get close to uhan elephant, like you said,
(09:01):
named Tessie.
And uh she was an amazinganimal, and I talk about it in
the book Family Reigns about howshe protected me from bullies.
But I think growing up with theanimals, growing up with the
farm hands, the people thatworked there, um working on the
farm physical labor, I think itjust keeps you grounded and
keeps you normal.
I think um, you know, we neverthought we were better than
(09:22):
anybody else, or you know, we'rebut you are.
SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
I'm so jealous.
So stick with it.
So now, but but it is adifferent life too, because your
dad was, I mean, he was a bigman.
I mean, he was somebody that wasvery powerful, so to speak, in
in the world of you know,Anheuser Busch, which I have to
say, I sometimes I feel sosheltered or something in my
(09:48):
knowledge of knowing things.
And and honestly, and you I'msure you know this, but I didn't
realize that Lily Anheuser,right?
Yes, that's your great grandma.
Exactly.
So Anheuser and Bush cametogether.
Did you know that?
SPEAKER_02 (10:01):
They came together?
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
Yes, yes, I did not know.
I that's kind of the sillythings that people don't know.
That that's actually yourgreat-grandmother's last name,
and then your great grandfatherwas Bush.
And that's I mean, I just grewup in St.
Louis, just Anheuser Bush.
I didn't really think to go,okay, how did that name come
about?
Making fun of me again.
I'm not making fun of you.
No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02 (10:22):
Take you out of this room.
I'm not making fun of youbecause I'm sure a lot of people
don't know that.
I mean, there's so many things.
You guys have been in thecommunity for how many years?
It's taking you know a longtime, yeah, many generations.
And probably reading this book,people are like, do the Johnny
Carson.
I I did not know that, you know?
It's like it's just incredible.
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
Yeah, so I mean, just that small little bit of
knowledge.
I was wowed by that.
Then I I kept getting gross.
Then we have to tell you, webinged watched uh uh Family
Brood.
SPEAKER_00 (10:51):
The um behind what was it called?
Family Brood.
SPEAKER_01 (10:53):
I can't even Oh my gosh, this is terrible.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Bush Family Brood.
Yeah, that's what it was called.
It's been a while.
SPEAKER_01 (10:58):
You know what I mean?
It was really fun.
I'm not gonna, I it's 10episodes.
We watched them all.
We're like, okay, I think wetook a break put pizza in on
three more.
We watched it.
And then we watch it.
And I feel like I'm part of thefamily now.
That's why I said wish Christiewas in here because I've got
some scoop that I need I need tohave happen.
First of all, um, we've gotClark and your daughter.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
This is five years ago, Kelly.
Remember, Clark and yourdaughter.
SPEAKER_01 (11:21):
I had had me in an uproar when they're breaking up
in the car.
Then we've got your son Billy,who's absolutely adorable.
We're Facebook friends anddidn't really I go, Gordon, I'm
friends with his son.
I get on there, so I'm so happyto know that he did move on and
married a surfer babe.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
He did, he moved on, married surfer babe, and twins,
which guess what I bought.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
Beautiful twins.
You have grandkids now, however,oh your book.
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
I have two grandkids now.
Yeah, those two.
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
These are yours to take home.
That's what I thought of.
So I'm excited that I guessyou've got to go.
Are they in Hawaii orCalifornia?
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
Well, they're in California now, but I think they
might be moving to Hawaii.
So they're even going furtheraway away, which is a bummer.
But uh, we you know, they docome here to St.
Louis and they stay with us forum, you know, extended periods
now and then.
And we have more doggone fun.
They there's the kids are sofun, and to be able to bring
them out to the farm, we'll getthem on horses the next time we
go out and get them riding.
(12:12):
I hear they're riding dirt bikesnow.
They're their um theirgrandfather from Kira, uh
Billy's wife's side, is um a bigdirt bike rider.
Really?
Yeah, so he's teaching them toride motorcycles.
So if he can ride those motors,if they can, they can ride
horses, wouldn't they, right?
SPEAKER_02 (12:30):
Horses have a mind of their own, though.
Motorcycles don't.
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
Sometimes you can't.
I don't know what's moredangerous, honestly.
SPEAKER_01 (12:35):
But do you and your wife still take carriage rides?
Oh, yeah.
Is that what it's called?
All the time, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:40):
Yeah, we go coaching, we call it coaching.
SPEAKER_01 (12:42):
Coaching, okay, where you put the theory.
And you know what I was excitedabout?
You said, come on, Callie.
Is it Cali Callie?
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
Uh uh, that was Callie.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
Well, she was at the farm.
I met Callie because I heard yousaying hi to her, and I'm like,
Gordon, I met Callie.
I was really invested in theshow.
I just have to let you know.
So I do have some deepquestions.
I need to find out what'shappened because not you didn't
come back with another seasonyet, and you're leaving me
hanging.
I just need you to know that youneed to come back and kids.
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
I was hoping we would come back with another
another season right away, butit was during COVID.
I was gonna say that kind ofmessed things up a little bit
for Hollywood.
And uh they, you know, theytalked to us about coming back
another season.
They interviewed us all again totalk about content, what we were
gonna do for the second season,and you know, what was going on
with the brewery and the farmand and all these things.
(13:30):
And we uh we are we all had towrite out the different things
that we could talk about and thedifferent things we could deal
to put your life in front ofeverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
I mean, honestly, that is a really big deal to to
talk about you know yourproblems or things that are
going on.
And I know it's a show, and Iknow you can redo things, or but
it was still real, it's stillthings that are happening in
your life that you shared witheveryone.
SPEAKER_00 (13:55):
Oh, you're right.
It's it's not easy to do,especially for a guy who grew up
not talking to the media.
My parents were like, you don'ttalk to the media because the
media um that time they wantedto chase things, they wanted to
find some scoop out that youknow, and they were afraid it
was gonna hurt Budweiser sales,you know.
So, you know, you couldn'treally talk to the media, so I
was scared to death to talk tothe media back in the day.
(14:18):
Um I think I've gotten overthat.
The reality show helped me alot.
SPEAKER_01 (14:21):
I think you did great.
In fact, we really enjoyed it.
I can even tell you the lastscene you went into the water.
Okay.
And then she drives.
Coaches on, whatever you want tocall it.
But it really was fun.
And you can, you know what Itold him we talked about
afterwards.
You have seven children.
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
You and your wife have been together for how many
years now?
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
Uh 35.
SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
Wow.
And and your kids were darling.
They all are very close.
Oh, thank you.
I mean, you can only fake somuch on television.
There's only so much you can,and you could tell the real deep
seated love that you all havefor each other.
And I think that was good to beable to see.
I think it really projected whoyou are.
You could tell your boys arevery well mannered, they're
(15:03):
hilarious at the same time,having fun.
And I just I thought it wasfantastic.
And the the family party, yeah,we want the next invitation.
You got a job.
I want to put on a water slideinto the lake.
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
I I I looking back at it now, um, you know, a lot
of reality shows aren't verywholesome, uh right, in a in a
in a way.
Um, but looking back at ourshow, I was I'm really proud of
it now.
You should be.
I'm right, I'm proud of the factthat we were close, that it
showed great family unity andthe importance of family and
being together and stickingtogether and working things out
(15:35):
together.
And we've always been like that.
I gotta hand that off toChristy, though.
Christy, I wish you were heretoo, Kelly, with us right now.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
But uh, this chair right here for her and a bottle
of wine.
SPEAKER_00 (15:44):
She really is a great mother, and she really one
of her her priority was always afamily and making sure we all
stuck together and we're closetogether.
And still.
So um, and I appreciate thatbecause I don't know if I would
have kept us all that closetogether like she did, but she
was really the blue.
SPEAKER_01 (16:01):
And I think I I I'm sure she's a big grounding force
for you because one of thethings that again, I feel like I
know you all from her words andthings that were said, and she
talks about where she came fromand who she is, and she talks
about coming into a family oflike royalty.
I mean, going into that castle.
I remember the part where shesays, I came in a little mini
(16:22):
skirt, your cute little body atwhat, 20 years old, whatever it
is.
And it was a gala, formal, andall the women you can just
imagine, and your elegant styleof your mom and these gowns, and
she's like, and I got a minidress on, and I'm like little
too.
That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
And she was the hottest girl there.
Now I'm like, look at this one Igot.
Oh, more ass so brown.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
So brown and still are, you can tell that as well.
So I think it was just great.
She stayed real and then dancedon the bar top.
It was so funny, but it wasjust, I really got a sense of
just it made it so much more funto get to talk to you today,
knowing the other side of y'all.
And there's always one that'sthe stronger root of the family.
And she, you know, that that'sjust the way it is.
(17:03):
But I think that you probablyalso came into it because you
talk about your relationshipwith your dad, and one of the
times where you were right inthe middle of your mom and dad
on the coach, and how you hadtheir full attention when you
come from a family of seven aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (17:17):
And seven kids also have to be.
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
Yeah, and then you go and have seven too.
Yeah.
So you seven is heaven.
There, yeah.
So you had that that time inbetween them, and your dad, you
felt like you were pals.
Right.
When you're usually your kidshad a job as a kid at house.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
Uh yeah, you know, we were almost like an employee
of dad's to a certain degree.
Dad expected a lot of us, andum, and mom supported him and
made sure that we followed whathe asked us to do and and again
told us to do.
And it um it was like uh kind ofa boss employee relationship a
lot of the times.
So we weren't real close thatoften.
(17:51):
But the to have the uh occasionwhere I could be with my mom and
dad, and I remember that sowell.
That's one thing that stands outas a child.
Driving through the deer park onGrant's farm with mom and dad,
because mom and dad or mom wouldalways request one or two of the
kids to come coaching with themafter work in the afternoon at
(18:12):
Grant's farm.
That was dad's way of getting uhhaving relaxation and you know,
uh chilling out.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
Like some guys go play golf or whatever.
Your dad wanted to go to show.
SPEAKER_00 (18:21):
He wanted to drive the horses, exactly.
So we so to be able to get onthe coach, sit between mom and
dad, and just listen and watchand not really say much because
back then it was you could beseen but not heard, right?
That's so very difficult.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Now the kids speak too dang much sometimes, right?
But um, but just to listen andand to really feel what was
going on.
And I talk about it in the book,you know, it was uh late summer,
it's kind of this time of year.
Uh I'll never forget, and theelk were starting to bugle out
in the deer park, and you know,the leaves were slowly starting
(19:02):
to change, and the buckeyes werecoming on the trees and starting
to um almost starting to falloff, and and we always loved
that.
And to be able to be with momand dad and listen to him talk
about his day and how thebrewery was going and um how
sales were going and you knownot only the good stuff but the
challenges was always veryinteresting to me, and it was
(19:23):
great to listen to.
And then he'd ask me, What didyou do today?
Well, it was still summertime,so I wasn't in school yet.
I said I worked on the farm, andhe'd asked me exactly what I
did, and so I had to explain itall to him.
You know, I took care, I I tookcare of the sheep today.
I had to muck the stalls and thesheep pen and um whatever there
else there was to do.
And then he would he had such aneye for detail, and that's I
(19:47):
think what made him such anincredible executive at the
brewery and such a great leaderat the brewery, was because
everything had to be in perfectplace.
Um not you know, on Grant'sfarm, I'm so I'm sure sure very
similar to what how things hadto be at the brewery, you know,
the beer had to be perfect,everything had to look great,
everything immaculately cleanedand all that.
(20:08):
And if something was out ofplace, he'd see it right away
and he'd let us know, go takecare of that.
Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
But I think too, you even though you grew up in a
castle and the life that youled, it also was a different
time in the fact that we're justtalking about speak when you're
spoken to.
But your dad, when he came home,w would which is nice, we're so
distracted we come home withcomputers and phones and
technology.
And so when you came home in inthe days when we were little,
(20:34):
you came home.
It was that quiet time of youactually talked to one another.
You weren't, you know, he didn'tget to catch up what you did
because you put it on Facebook.
He had to actually ask you, youknow, what you did for the take
it off because it's on Facebook.
Or take it off because it's onFacebook.
Yeah, maybe that too.
So it was probably, even thoughit was different the way you are
with your kids now, therelationship and the
(20:54):
communication that you had wasreally strong at the same time
because it was goodcommunication, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
And you're a hundred percent right.
I think sometimes I even catchmyself like when we're all
sitting together, getting on myphone, looking to see if I
received an email or a text orneeded to talk, you know, it
never stops today, right withall all this, all these
instruments that we have.
Um, and so yeah, to be able toput that away is so important,
(21:21):
especially this day and age whenyou have all this stuff coming
at you.
SPEAKER_01 (21:24):
Well, before we take to a commercial break and come
back and talk about your newventure in life and that as
well, and you say in your bookthat you felt like elf.
You lived in this bubble of theNorth Pole, and when you finally
ventured out and saw thatthere's a whole nother world out
there was quite incredible.
So just tell us before we we goto break what it was like living
(21:46):
inside, knowing now that there'sa difference.
Of course, you live in abeautiful home now as well, but
the difference of growing upthere, what what is that?
I know you told us your fondestmemory, but what it was like
there, then we're gonna go tonow when we come back after
break.
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
I'd love to.
SPEAKER_01 (22:00):
So tell us now before you just give us
something to go to break to talkabout of what it was like
running around the castle.
Yeah, you just get told thatfrom afar.
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
Growing up on Grants Farm, it was a gated community,
right?
So you're all fenced in and uhthe people there all knew you.
And then when you when finally,you know, I started moving out,
and and uh one great greatexample of that was when, and I
talk about this in the book,when my brother and I went to
Switzerland to stay with mygrandmother over there, because
(22:29):
my mom was from Switzerland, soI stayed we stayed with her
mother, and we got on these wecalled them trochyness, but
they're like little scooters,um, and we rode them around all
all of Lucerne, Switzerland,there, where my grandmother
lived, and we stayed with herfor six weeks, and we thought
everybody around there knew us,and we got lost one time.
And we went to uh up tostrangers and said, Hey, where
(22:51):
the bushes, where the where'sour house?
Where do we live?
SPEAKER_03 (22:53):
And they looked at us like, Who are you?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:59):
So it was like it was like, what?
They don't know who the heck weare.
SPEAKER_03 (23:03):
Who are you?
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
So that was the youngest, that was, you know, uh
the youngest memory I have ofbeing out and not and realizing
a person.
Yeah, being a person.
SPEAKER_01 (23:11):
Oh well, we are here with Billy Bush right now.
We're gonna come back, talkmore, find out about the great
things that's happening out inDefiance, Missouri, right here
on the Loot Information Station,KLIS590.
We'll be right back.
(27:33):
I think I do.
It's just so high.
Normally we just walk right inthe door off.
Yeah, we're not in a castle likeBilly over here, but we are in
like the high-rise apartment uphere.
So we're feeling kind of cool.
So welcome back.
We appreciate that you're here.
We're coming back for the secondhalf hour, and we still have
Billy with Billy Bush with us.
Thank goodness, because we haveso much more to talk about.
(27:54):
It's kind of funny.
Like, I come in and I have allthese notes and these questions.
I really have any, I don't evenknow where I'm at or not,
because I've just been liketalking away about it.
Oh, this is more fun.
Don't look at the nice.
Well, I just want to make surethat I don't miss anything or
talk.
I mean, your book has so muchinformation in it, and it's it's
it's really a very good read,and it really takes you into
(28:15):
your life, and you're veryhonest as well.
And that's so appreciativebecause you were just talking
about in the break thatsometimes you almost wish that
you could be on still during thebreak, because there's like so
much more that get talks aboutthat your great grandfather um
was of 22 sisters.
SPEAKER_00 (28:30):
He was 20, he was there was yeah, he had 21
brothers and sisters.
So he came from 22.
He was 21 of 22 kids, the 21stof 22 kids.
SPEAKER_01 (28:39):
And then he had 13.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
And then he had 13, and then my dad had 11.
My grandfather had five, so mydad's dad had five.
So we come from a big family,and then um my.
Together.
My mom and dad had seventogether, and dad had two from
his first wife and two from hissecond wife.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
And I love watching the show because I remember the
girls saying, Oh, we have bigparties, and it's like hundreds
of people there now thinking,well, it was just the family.
SPEAKER_01 (29:06):
Yeah, exactly.
Just the family there.
So your your kids are so you'veyou have a Billy Bush Jr., which
is your oldest son.
SPEAKER_03 (29:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
And then Gussie, of course, you've taken a family
name.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
Peter's a family name.
Are the other, are the girls,are they family names?
SPEAKER_00 (29:20):
They are not.
No.
And then there's Haley, Abigail,Abby, uh, Grace, and Madison or
Maddie.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
Do they ever say why didn't we get a name?
Why aren't I Lily?
Why didn't I get Lily's name?
SPEAKER_00 (29:32):
Yeah, they could have been Gertrude, you know,
there's a Gertrude or Beatriceor something like that.
SPEAKER_01 (29:36):
Beatrice, that's good.
Gertrude, Bertha, those kind ofnames that you don't hear
anymore.
Yeah, you just don't hear thatanymore.
There's a good reason why,maybe.
Right.
Right.
Like my dad's name was Harry,which came back because of
Prince Harry, I guess, but it'snot really a name.
How do you look at a little babyand go, Harry?
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Harry.
I isn't that the truth.
A little bald kid.
Harry.
SPEAKER_01 (29:58):
So your family gets together, you decide.
You know what?
It's been well, first of all,you're the first to write a book
that's coming from the sourcerather than somebody coming up
with their their own words andthen trying to get someone to
stand behind it.
You you and your wife actuallysifted through letters and boxes
and things to find out more,because obviously you're here
(30:19):
for only so long to be able toknow about the family.
And then you were very honest,talking about everything from
good to bad.
Oh, sure.
How was that doing that?
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
It was um it was really it really kind of helped
me understand myself better.
It was um it was I I enjoyedevery minute of it, honestly.
Um, you know, just to be able totalk about some of the sad times
and understand a little bitbetter what happened in life and
how my life turned out the wayit did.
(30:48):
And then to be able to relaythat to my kids and let them
know kind of where they camefrom.
But I was so lucky, you'reright.
I I was able, my dad left boxesand boxes of letters and relics
of things that uh from hisgrandfather, from his father,
excuse me, from s uh from his uhwives before my mom, uh from
(31:09):
even some uh girlfriends that hehad.
And uh from, you know, he talkedabout the business and some of
the th some of the documentsthat were left behind.
And so to be able to siftthrough all that and to read
these letters, um, and some ofthe letters that mom and dad
wrote back and forth to eachother, and even some old some
letters um where they were goingthrough the divorce, and they
(31:32):
were, you know, you could tellthat it wasn't quite at the
point that they got to thedivorce, but they were they were
having big problems.
Um and that uh things, you know,from those letters you could you
could just read into a lot ofthings, and to be able to have
those letters and to talk aboutit and to really understand
where I came from was was coolas heck.
(31:54):
I mean, to know that mygreat-grandfather came over here
um as an adventurer to come overfrom Germany, it wasn't called
Germany then, it was Europe, um,and to to come over and and be
on the uh Mississippi Riverbecause he was uh he knew the
rivers very well because he hegrew up on the Rhine River over
in in Europe and um he knewbusiness and to learn the
(32:18):
business and then to have theskill to get into the beer
business and to grow the beerbusiness with the innovation and
the work that he had to put intoit and the people person that he
was was just so interesting forme to see how that all
transpired and how he grew thisincredible company.
Um he must be.
(32:40):
Yeah, and he was able to do thathere in America, you know, and
then to have a son who took overfor him and kept it going, and
then was able to keep it goingthrough prohibition through a
very difficult time and keepthousands of employees employed
during that very difficult timebecause you had the Great
Depression during that time too,was just it's just an amazing
accomplishment.
(33:00):
And I'm so that I'm so proud ofafter reading that, and how they
stuck it out and kept it going,and then how his um how my
grandfather's uh oldest son,Adolphus, took the company over,
and he was older than my dad, sohe um he was first right he had
the first right to take it takethings over, and how he kept it
going through World War II andthe patriotism that he exhibited
(33:24):
during World War II to give backto the country to help the
country win the war was justamazing and and uh did you meet
some of the any of the and anyof the presidents uh and coming
through your home?
Yeah, you know, um LyndonJohnson came to our home.
I don't I kind of remember him alittle bit, but I remember my
mom and dad going to Texas andhunting on uh on their farm on
(33:48):
their ranch in Texas with LadyBird and and Lyndon Johnson.
And um other than that, I don'tremember any other people in
your butry truman came toGraham's farm and went coaching
with dad, and and dad lovedHarry Truman.
And of course he loved FranklinRoosevelt because Franklin
Roosevelt ended prohibition.
(34:08):
Yeah, yeah.
You could you could sell beeragain.
SPEAKER_02 (34:15):
And I didn't know that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (34:17):
I'll be darned.
SPEAKER_02 (34:17):
Yeah, he was one of our youngest presidents.
I gotta ask you, becausesomething that was on my mind,
while you're sifting throughphotos and letters and things
like that, what is the one thingthat just jumped out at you and
just surprised you the most outof looking through all of that?
SPEAKER_00 (34:33):
Um I would have to say the thing that surprised me
the most was the fact that uhthe family was able to keep the
b the business going and becomethe number one brewery in the
world.
Um uh and the uh and just whatit took, the the grit and the
(34:54):
determination to succeed.
And um and nothing was given tothem, you know, they had to work
for everything.
And it killed my great mygrandfather because that 13
years of prohibition where hecouldn't sell where they
couldn't sell a beer put so muchstress on him, keeping all his
and and how they loved theiremployees, and how their
(35:16):
employees loved working for thecompany, the pride that it had.
Um, all that just took me by agreat surprise, and also about
how patriotic the um the companybecame, how it backed the USA
and all the different wars thatwe got into.
Desert Storm was one of them,and then of course World War I
and World War II, and and my dadwas a colonel in World War II,
(35:38):
and his job was really to go outand get industries to support um
uh America during the war.
And um, and he uh he became acolonel doing that.
And they really gave a lot back.
You know, my family gave a lotback to um to the country, to
the community, and I thoughtthat that was just amazing.
(35:59):
Then the other thing that reallystepped uh stood out was the
fact was how what a genius myfather was in marketing.
You know, how he built themeparks around the the uh
breweries when he opened up ninedifferent breweries around the
United States, going just fromthe one here in St.
Louis and then nine more aroundthe United States, and opening
up the theme parks.
And you know, the first thingwhen the kids turn 21 after
(36:21):
going to the theme BuschGardens, what are they gonna
drink?
They're gonna drink a Budweiser,right?
Yeah, and that's what and that'syou know, that's what made it
the household name it became theuh Budweiser.
It's because of that greatmarketing, and then buying the
Cardinals um just really tomarket the products and not
being able to call it BudweiserStadium, so we they named it
(36:41):
Busch Stadium, and then theycame out with Bush Bavarian, a
beer.
SPEAKER_03 (36:46):
Wow, that's incredible.
SPEAKER_00 (36:47):
Yeah, he so it was just incredible marketing, and
then you know that carried onwith my brother and um and then
his son, August, uh August the4th, and they did the frogs and
Spuds Mackenzie and all thosedifferent wonderful marketing
that that um that A B had, whichwas so which won all the Super
Bowl awards, right?
(37:07):
When we were there in the SuperBowl, and the Clydesdills, of
course, were the biggest.
SPEAKER_02 (37:10):
Do you find that fascinating that all of the
stuff that you see and how theirfamily values and everything
that they've gone through?
But now we see that in you.
And so it's kind of like it'sinteresting.
Does it does that kind of touchyour heart to say they instilled
that into me as a as a youngchild, but even reading it from
your great-grandfathers andstuff like that, do you see a
(37:31):
lot of yourself in them now?
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
You know, um, I wish I could say I saw more because
they were so successful and andthe beer business today is I
mean, as a person, it's sothere's so much to be said about
success.
SPEAKER_02 (37:44):
Yeah, but success can be talked about in many
different levels, not just somuch in money, yeah, but as a
person.
SPEAKER_00 (37:50):
Yeah, I hear you.
As a person, I do feel like I'mI I have been um gifted uh the
ability to go out and to um youknow build a f a wonderful
family and to be faithful and toum really have my prior
priorities right, and I didlearn a lot of that, not
(38:10):
necessarily from my dad.
He was kind of a wild guy.
Yeah, but looking back at mygreat grandfather and my
grandfather, they were very,very loyal to their wives and
they were they gr and they hadum incredible, tight, very
structured families.
I think what happened when itstarted to kind of break apart
was and and I'm not speakingbadly about my dad, but I'm just
(38:33):
telling you that I think um whenthings when you're when you're
married several times and youdon't have that tight-knit
family anymore, and then youstart passing trying to keep the
company in it in the family foranother generation, it becomes
more and more difficult.
And looking back at it now andand understanding it the way I
(38:56):
learned to understand it fromwriting the book, I really think
that uh tight families are veryimportant to really um have in
order to continue a genergenerational businesses.
SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (39:11):
I think that's very important.
And and um, you know, but uh youcould start seeing after
learning about this the cracksthat started appearing.
And then of course, you know,what happened with my dad and my
half-brother, um, how thecompany was taken from from my
dad in a kind of a harsh, in avery harsh way, actually.
And um, you know, it was becauseof the competitiveness.
(39:33):
We didn't come from the samemother, so I'm sure, you know,
there was compet competition andum and worry, if you will, about
who was gonna get it next.
Could it be my dad's oldest mymy oldest brother from my um
mom, or could it be the oldestson of my dad from another
(39:54):
mother?
And so I'm sure, you know, soeverybody was kind of jockeying
for position and absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (40:00):
Yeah, well, you're I love I like one of my favorite
songs, it's called Chainbreaker,and I think you're a
chainbreaker because you're afamily man doing everything
great, and you're you've you nowyou're starting this new let's
talk about the new thing.
Let's talk about the new stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (40:13):
Let me just say, let me just say that I've been very,
very fortunate because of whatwas left to me because of the
hard work of my ancestors and mydad, um, that I have not had to
go out and kill myself workingbecause um I was left enough to
be able to really spend timewith my family and and have a
you know and and raise mychildren with my wife and and
(40:36):
take a big part as a father inthat.
So I'm very, very fortunate forthat.
So I have a lot to be thankfulfor to my family members that uh
that did that worked so hard.
SPEAKER_01 (40:47):
Well, I hope your family will read your book.
I hope that they will maybe takethe time to even watch your show
to really see what kind ofpeople you are, and hopefully
some of those family membersthat maybe you've been not able
to be part of.
I mean, we can't choose ourfamily, we can choose our
friends, but maybe it will helpsome understanding and bring
that back.
But I'm really excited about umbeing able to find out about
(41:10):
your new place, which is yourBush family brewing and
distilling, your Bush farm, um,which is out there in Defiance,
which is absolutely gorgeous.
We went out there, we took ourgrandson and got to enjoy uh a
night, an evening with theconcert.
SPEAKER_02 (41:24):
I thought we were going to see I was out there for
the flag run too.
That was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (41:28):
I thought we were going out to see the Bunker
Broncos.
Yeah.
So we're gonna have to come backbecause I missed that.
I had the wrong night.
So September 6th, that's comingup because that just that that I
cannot wait to watch.
But you go out there, it'sbeautiful, you have so much
going on.
And in the show, Gate kind ofenlightened us how you know you
you wanted to bring brewing backto the Bush family.
(41:51):
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about that and the
name of your beer, which uh wellyou're not wearing that hat,
you've got the Bush family on.
You usually have the craftic on.
So tell us a little bit aboutthis dream that's happening.
SPEAKER_00 (42:04):
Yeah, um, and you're oh, sorry about that.
And you're and you're right.
I uh I really I really felt astrong tie and a and a strong um
reason or calling to continuethe brewing uh portion of the of
the the brewing business becauseuh my family had done it for so
(42:24):
long, and I just felt um, youknow, I was in the beer business
all my life and one respect oranother, whether it was on the
entertainment side with GrantsFarm and maintaining Grants Farm
and keeping the place beautifulfor the public, or whether it
was in the distribution um sideof it when I um had we had
distributorships and I worked atthe distributorships delivering
(42:44):
beer to retailers uh down inHouston and down in Florida.
So um I, you know, I was aroundit all my life and I loved it,
and it was always something thatwe were very successful and good
at doing.
And when it uh came when it leftour hands back in 2008, InBev
came in and took over our uhover the company.
Um I just felt a strong callingthat we needed to keep that
(43:08):
wonderful tradition alive.
So we started a company calledthe William K.
Bush Brewing Company.
We came out with two beers,Kreftig and Kreftig Light, and
we contracted those beers.
We didn't have our own brewery,so basically we were more of a
marketing company than a brewingcompany, but we felt that um you
know we could make the beer, wewouldn't have to spend the money
on the on the on the brewery,and we could spend the money on
(43:30):
marketing and grow the beer thatway, and then eventually have
our own brewery.
Well, it didn't work out thatway.
At every turn, we were gettingshot down by the bigger guys,
you know, out there, um InBEV,um with AB NB and Miller and
Miller Light Miller and theSecores, and they were always,
you know, not allowing us to gettraction.
(43:50):
We couldn't um we couldn't getthings going in in uh different
retail uh stores.
SPEAKER_01 (43:55):
Do they not know who you are?
I need to call them.
SPEAKER_00 (43:58):
No, I think they knew who I was, and that's
that's what worried them,worried them.
So to get promotion.
Yeah, we couldn't get momentumand to so to get promote uh
promotions and uh we had a greatfor instance, we had a great
promotion at uh Bush Stadium,which um NBEV came in and told
uh told uh the um the concessionera there they better take it
(44:19):
down or else uh they'd pulltheir products out.
So of course they had to take itdown.
It was just that kind of stuff.
We kind of had a target on ourback because of the name.
Honestly, the name helps you ina lot of ways, but it can hurt
you also.
So we did that.
I did that for about eight ornine years and you know, worked
hard.
We had uh distribution in all ofMissouri and a big portion of
Illinois and Kansas andWisconsin and Texas, and um, you
(44:43):
know, trying to grow thebusiness, and it's just
impossible.
And the margins are so thin thatif you're not selling hundreds
of thousands of barrels, it'sreally hard to um to sustain.
SPEAKER_03 (44:53):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (44:54):
And so we decided I talked to the family, I said,
let's just build our own littlebrewery out at the farm.
We can go back to our my roots,basically, our roots, because my
kids grew up at Grants Farm.
We can open the place up to thepublic, they can come out and
they can drink our own beer, andwe can have Kreftig and Kreftig
light there, which people loved.
And so we'll keep that going,and we can name some of the
(45:15):
beers after the ancestors inhonor of them.
So we have like the GussieBavarian and the Adolphus
Pilsner, and now we have theEberhard Barrel-Age beer, which
is Eberhard Anheuser, my grand,my great-grandfather from the
Anheuser side, andgreat-great-grandfather, that
would be.
And um, and so that's what wedid.
And I I gotta tell you, I loveevery minute of it because the
(45:38):
people that come out, like yousaid, Kelly, you and you enjoyed
it, you and Gordon, you had agreat time, and your
granddaughter loved it.
It's a great family atmosphere.
Yeah, parents, grandparents cancome out, sit around, eat, drink
some cold beer, or anything.
SPEAKER_01 (45:52):
I know they showed some photos.
I mean, you there's water that'saround you, the fountains out
there, the Clydesdales arethere.
Right.
Um, the you just got in thealpaca.
Yes.
Um, the the big long bullhornsof Texas longs, thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (46:06):
Uh my favorite which was bullying the the new new uh
what are they, the uh Highlandercows.
My personal favorite, I wasabout to say the Highlander
Cows.
SPEAKER_01 (46:16):
Oh my she was so muddy.
She or I think it was a she, wasit?
It was a she, she was so cute,and she had mud all over her.
And of course, we loved pettingher, but but it's really fun.
It is a very much a familyenvironment out there.
Coming up in October, you'regonna have a corn maze.
SPEAKER_00 (46:30):
Uh yeah, we'll have the corn maze out there.
We have two more rodeos comingup in September and October.
We've got two more music festsout there.
We dropped the prices to getmore people out to the music
fest.
And um, and and we've got we getalmost 2,000 people out there
for the rodeo, and they and thekids love it because they get to
do uh the the uh mutton busting.
SPEAKER_02 (46:49):
I noticed the sack races.
Did that come from did that comefrom the show because I don't
wanted it to be the sack racing?
We go, we gotta have the sackraces.
SPEAKER_01 (46:58):
You were out there dancing yourself out there, but
what a great thing to be able todo with your family and be
together on this and buildsomething that obviously sounds
like it's gonna continue togrow.
I guess I mean one of the thingsyou're careful about is not
ruining the gorgeous countryland.
What is it, 700 acres?
SPEAKER_00 (47:15):
Yeah, we have 700 acres in all, but we designate
about 150 just to the breweryand for the people.
SPEAKER_01 (47:20):
So that you're not taking away from the beautiful
land that you have.
So you appreciate that thatyou're not gonna go bulldozing
that down for something.
But it's really lovely.
You've you and it's gorgeousinside um the building where you
can go.
Now, I know that you um you havea food service, but you do you
also make some things that youcan eat when you go in that's
right on site then?
SPEAKER_00 (47:40):
Oh, yeah, we make our own food um for the most
yeah, we have our our own foodthere.
SPEAKER_01 (47:45):
But larger events, you'd have someone.
SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
And and for larger events, we bring in food trucks
or we we get a cater or two.
So we're we're partnering withButler Pantry, as a matter of
fact, on some things.
So um they help us out, and uhthen we have the food trucks.
There's a couple food trucksthat just do an amazing job that
we that we bring out, like theMexican food truck, and they
make great margaritas, by theway.
And um, and then you know, wehave an incredible chef, and he
(48:08):
makes, well, to me, it's theworld's best hamburger out
there.
SPEAKER_01 (48:11):
It's nothing better than a good hamburger, a cheese
rubber, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (48:15):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (48:15):
So when you think of you think of Bush Farm, you
think of your Bush family, BrunaDistillion, what does that what
achievement?
Well, how do you feelpassionately about that when you
walk through those gates thereor drive through the gates, I
should say?
SPEAKER_00 (48:29):
When I drive through the gates, I feel kind of like
my dad did when he came toGrants Farm and he checked out
the farm to make sure everythingwas perfect.
You know, everything had to lookjust right and everything had to
be clean.
Um, and and I feel very muchlike my dad had felt back when
he was uh, you know, the bossand he was running things at the
brewery in a grand's farm.
(48:50):
And um very proud, too, to beable to uh open a place up for
people to come out and reallyenjoy.
And what makes it great is whenyou see people smiling and
laughing and having a great timeand coming up to me all the time
and saying, we love it out here,and we get regulars back all the
time.
So that's a real good indicationthat people are enjoying
themselves.
SPEAKER_01 (49:09):
Absolutely.
Well, it's wonderful.
I'm so sad that we literally aregonna have to say goodbye.
It makes me sad.
Um, what do you want to say tosomeone out there that is a
family and they're in businesstogether?
How can you inspire them andgive them some words of wisdom?
Because you've definitely liveda life of large families and now
you're very own.
SPEAKER_00 (49:27):
Yeah.
Um, I I would say, um, you know,you first of all you have to be
uh you have to do what whatmakes you happy.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat what you um and love what
you do because if you're gonnahave your own business, you
gotta it's a lot of work and yougotta um so enjoy every minute
of it.
(49:47):
Um and if you don't enjoy it,it's not it's not gonna be it's
gonna be torture.
So enjoy what you do.
Um don't force it on your kidsif they want to be involved.
If they want to be involved,that's that's icing on the cake,
but that doesn't always happenlike that, unfortunately.
And and um, and you know, Ithink I think my kids will come
(50:08):
around a little bit down theroad.
Right now, they're not too intoit, but uh that's okay.
They've got their dreams,they've got their own dreams,
and they're doing some greatthings too.
SPEAKER_01 (50:17):
You brought them up to build their dreams, so that's
even more important.
And you've actually told meabout one of the dreams that the
boys are doing, and we lookforward to sharing that as well.
And I wish we had another hourwith you.
You can pick up the book FamilyRain.
I got my very own, that ofcourse he's gonna have to sign
before we leave.
I just went to Amazon and thereit was.
So is there any other specialplace I need to let him know?
But Amazon works.
SPEAKER_00 (50:37):
Yeah, I think you can get it at the bookstores um
around town here.
So pretty much where books aresold.
SPEAKER_01 (50:42):
You'll be pleasantly surprised.
So, Billy Bush, thank you somuch.
We really appreciate your time.
We look forward to all thethings coming up.
It's actually gonna be the onthe cover of our magazines here
coming up in October.
So you're gonna enjoy getting toread the story that we're gonna
share with you as well in theCity Lifestyle magazine.
So thank you so much for tuninginto the In Your City show.
Check us out at KLIS 590 AM orthe LouInfo.com 247 streaming.
(51:06):
And until our next show, you cansay it with us, Billy.
You guys say cheers.
Cheers.
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