EXPERIENCE 206 | Harpist to a King and Winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2011 - Meredith McCrindle and Jai McDowall drop by The LoCo Experience podcast! - The LoCo Experience

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Harpist Meredith McCrindle wasin northern Colorado for a few

(00:02):
weeks this winter visiting herparents on an extended trip away
from her transplanted home inEre, Scotland.
For a portion of the trip herclose friend Jai McDowell joined
her his first time in Colorado.
I met Meredith when she was atour Rotary Club one morning,
promoting her upcoming concertwith Jai in Fort Collins.
She agreed, and Valin told Jaito come on the show, and it was

(00:24):
a whole lot of fun.
Meredith's album, When WallsSpeak, is a study on Dumfries
House.
Home to King Charles when he'sin Scotland, and where she has
been resident harpist for manyyears.
She's also resident harpist forTrump Turnberry, Glenap Castle,
Culzean Castle, and more.
If you need an amazing harpistin Scotland, or around Europe

(00:45):
and the world, you'd be wise tocall on her.
She's also the founder of afestival called TAMFest, a
serial entrepreneur, and abusiness consultant.
Jai McDowell grew up in music,and performed on stage with his
father going back to his teenageyears.
After he won Britain's GotTalent in 2011, his life changed
forever, and he caught amazingtraction during his first year.

(01:08):
When he went independent,however, he had much to learn.
Equipped with Meredith'sfriendship and insights for
business, he's crafted anextraordinary, world ranging
career from those firstopportunities and is a great
case study on how talent aloneisn't enough.
Inspiring and entertaining asalways, and this time with one
of the world's most famousharpists, plus a friendly
baritone with a fun Scottishaccent.

(01:30):
Enjoy.
Let's have some fun.
Welcome to the Low CoveExperience Podcast.
On this show, you'll get to knowbusiness and community leaders
from all around NorthernColorado and beyond.
Our guests share their stories,business stories, life stories,

(01:52):
stories of triumph and oftragedy, and through it all,
you'll be inspired andentertained.
These conversations are real andraw and no topics are off
limits.
So pop in a breath mint and getready to meet our latest guest.
And Welcome back to the LocoExperience Podcast.
My guests today are MeredithMcGlynn, McCrindle, McCrindle, I

(02:16):
was, see, I was supposed to askhow to say it again before we
started.
Meredith McCrindle and JaiMcDowell.
And, uh, Meredith is Harpist toKing Charles, of sorts.
I know you're not supposed tosay it quite like that.
No, you're really not supposedto say it.
But I can say whatever I want.
You can correct me.
And Jai is the winner ofBritain's Got Talent season

(02:38):
Five.
Season five.
And, uh, they were going to bedoing a concert here in Fort
Collins in a few days for one ofmy good friends and Rotary Club
members and her non profit.
And so I had a chance to comeinto the podcast.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Thank you for having us Kirk.
Jai, what's uh, how would youdescribe your musical style?
Like, what, what got you theprize?

(02:59):
Just a big voice?
Yeah, pretty much, pretty much.
No, I, um, so I, I've beensinging since I was very small.
And, uh, and because of that Isort of picked up a lot of
styles along the way.
And, uh, Right before Britain'sGot Talent in 2011, I had joined

(03:20):
a few amateur dramatics groupsin the area and one of those
groups happened to put on amusical called Chess, which was
written by Tim Rice and, uh, andBjorn, I can't say his singing
name, but the guy from ABBA.
Okay.
And, uh, and there was, and I, Iended up getting the main part

(03:40):
in, uh, in that musical thenthat kind of ignited my love for
musical theatre.
And, and as a result of that,the song that I sang on my very
first audition was called Anthemand it's from the musical chess.
And so I, uh, I sort of, becauseI went on with musical theatre,

(04:04):
I then sort of transitioned intothis crossover world which was
like pop but with orchestra.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, and for the listeners, youknow, if you've ever, uh, come
across Josh Groban or SusanBoyle, it's sort of the similar
style to that.
Okay.
Okay.

(04:24):
You're going to find out I'm notvery cultured.
And, um, but I say I have aninch deep in a mile wide.
I know a little bit about a lotof things.
Nice.
I like that to be fair.
Um, it's good.
It's good.
And, uh, yeah.
And so I, I sang, so I sangAnthem from a musical, uh, I
then sang Bring Me To Life,which was an Evanescence song,

(04:47):
but um, but instead of beingrocky, uh, again, it was with an
orchestra.
So it had a slightly differentfeel.
Uh, and then in the final, uh,of Britain's Got Talent, I sang
To Where You Are, which is aJosh Groban song, uh, and it was
written by, uh, the songwriterRichard Marks.
So it's a, it's a very lovelysong, uh, very touching and, uh,
and yeah, I'd still sing it.

(05:07):
Again, with an orchestrabacking?
Yes.
Yeah.
So that sounds like kind of the.
Hey, check me out.
I got a voice that's big enoughto contend with an orchestra.
I mean, I'll take that.
I mean, it seems like theformula just for my, you know,
I've been very lucky to haveperformed with many an orchestra
in the last.
13 years.

(05:27):
And it's, it's not something Itake for granted.
That's for sure.
Um, you know, even though I, Ido have a big voice and
sometimes people turn me downbecause I'm too late.
Yeah, you never know.
I've, I've, I've almost brokensome PAs, but, um, be nice to

(05:51):
the sound engineer.
They make you sound good, orbad, depending on where you're
at.
And so when was this?
Uh, so, I was on Britain's GotTalent back in 2011, so It was
11.
Almost 14 years ago.
And then you've just been ridingthe coattails of that success
since then?
Yeah.
You get to travel all around anddo stuff?
Yeah, pretty much.
Um, I, yeah, pretty much.
No, I've, uh, I've been, uh, allover the world.

(06:14):
Yeah, I've been everywhere.
I've been to China.
I've, I've came here to, do theyall like get careers like that?
Like if you're actually thewinner, you're pretty much got
some kind of a golden gooseticket or do, or are you just
better than most of the otherwinners that kind of, kind of
sucked after that.
I don't know if that's entirelytrue.

(06:35):
To be fair, my journey wasn't,uh, it wasn't all plain sailing.
It, um, you know, it started offreally well and, uh, I had such
a good career for about a yearand then it sort of died down
for a little bit and it becamesomething that, uh, because I, I
went from being, uh, how I wouldterm it, a Joe Bloggs, so a

(06:57):
normal guy to, to being in themusic industry pretty much
overnight because of the showand, uh, and so.
In the first year, you areassigned like management, and
you're assigned to Sony, uh,BMG, or whatever it may be,
Syco, which is Simon Cowell'slabel, and you have people

(07:19):
around you who do things foryou.
And know what the industry islike.
Yeah, yeah.
So, they take care ofeverything, and then when they
go away, it's just like, oh mygod, what is this?
Interesting.
Um, and, and I, it was, it wasalmost, you know, trial by fire.
And I had to learn reallyquickly, um, not only What the

(07:40):
business was all about, but alsohow to conduct myself, um, sure.
And how to deal with soundengineers and, you know, tour
managers, right.
And venue managers.
Well, if you built your careerover 10 years or 15 years of
slaving and out starting inclubs for 50 bucks, plus free
drinks, you know, then you knowall that stuff, then you know
that, and, and I was, I mean,you know, it wasn't, I was very

(08:01):
fortunate.
My dad, uh, as a, as a singer,he, he's played in bands my
entire life.
And, uh, and so I actually didstart singing with him when I
was about 14.
So I did the, the pub circuitand the working men's clubs.
And I don't know if you havethat in this country, but, um,
we, you know, we, I, I wasn'ttotally foreign to, um, and, and

(08:22):
I think, you know, although itwas a bigger beast and the
industry was bigger and it, itdid open up a lot of doors to,
to the rest of the world,basically, um, it was, uh, I, I
wasn't green at performing assuch, but it was just different.
And uh, and so, yeah, so it'sjust been a lot of hard work and

(08:45):
perseverance really.
Um, and then, you know, you meetwonderful people like Meredith
here and they bring you to theStates to do gigs and it's just,
it's just magic.
Yeah.
What a neat thing.
We've done a lot of things.
I've made you do a lot ofthings.
You have.
I learned a whole new word whenI was, when I've been here in
the States.
Servant of sorts.
He kind of is.
Yeah.
I've, I've just, I've adoptedhim.
Do what Meredith says in my lifeis just easier.

(09:06):
To be fair, you're not wrong.
Um, I don't know.
Easier I, uh, that's a greatword.
I learned a, a new term, uh,here in in America.
Since I've, I got here about aweek and a half ago, and it's
called, it's Voluntold.
Oh yeah.
Not volunteered, Voluntold.
And Meredith likes to voluntold,volun tell me?
We, uh, make up a lot of words,and one I was just thinking

(09:29):
about was, uh, perspiverance.
That's a perspiration plusperseverance.
So you gotta sweat for a longtime.
Like, you gotta work hard for along time, and then eventually
you get your business to work,or whatever that looks like.
Yes, yep.
Alright, Meredith, uh, the, the,not officially the I'm
definitely not officially theKing's Harpist at all.

(09:52):
You're gonna get me beheaded.
It's um, no, I, I have playedfor, um, King Charles.
I have.
Um, and I think I could havekind of officially say that, but
you have to be careful.
Like how many times you'veplayed?
Yeah, it's all very You can'treally talk about who was there?
No, no.
Um, it's Yeah, I got in troublefor it.

(10:14):
Yeah.
Many times.
And can you share that?
Well, I, I can, well, I canshare that story.
So let's, let's just talk aboutwhy you're here in Fort Collins,
Colorado in this podcast to dothat.
I think a little bit, maybe it'sworthy that, that's a good segue
too, from being fallen told.
Well,'cause you were like, I,I'm gonna go to Colorado.
Ja.
Why don't you come with me andYeah.
Do some sing stuff.

(10:34):
Well, and so my family's fromColorado.
My mom was born and raised inAurora.
Um.
I have a huge family inLoveland, and they were actually
all originally from Berthed, um,and Fort Collins, and, um, so
Northern Colorado is, is kind ofmy second home.
Um, I grew up in Texas, but wespent every summer here.
Oh, you were those kind ofTexans.

(10:54):
Yes.
Gotcha.
Yes.
I like those kind of Texans.
Oh, thanks.
Well, I'm glad.
Thank you.
Like, they're way better thanCalifornians.
Um, but no, I mean, Colorado isdefinitely in my blood, and, um,
so I met Jai, of course, inScotland.
I moved across.
Um, to St.
Andrew's in 2009 and then toAsure in 2011, the same year

(11:16):
that Ja won Britain's GotTalent.
Okay.
I didn't actually own a TVthough, so I didn't know who you
were.
I know.
I'm really sorry.
Terrible.
Right?
Terrible friend.
Um, and were you studying musicat St.
Andrew's?
I was.
Studying, uh, management in thecreative industries Okay.
For my postgraduate degree.
Okay.
In 2009, um, it, the reason forthat was I went to my

(11:38):
undergraduate degree in NewOrleans, in Louisiana.
Mm-hmm Um, before, during, andafter Hurricane Katrina.
Oh.
So I moved there in 2004.
Um.
Katrina hit 2005, uh, in August,and then I, I was, you know, we,
we all left.
So, New Orleans is a beautifulplace.

(11:59):
The people are beautiful.
The food is amazing.
The music scene is awesome.
Um, I went there to study jazz.
Jazz is really hard, especiallyon harp, and it's like, and it
is a thing.
Um, but I, I turned moreorchestral and, um, Hurricane
Katrina hit, of course, and Iactually spent that semester at
CSU.
Oh, is that right?

(12:20):
Yeah.
So I moved up here.
Um, and then I finished, Igraduated in New Orleans and it
was, it was a dangerous city.
I mean, post Hurricane Katrina,it was really hard.
It was hard going.
Is it still tough?
Or less bad?
I haven't, I haven't been back.
Right.
Right.
For a long time.
I mean, like even downtownDenver ain't what she used to
be.
Yeah.
You know, Minneapolis, Chicago,even.

(12:41):
Yeah, it's, I mean, I think allcities have their, their spots.
I mean, I grew up outside ofHouston, Houston's very similar.
A lot of them had a rotten spotand the rotten spot just got
worse.
Really bad.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think the final straw forme was somebody got shot in
front of my house and I thoughtI should probably move.
So I started looking for saferplaces to live and the safest

(13:03):
place that I found was indeedScotland.
Is that right?
Is it still?
It's, it's really safe.
I mean.
Well, cause we hear so muchabout the rape gangs and stuff
in the UK.
England.
That's England.
But the Scottish are like, no,you can stay over there.
Yeah, they built a wall for areason.
Hadrian's wall is up for areason.
Uh, it's a joke.
So I thought they were kind ofsubject to whatever Britain

(13:25):
said.
It's just too cold for the, forthe Yeah, yeah.
You have to be pretty strong toToo cold?
It was minus 21 here like twoweeks ago.
I know but it's a different kindof cold here.
It's dry.
I mean to be fair I went to thegym this morning and I wore
shorts.
I know.
You're a tough Scot.
Your dad was like, what are youdoing?

(13:45):
I listened to a podcast recentlythat said that kind of the, the
reason America prospered in somany ways is because the Scotch
Iris blood that came over herekind of infiltrated lots of
different places and madeeverybody tougher and smarter.
That's totally true.
I'll, I'll take that.
It's true.
The alcohol consumption was theonly downside to all that.
That's not a downside.
Surely, no.

(14:05):
Surely not.
You've got to get through lifesomehow.
I know.
Well, and most interesting factthat I found from living in
Scotland, and I love history,like wherever I go, I want to
know about the history of theplace and the people.
And that was when Scotland'sfight for independence, which we
lost to the English,unfortunately.
I know, I know, I know.
But they were shipped out toAmerica.

(14:26):
They were sent on ships andsaid, you know, get out.
And those were the same peoplethat fought in the American
Revolution.
Same guys.
They fought two wars.
Scotland.
They were kicked out.
They lost.
They were like, we're not losingthis one.
know we we're out.
You get to fight those sons ofbitches, kid.
Yeah, let's do it.
And they did.
And they won the second time,you know, and we haven't met
them.
So really, you didn't reallylike research the whole world

(14:46):
and you were like, okay, I'mmoving to Scotland'cause it's
safe, or you pretty No, no.
It just happened that way.
Some other stuff too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I moved out of, doyou have family roots maybe.
You have kind of a Britishlooking face, Scott, for, for
Scottish for sure, or whatever.
Not British looking face.
British looking.
Well, I assumed you are white.
Know what you mean?
I know what you mean.

(15:06):
Rele.
I don't know if that's a maidenname or not, but it sounds a, a
very, uh, it not uh, no, no, no,no.
Les kind of a name too.
Yes.
No.
Ryle is a, is a Scottish name.
Is it?
Okay.
My former husband was.
It's Scottish.
Um, or is.
Well, he's still alive.
He is Scottish.
He remains Scottish.
Just no longer your husband.
Correct.
I've got it figured out.
It's a very small clan.
Um, but it's a very nice name.

(15:28):
So, um, we're going to keep thename.
But, um.
But that was part of the draw,at least.
It was totally the draw.
I mean, you could have moved toMinnesota, or.
Yes.
So I, I, my parents made a deal.
They said, look, you know, moveout of New Orleans.
You can go anywhere you want foryour postgraduate, for your
master's degree, but get out ofNew Orleans.
And I was like, that's fair.
That's fair.
So during the summer I went ontour with spinal tap.

(15:49):
That was a fun story.
And then, um, they said, okay,you've had fun.
Let's, Let's get serious.
What do you want to do?
Um, as the harpist for spinaltap as I was not the harpist, I
was a production coordinator.
So it was actually on crew.
Um, great fun, like best summer.
Uh, and then I said, I want togo to London.
I love London.
London is brilliant.
Um, to visit, to live.

(16:12):
I didn't feel safe.
I found an apartment, and I justthought.
That was 15 years ago.
It was not safe then.
I don't think I do feel now.
Yeah, I know.
But at least there's cameraswatching everything you do at
all times.
Yeah.
Sorry.
Everywhere.
Everywhere.
Yeah, that's totally a thing.
Can't pee in the street anymore.

(16:33):
Are you sad about that?
Yeah.
Actually, that's not true.
I don't know why I'm bringingthis up.
You actually can pee in thestreet in London.
They have urinals in the street.
Stop it.
Oh, I swear to God.
Really?
And certain points of the city.
Do you know where they all are?
Have you like, mapped them out?
Maybe.
Cause when I drink, I like topee.

(16:54):
I don't want to go into a placewithout beer yet.
Anyway moving on.
Are we though?
You were telling a story.
I don't think so.
Um.
I'm from North Dakota, so.
Like public urination is likeyou just pee on the tractor tire
or whatever, right?
Like there's no bathrooms foreight miles at times.

(17:17):
It must be great to be a man.
Well, I flash to a thought of mywife and I take in exchange
students pretty regularlybecause we don't have any kids
of our own and just shortperiods of adulting, I like to
call it.
And we've got a young man fromFinland now.
Oh, nice.
And, uh I don't know, months agonow, maybe in the first month he

(17:39):
was here, Jill wasn't, Jill hada technique of going in the
bathroom immediately after Lennycame out of the bathroom.
of his bedroom to wake up in themorning and had to go pee.
Uh huh.
And I'm like, dude, pee outside.
Like, there's a whole cornerover there that's super private
from the neighbors.
It's all, whatever.
He's like, no.
I'm like, dude, you gotta punchyour man card.

(17:59):
You're 18 now.
And, just pee outside.
Just go pee outside.
Like, you need to I mean, I havetwo boys.
I, I do understand.
They should.
I mean, everybody should have.
I mean, it doesn't mean youshould do it everywhere.
It's easier for men.
It is easier for men, and I tryto avoid, like, neighborhoods,
even, like, sometimes in acommercial district or
something, be like, Oh yeah, Ican pee here, yeah.

(18:21):
He might get arrested.
He might get arrested.
You have to have a highconfidence of not being
arrested.
That's kind of the, that'sbasically the criteria.
How bad do I have to pee andwhat's my likelihood of being
arrested?
I've learned so much already.
I'm so sorry.
I love that.
I love that.
That was a good segway.

(18:42):
Is it a segway?
To what?
I don't know.
See, that's why people listen tothis podcast is the squirrel
chasing.
So you got hooked into this kindof Scottish music scene and, uh,
And then I found this one.
Um, yeah.
I mean, the Scottish music scenewas.
I mean, I went there for amanagement degree, and then I

(19:03):
met, I met Simon, my formerhusband, and he moved me across
to the West Coast, to Ershur,where, where Jai is from, um,
and so I You said I met this onelike that was Like this one
right here, Jai.
So, um, So you're, so you areNo.
No, no, no, no.
You're just friends.
Professionally.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yeah, no, we're good pals.

(19:24):
And do you have a girlfriend?
Do you have a boyfriend?
Uh, no.
Single.
Very, very single.
And you're both that way?
We did decide that we would havebeautiful children.
We did at one point.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
And then I realized that youpotentially could move away to
Colorado.
Yeah, I know.
But you could follow her andthen you could I'm sorry.

(19:44):
I love it.
It's beautiful.
It is not.
It is.
It's freezing.
Dude.
The snow.
I'm trying to make a snowball.
Have you been here in any timefrom April through October?
He's never been here before.
No, well then you shush.
You're wrong.
Like I guarantee you, if youspent a year in Colorado, you'd
be like, oh my god, the weatheris It's so much fucking better
here all the time.
It is beautiful.

(20:05):
Fair enough.
And it's sunny.
I mean, I find it beautifulright now with all the snow, so
I'm pretty sure in the sunshine.
You guys are here, uh, this weekand leaving pretty soon, like in
a week from now or less.
Uh, go back to the Back toScotland.
Yeah, back to Scotland.
We leave on Monday.
Um, but I mean, I've been herefor three weeks and Jai came
across and then you went up toNew York and um, and visited

(20:28):
some people and I've, I've beenworking.
You're like, you're likesomeone's gran.
Are you winching son?
Are you winching?
I don't think Kurt knows whatwinching means.
Yeah, yeah.
It's kind of like.
Good Scottish words.
It's a good Scottish word.
I thought I'd get it.
It's a good Scottish word.
But um.
No, I, so, just business,business stuff.

(20:50):
I was trying to get big gigs andstuff and all that stuff.
No, but you ask the question,it's fine.
Uh, and then I saw some showsand, uh, yeah, met some friends.
Take it, yeah.
It's probably quite ainteresting community to be a
part of.
Right, like, that kind oforchestral, like there's only
What, a few thousand people thatare really kind of on the front
edge of that scene in the citiesaround the world.

(21:13):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, maybe you're not on thefront edge.
I'm not trying to network, but Imean, you've, you have performed
with some amazing people who areon the forefront of that.
Yeah.
And I, um, and I think, youknow, it's, it's New York
itself.
Like I've only ever been, Iactually only went to New York
last year for the first time.
And uh, and it's one of thosethings as a, as a creative

(21:35):
person, it's such a.
A melting pot of just I don'tknow, just creative energy,
yeah, just all that kind ofstuff, chaos and power.
All of that too.
A bit of chaos.
Well, but that's kind of whatpower is.
It's really chaos.
It's the word that puts it intoorder.
Yeah.
But, I mean, your story aboutJosh Groban's a really good one.

(22:00):
Is it?
Yeah.
Okay.
Because you.
Oh, he out saying Josh can't, grcan't see.
What if Josh is listening tothis?
Josh is a good guy.
Well, good.
Josh.
Josh.
Practice more.
Yeah.
Okay.
Out.
Say you anyway.
And it's online.
You can go and see it.
Okay.
Well, you're never gonna playthe heart for Josh Grob, are
you?
I, I still, I love Josh Groinswork.
I'm not saying that anyway.

(22:20):
No, I, um, so I was, um, so as Imentioned before, uh, the
musical anthem, uh, yeah.
He performed the part that I.
I eventually played.
Oh, okay.
Mm-hmm So when I was practicingfor that, I listened to a lot of
Josh Robbin and then became aJosh Robbin fan.
Oh, wow.
And, uh, and then as I said, Isang, you surpassed him Now his

(22:43):
song Well, it's a good storythough way.
I, I, I sang his song onBritain's good talent.
And then, uh, Twitter was in itsinfancy then, and he tweeted
that I'd just sang his song onnational TV, and I was like, oh
my god, this is, oh my god, anduh, and so then, anyway, fast
forward from June till I thinkOctober time, I had actually

(23:06):
already bought tickets to go andsee him in Glasgow, because he
was on tour.
And, uh, and I thought, I'mgoing to be really cheeky, I'm
going to text my management, andI'm going to be like, can I meet
this guy, because I'm a massivefan, and he tweeted about me,
and blah, blah, blah.
And, uh, and actually at thispoint, so I'd been working
solidly for months at thispoint, because after the show,

(23:26):
you just, you get management,they're like, can we have your
diary?
And you're like, yeah, can youmake me money?
Of course you can.
And, uh, And so I did, and Ihadn't really been home and hung
out with my mates, you know, ina long, long time.
So I was at a house party, I hada drink in my hand, I thought
I'm going to be really cheeky,I'm going to text my manager and
ask him if I can meet Josh onSunday.

(23:49):
And uh, and he says, Oh, let me,let me make some calls, see what
I can figure it out.
And about 20 minutes later, hetexts me back and said, how do
you, oh no, that's a lie.
He, he, he.
called me and said, how do youfancy singing with josh on
sunday?
And I was like, fuck me.
So I then put my drink down andall my friends were like, oh,

(24:10):
what now?
Come on.
And I was like, I can't tellthem.
I can't tell them.
I can't.
And then I just ended up havingto tell them so that they left
me alone because they were stilltrying to give me a drink.
Right, right.
And uh, and it was, it wasincredible.
But one of the things that Iremember because on the show,
they take the song that you singand they cut it down.

(24:31):
So that it's, you know, good forTV.
Sure, sure.
Then I was like, Oh, I'm goingto have to learn the whole thing
by Sunday.
So anyway, turned up on Sundayand I, at the time, coming off
the show, my gig uniform as suchwas like ripped jeans, a t shirt
and a leather jacket.

(24:51):
Okay.
And I turned up in this, uh,these jeans, t shirt and leather
jacket.
My mum's absolutely furiousbecause she got, managed to get
tickets to come.
Oh, she thought you should beupping it a little bit.
Suit.
Yeah, so Josh is there in hislovely suit and it's his tour so
he's dead relaxed, whereas I'mlike, oh my god, this guy is
pretty much my idol at thispoint.

(25:11):
Yeah.
Um, and I'm, I'm genuinely, I'mshitting myself.
Like, if you go onto YouTube andyou see it, he's swanning around
and I'm standing there holdingthe, the microphone with two
hands just staring into thismassive audience.
Terrified.
Yeah, pretty much.
Not really terrified, butintimidated by the scene at
least.
I was, I was definitely nervousanyway.

(25:33):
And I mean, Josh was lovely.
We, we ended up meeting beforethe show to run through the song
and, and it was lovely and hewas great and he was so relaxed.
Whereas I was just like, Oh myGod.
No.
Um, and yeah, and then it gotrecorded and put up on YouTube.
It got recorded, put up onYouTube and to be honest, there
are points in the song and evenmy mom and dad say this, they

(25:54):
can't tell if it's him or me andeven I can't tell if it's him or
me.
So were you going back andforth?
Yeah.
So we were singing differentbits.
Okay, cool.
And I'm like, is that, is thatme?
Is my mouth moving?
Um, that's really cool.
That's a really neat bit.
There is a, there is a bit inthe song, which.
Does make me feel a bit proudbecause you can tell that he's
obviously went holy shit thatguy can actually sing this song

(26:15):
Yeah, yeah, because I went for abig note and then he comes in
and goes What the fuck?
But no, he was great and it wassuch a lovely experience at the
time.
Yeah.
Yeah, and Cool thing.
Yeah, and have you everconnected with him further?
I assume you have some Yeah,just social media really, um, I,

(26:36):
I don't know, you know, he'sbeen on Broadway and things like
that, but I've never been aroundat the time, um, to, to kind of
go and catch a show.
Well, in Scotland, it's probablynot the, in Britain even in
general, is it leading edge for?
culture these days, or?
I mean, we get, we, we do prettywell.
I suppose London always is,because they've got the

(26:56):
aristocracy that always goes anddoes that stuff, because they've
got money coming from some sidechannel from the crown from who
knows how long ago.
But, um, but no, we get.
Yeah, we already talked aboutthat.
We have a good music scene in,in like Glasgow and Edinburgh
and things like that.
Like, we've, we've got,Fantastic venues and a lot of
big artists like, you know,we've, we had Taylor Swift last
year, Hattie Stiles, you know,like massive, massive artists

(27:18):
from around the world.
How big is Glasgow?
Um, you're pretty, she'sprobably bigger.
I can tell you the population ofScotland.
Of course you can't, I can't.
Which is 5.
6 million people.
Okay, so just about the same asColorado, really.
It is.
Which is also about the same asFinland.
Oh, there you go.
Yeah.
Nice.
Yeah.
It's also about the same asHouston.

(27:40):
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, that's, that's how Iequate it, but it was called in
such a small country.
If you laid out Houston,metropolitan Houston, it would
stretch from coast to coast.
No shit.
Yeah.
Like Houston could just aboutcover just Yeah.
Oh, that's interesting.
So Scotland is almost as densein population as Houston.
Yes.

(28:01):
Oh, that's insane.
Because when I think aboutScotland, I think about all
these little ranchettes andstuff and whatever.
And there is a lot of that, butHouston also just sprawls.
Houston, you are in city.
Like there's a lot of unbuiltstuff for a long ways in Houston
too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Huh.
What a fascinating thing.
Yeah.
Well, I guess we won't playScotland trivia with, with you
though, John.
You can play with me though.

(28:22):
I genuinely have said this many,many times, Meredith knows more
about Scotland and Scottishhistory than I do.
And I grew up there like it'smental and it's not because I
don't listen in school.
Yeah.
Well, the things you took forgranted.
She was researching.
You're just used to it.
So that's it.
And I, and I actually, uh, metat the stud and I went to Jack's

(28:45):
today.
I bought myself a nice set ofjeans.
Oh, it's a nice place, isn't it?
And, uh.
It used to be literally like amilitary surplus store.
Oh, really?
Okay.
Like, they had like that kind ofstuff when it first opened and a
little bit of other stuff.
Now it's all like Patagonia andfanciest fishing rods.
But it's a great story.
Well, yeah, but I went andbought myself some nice new
jeans.
Okay.
Is it those ones?
No, it's not.
Those ones look really nice too.

(29:05):
Um, thank you.
I will take that.
I don't know where they're from,but here we are.
Anyway, nice pair of Wranglers.
I like it.
However, I, uh, I actually hadthat very conversation with your
dad today about, uh, Um, thefact that because I'm here in
Colorado, my Instagram feed isall, you know, Colorado, but it
keeps coming up and saying, youknow, my morning commute and

(29:27):
then I realized I live inColorado and it just opens up
into the mountains and I waslike, do you know, it's one of
the things that although.
You know, I live in Scotland.
The reason I still live there,like, as I say, I travel around
all the time and I constantlyget asked why I don't live in
London or why I don't live inNew York or why I don't live in
LA.
Um, and I'm like, cause do youwant to see where I live?

(29:49):
Do you want to see the beachesand the mountains and the hills
and just, and yeah, it's coldand it's wet, but we wouldn't
have the landscape we have if itwasn't.
So it's, um, It's such, it issuch a beautiful place to live,
um, but also, I mean, as I said,so is Colorado, like, coming
over the mountain.
It's so different.
Oh, it's so beautiful.

(30:10):
Oh, we're just a desert, though,in comparison, you know, that
gets fed by a few veins of waterthat come out of it.
Yeah.
Out of those mountains.
Yeah, but you have a lot moresunshine, and that's true.
So, Meredith, talk to me aboutScotland.
Like, from an Americanstandpoint, because you've lived
there, what, most of the last 10years?
Uh, this will be my 16th.

(30:30):
16 years.
Dang.
Yeah, 16 years this year.
Yeah.
So, I mean, are you, do you haveA green card?
Do you have citizenship?
I actually, I have a passport.
Yes, I have citizenship.
You're dual citizen.
Is that allowed because offamily heritage in Scotland?
Or because you went?
Because I paid for it.
I've done my time.
I didn't know America allowedyou to do dual citizenship.

(30:53):
They do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You can have dual citizenshipwith Great Britain.
Um, but I have twin boys who arealso dual citizens.
So we kind of go back and forth.
Um, so I really wanted to havecitizenship.
Um, and then I went through fivedifferent visas.
I mean, I've, I've, I've done mytime, but now I have the
passport, so I don't have toever do it again, which is

(31:15):
great.
Uh, Scotland's a great country.
It's, it's beautiful.
The people are great.
Um, the, the food is,Questionable.
Questionable.
Uh, haggis, haggis.
Is it just bad ingredients?
I know, I was going to say.
They just don't really have anygood vegetables?
No, we do have good vegetables.
We do have good vegetables, tobe fair.
Just bad recipes?
It's just variety.

(31:35):
We were kidding.
We were kidding.
It's just like, there's not muchof a variety.
Do you like shepherd's pie orthe bagers and mash?
I mean, shepherd's pie.
I love shepherd's pie.
British kind of style.
Yeah, both of them are.
That's more like England.
England.
Yeah, it's definitely English.
I want to hear from you more,especially like, talk to me
about the dynamic among, likeyou said, there's not an
immigration problem in Scotlandand there is in England.

(31:58):
Is it really just because it'stoo cold?
Oh, I don't know.
Or it's not really.
Or it is.
There actually is challengesthere, too.
Like, how much independence doesScotland have from Oh, man.
That's a whole nother kettle offish.
Yeah.
The independence movement inScotland, well, I mean, it got a
lot of traction.
It did.
About what?
It failed.
It failed again.
Um, about six years ago?

(32:19):
Yeah.
About six years ago, there wasSo the Scots would like to Many
Scots, at least, would like tobe independent, but That is the
conversation.
I, I don't know.
I mean, they didn't win.
So there wasn't a popular vote,it just, it didn't win.
Do you think the Brits are, byand large, happy about Brexit?
Or do they think, shit, wefucked up there?
You can answer that one.
Oh, well, I personally am not.

(32:41):
And only because You think itwas a bad idea?
Well, it's harder.
Yes, it's harder from, well,from a visa point of view.
Totally.
Um, musicians Well, maybe justfrom an economic, uh,
competition.
Because you could kind of be thebig swingin dick in the European
Union, and now you're just alittle wussy England.
Yeah.
No offense to the language.

(33:01):
We don't live in England.
Right, yeah, exactly.
I can't get thrown in.
I'm not gonna go visit anyway.
But no, I think, you know, fromAgain, from my personal point
and from friends points ofviews, things like that as
musicians.
It's just difficult.
It makes things so much harderand costlier to travel and tour

(33:22):
and all that stuff.
So yeah.
And there are, there are otherimplications, like, you know,
import, export, all that stuff.
Sure.
Yeah.
And so How much you gotta payfor your eggs, whatever.
Yeah.
Well, and that Whether it's eggsor your They've been good about
that, and that's something thatI've noticed between the states
and the UK.
The UK's been great aboutkeeping, kind of, some cost of

(33:45):
living items down, like food.
Okay.
So our, I mean, you can buy aloaf of bread for 85p, which is
great.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
However Our utilities, like gasand electric is astronomical.
I pay like$360 damn pounds amonth.
It stupid.
And your dad was explaining tome about, do you just call it

(34:05):
gas petrol?
Like gas?
Gas, gasoline.
So talk.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Felix talking about gas.
We are petrol and diesel, butUhhuh, he was like, here, user
by the gallon and we By theliter.
Oh yeah, by the liter.
Yeah.
Same price.
So it's, yeah.
So I'm like, Oh my God, youfigure out how much we get four
times as much almost for thesame.
So in some ways, you know, itswings and roundabouts, it's

(34:28):
just, you know, whatever.
We did have an increase though.
Was it last year?
Maybe this year, 45 percent tax.
Oh, that was, was that lastyear?
That was last year.
On gas?
No, in general.
In general, 45 percent tax.
So it's been increased.
Oh damn.
Uh huh.
Yeah.
And so I'm going, Colorado looksreally good right now.
Right or Wyoming?

(34:48):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
One of the things I, I, I read amonthly blog, um, and after
like, I guess it's been going onfor like six, seven years now.
And after, like, Germany shutdown all its reactors and then,
you know, all the climate stuffand this and that.
And I, I wrote that, uh, Europehas cut its hands off, cut its

(35:10):
own hands off to save itselffrom sinning.
Wow.
Like in its attempt to beclimate aware and stuff, it's
like, Oh, let's just ruin ourmanufacturing industry.
Uh, sorry, BMW, Mercedes, uh,Siemens, um, all these other
things.
It's like, you're going to haveto live with, you're going to
have to try to compete withenergy that costs four times as

(35:31):
much now.
Yeah.
Well, and, and Aberdeen is, isour oil city in, in Scotland.
Oh, you do have one.
So that's good.
Yeah.
Well, but I mean, we also have ahuge green initiative that's,
That's, that's championed by theScottish government, so it's
Right, well, then there'spolicies that say, well, trees
are sustainable, if you growtrees and burn them, that's
sustainable energy.

(35:52):
And you're like, well, yeah,it's a whole, it's a whole
thing, like, like, like Godturned the dinosaurs and some
trees into oil for us.
Like, we could just go straightto that.
Yeah.
Anyway, it's really interesting.
And I'll kind of circle back.
It's that So, in Ayrshire,where, where we live, um, Which
is what, like an outer suburbfrom the big city?

(36:14):
Well, it's about, it's 45minutes south of Glasgow on the
coast.
So we live really close to, tothe beach.
Kind of the sweet spot.
It is, it's gorgeous.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The choice city of Scotland, ifyou will.
Ayr.
Like we're the choice city of,uh, I don't know, I think
Edinburgh would be, but, but,oh, no, Edinburgh is beautiful.

(36:35):
Glasgow people are amazing.
But my point is about climatechange is that, it's okay.
I know you, um, so where we stayin Errishire, it's not really a
tourist destination.
I mean, it can be, and a lot ofplaces are, and I think that it
should have more tourism to it.

(36:56):
What I found amazing from livingthere is It's all of, not only
all of the sites, but there isinitiative happening within
Dumfries House.
And Dumfries House is owned bythe King's Foundation.
Um, and that's one of KingCharles's residence in Scotland.
Yeah.
Um, but he is a, a huge advocatefor climate, you know, eco

(37:18):
friendly materials and, andbuilding things that are Well, I
kinda am too.
Like, I like really goodinsulation.
Yeah.
Right?
Well, especially when you livein Colorado.
Walking.
Yeah.
Walking when you can.
Yeah.
Do that instead.
Like, I'm definitely a limiteduse, but it's also utility.
Well, and it's reducing thecarbon footprint.
Right.
And, and I think Scotland'sreally good at that because we

(37:39):
do grow, especially in Ayrshire,we do grow a lot of vegetables.
There's a lot of farms.
There are a lot of, I would say,ranches.
You're not importing yourvegetables from China.
No.
I mean, we, we do, but it's not.
It's not as prolific as youwould find in other areas.
Um, and that's one of thechampions of, of being in
Ayrshire.
I really find Ayrshire potatoes.
Like, you know, you know wherethey come from.

(37:59):
They come from the farm.
Right.
Well, that's one of the things Ilove about Northern Colorado is,
well, just in general, likelocalizing economies, like we've
got this whole movement towardsglobalization.
And that's nice that I can getstuff off of Timu if I want to,
uh, the quality might not bethere, but there was a.
40, 000 square foot warehousethat burned a Timu warehouse and

(38:22):
800 worth of inventory wasdestroyed.
Oh, well, I mean, keeping costsdown.
So, anyway, where was I goingwith the prior statement?
I left it off at, uh, You weretalking about farms.
I was talking about localizingthe economy.
Yeah, like within about 100miles of here, we've got all

(38:43):
these vegetables.
We've got oil.
We've got energy industry, we'vegot universities, we've got
culture, we've got music, we'vegot a bunch of different, like
we've got beef, and pork, and aton of, uh, product.
And so we have really everythingwe need within a hundred miles
of here, by and large.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah, for sure.
Um, and so that's a great way tobe thoughtful about how far away

(39:07):
do you have to get your stufffrom, because when you get it
from locals and those people,Get money yeah, and they can
spend it at your businessexactly.
No and the same thing inScotland And that's part of the
strength of Scotland.
I assume just in general isbecause it's Expensive to bring
something over to that island somight as well try to figure out
how to grow it or make it hereYeah, yeah, definitely the

(39:28):
sustainability is the biginitiative that has happened,
but isn't that the right thingto do?
Even without rules, does it sayyou have to do it?
I don't know.
Yeah, I would say so.
Yeah, I think, I, yeah, I mean,I, I've Feels like you do more
with awareness than you couldwith rules in that space.
So, when I was a kid, and youprobably wouldn't have had it in

(39:50):
this country, but there was ashow called Captain Planet.
Oh, yeah, we had Captain Planet.
No way, did you?
Of course it is.
I'm so happy about this.
Captain Planet was American.
Was he?
Yeah.
I don't remember this.
I was tiny.
Anyway, so I, um, so basically Iloved that show and from a very
young age I was, you know, aletter picker.
I was, you know, I'd do all thatstuff and then when recycling, I

(40:12):
was recycling before recyclingwas a thing.
Sure.
Do you know, and it was becausemy mom and dad would always be
like, oh, you better pick thatup.
Captain Planet's going to getyou.
Right.
And, uh, And my mom and dad justlike, my mom always tells
stories about how my, my, mytrousers would always be full of
rubbish.
She'd have to empty, you know,like all that sort of stuff and
so that, I love it.

(40:33):
That's sort of, um, it's sort ofbeen a thing since I was a kid.
I know, like I've got kids inthe family and they grow up and,
and at school they have like,you know, eco warriors and all
these sort of things.
And, and, and it's nice just tosee that initiative continuing,
um, because.
It's hard, especially like,because I, not so much my

(40:55):
parents, they're pretty good atit.
My mum is like, which bin?
Because we've got like 15 binsfor stuff.
We do.
It's mental.
Yeah, that's Oh, which recyclingbin?
Oh yeah, so it's like white, orcardboard, or glass, or We just
put all of ours in the mixedrecycling and then they send it
to Indonesia where they burn itfor energy.
Good luck! Yeah, no, they'vereally gone deep to recycling.

(41:21):
But in a way, it's nice becauseHopefully it's being recycled
properly and, you know, it'sbeen done the right way, the
right way, whatever that is.
Um, and yeah, and it's just,it's all that awareness like
there, there's also, you know,um, what do you call them when
it's an allotment?

(41:41):
Oh yeah, allotments, there'sallotments in, in the local
town, but even, you know, I grewup in a small village and, uh,
there was things like that justout people's back doors, just,
you know, they'd always have,Oh, sorry.
It's a veg patch or a placewhere you would grow your own
food.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Community garden.
Community garden.

(42:01):
Yes, that's exactly what it is.
Community garden.
I love it.
Yeah.
And so that has also kind ofplayed a part in sort of People
being a bit more sustainable andhaving that.
And, and, and it's a shamebecause I don't any of where
we're from there, there havebeen a few shops pop up where
it's, you know, like bring yourown glass jars and we'll fill it

(42:23):
with rice and they don't, sadlythey don't last long because
people just I don't know, it'sjust, it's either an
inconvenience or a businessmodel.
We were programmed to just buy abox of laundry detergent, you
know, and it's hard to breakthose habits, but useful.
But actually, your mum's prettygood at like, I've loved, your
mum like, cooks a lot of herown, makes her own bread.

(42:44):
She, um, You know, makes a lotof run jams, stuff like that.
And I just think all theselittle things, you know, I grew
up on a ranch outside ofHouston.
Like we didn't, we, we lived outchickens by the way.
We had chickens.
I had chickens growing up.
So I don't have a big enoughgarden for chickens, but I am an
advocate for chickens.
I love eggs.
I'm a vegetarian, but I loveeggs.
Well, they'll turn your, and I'mjust like, like you'll, they'll

(43:06):
turn your like leftover saladthat you wish you would've got
back to.
But it got a little yucky.
They'll turn that into eggs.
You don't have to put it in yourtrash and put it in the
landfill.
You don't have to put it downyour garbage disposal.
You can turn that garbage foodinto eggs.
Like everything.
I like it.
In my opinion, that's one of myfavorite.

(43:27):
Like sustainability things isjust having something that
because I hate, you know, Ididn't, I hated composting.
I did it for a while before wegot chickens, but that sucks.
It's stinky and it's a pain inthe ass and the avocado peelings
never go away.
Um, you can just swing thatthing out.
Oh, okay.

(43:48):
So, so you'll find no argumentfrom me and the fact that, uh,
living with a unintentionally.
Modest footprint is, is, is apositive for sure.
Um, and there isn't a lot of,like, the globalization, the,
the control unit that they'relooking to fix the climate by is

(44:08):
a, is a global control kind of aWorld Economic Forum kind of
mechanism.
But the actual function, the,the, like action is all local
and the localization of theeconomy is actually would do
more probably to fight climatechange than would having carbon

(44:29):
credits trading and.
Cameras to make sure you don'tleave your 15 minute zone and
stuff like that.
Well, you think about it, and along time ago, and actually not
that long ago, that's how weoperated as a society.
Sure.
We were, we were all localized.
Yeah, yeah.
And so I think it's just goingback to a natural order of
things.
Yeah.
And one of, one of the And thenthe other hats that I wear, the

(44:50):
other jobs that I do is I workat Sunrise Ranch in Loveland.
And they are one of the oldestintentional communities in the
United States.
They were founded in 1945.
They've been there.
They've raised their own, youknow, vegetables, to, they had
chickens.
They have their own beef still.
It's grass fed.
I've been a fan for years.
Oh, then you know that, youknow, that kind of, Mentality

(45:14):
and living is so natural to, towho we are as a society.
So it's like, well, we're justgoing back to, to how it should
be.
Yeah.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
Which is great.
I want to talk more aboutSunrise Ranch and, uh, the other
things that you've dabbled.
And we haven't even talked aboutHarp much.
Oh, well, I'll talk about Harp.
I'll talk about Sunrise.
But I want to take a break.
Uh, first, because my drink hasbeen empty for a while.

(45:35):
Oh, no! Kurt! I could probablyuse a break, too, so.
Go for it! And we're back.

(46:30):
Um, Meredith, you were juststarting to talk before we took
a break about your, uhInvolvement with Sunrise Ranch,
but also you, you do somebusiness consultancy stuff, too,
so you're not just King CharlesHarpist.
You've got other skills.
I'm really not King CharlesHarpist.
I'm getting in so much trouble.
Um, well, that is a good storythat you can ask me about later,

(46:52):
about not being King CharlesHarpist.
Um, but with Sunrise Ranch,I've, I started working for them
in 2023.
Oh, wow, okay.
And it was one of these, I wasat kind of a, um, I don't know,
a turning point in my life, andI wanted to move back home,
obviously that didn't happen,but I was looking for a job, and

(47:12):
having grown up on a ranch, Iwas just like, oh, a ranch, oh,
that sounds really fun, and verydifferent from what I had been
doing in my career as a harpist.
But I had run businesses beforemy husband and I had a business
and, um, I had multiple otherthings that I did in events.
I ran a non profit.

(47:33):
I saw there was some festivalaction.
I did a festival, which wasawesome.
I really loved.
Um, it was.
It is.
It's still going.
I mean, I'm actually going totell that story.
So when I, Meredith and I met,sorry, and, uh, And I went round
to practice for something, orjust probably to have tea, I
don't really know.
Yeah, I think you were there fortea.
Yeah, that's fine.

(47:54):
And, uh, and I saw a coaster onthe table for her, well, for the
festival, which was calledTamfest.
And I love Halloween and Ithought, this is incredible.
I can't believe someone hasthought about.
amalgamating tamfe or halloweenwith tam o'shanto which is uh oh

(48:17):
yeah it's an old poem yes yeahyeah well done yeah i've read it
before even it's hard it's ahard read yeah it's impressive
And I thought it was great.
I'm saying, Oh man, it's beenamazing.
And I went down last year.
I read the English version.
Yeah, you have to.
I did too.
Terrible behavior.
You're the only one that couldtranslate it.
I, well, give me now.
No, I, um.
All right, we'll just finish therest of the podcast.

(48:39):
Oh yeah, it would be 25 minutesof Tam O'Shanter.
But, um.
Yeah, so I was, I was gushingabout this, this, this festival
and how much I loved it and howmuch it just, yeah, it just was
great.
And she's like, Oh yeah, I don'tknow.
And I was like, Oh, fuck off.
No, you don't.
And she was like, yeah, yeah, Idid.
And I was like, Oh my God.
And I was like, I don't know,shit.

(48:59):
So incredible.
You guys have grown to befriends or whatever through
other channels and whatever.
And years later you're like, youknow, what was the best?
Was this one festival we hadwith the Tamu and Shanti on
Halloween?
By the way.
Yeah, by the way, that was allme! That was me.
Well, it certainly wasn't allme, but, um, yeah, the Tama
Shanter Festival was great.
So, by the way, I've, um, I'vebeen acquainted with Sunrise

(49:20):
Ranch for a while.
I've known some of the peopleout there, um, and even, cause I
was a banker for 15 years, andso, even just through a few
conversations and stuff, and Iwas doing math in my head, just
trying to figure out what Aproper sustainable business
model looks like for anagricultural operation of that
scale.
You know, like just growingenough food for your people to

(49:42):
eat is a pretty big Undertaken.
When already.
Yeah.
You know, but then if you'realso trying to make some revenue
on the place and, you know, it'sa, can you build a brand of, you
know, locally sourced beef orchickens or some shit or, you
know, it takes a littlesomething, something to be
different.
And they've been, they've, Imean, COVID hit them really,

(50:03):
really hard as it hit everybody.
My food trailer served at theArise Music Festival actually at
Sunrise Ranch years ago.
So you know, do you know Paulthen?
Paul Bassin.
Mhmm.
Probably not.
Okay.
Well, he is Mr.
Arise.
Okay.
He put on the Arise Festival.
So I probably did communicatewith him at the time.
Yeah.
So Paul is the new eventsdirector at Sunrise Ranch.

(50:25):
Oh, that's wild.
So, so I work very closely withPaul.
Yeah, welcome back.
Yeah, exactly.
Because Larry McConaughey waskind of Bye bye Arise.
Well, Arise, yeah, it's, Ariseis not coming back, but what is
coming back, um, are majorevents.
So yes, you know, Sunrise wasknown for its agricultural, um,

(50:45):
aspects of, of it, mostly toserve the community, but it has
since moved to Uh, events.
It's a retreat center as well asan intentional community.
So they, it has all of thesedifferent facets of, of an, of a
business.
Um, what's really exciting andit's a really exciting time to
be at Sunrise right now isbecause they have a new, um, a

(51:10):
new development that, that we'vebeen talking about and that I've
been brought in to consult on.
And that's expanding the ranchand expanding how we do things.
Like by acreage or by roomrentals?
Or Um, and it's like Sunrise 2.
0, so we're calling it adreamscape, but effectively it

(51:33):
is, it's growing that, that ideaof what society really Should be
and has been.
Because intentional communitiesare, you know, are clans or
tribes or How society has beenfor thousands of years and we've
gotten away from that By livingin you know, these urban areas,
right?

(51:53):
Cities and things.
Yeah.
Yeah, I actually had a very kindof mmm, I wouldn't say a vision
but an imagination at least of aof a commune type of thing that
I might be involved with at somepoint in my future.
It hasn't happened yet, youknow, I lived in an old town.
But like, like to be able to putthe people together, which

(52:15):
represent the pieces of a, youknow, I'm a big fan of some of
the old, uh, Ayn Rand and, youknow, Fountainhead, Atlas Shrug
kind of things.
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you put a sustainable Yeah.
Out of what?
What's it take?
Atlas Shrug is a reallyimpressive book.
It's a really big book.
It is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's impressive that you knowit.
Oh, I, yeah, I read that when Iwas like 14.

(52:36):
Wow.
Like, I was like into that kindof stuff at the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And well, it's taking thoseideas and those models and
putting them to work.
Yeah.
And that's something thatSunrise has been doing for
decades.
Oh, yeah.
Um, and I think, you know, nowwe are at the precipice of a new
way of living, um, as a society.
That's something that we've beenkind of moving towards for quite

(52:58):
some time.
Um, and it's, it's now it's timeto kind of regenerate that and
look at it in a new way.
Well, it feels like with therise of not, not staycations
necessarily, but, um, likeintentional learning
environments and just VRBOs.
And I know, I know there's a lotof competition right now, but it
seems like.

(53:19):
inviting more kinds of people tocome and take a sip.
Like, cause I don't know ifSunrise Ranch was ever, it was
like, it, it always had kind ofa religious connotation, like
there was kind of a servicesthing, and the community was
kind of built around that, atleast to some level.
If you wanted to live there kindof thing and stuff, at least
that's what it perceived.
Yeah, it was religious, it wastotally founded as a religious

(53:41):
community.
Yeah.
Um, in 1945 by its founder.
Um And has gone, undergoneseveral iterations of something
like that, but ultimately it'san intentional community.
So it's, it's people that cometogether to have that way of
life as, as a unit to worktogether.
And does it remain that?
Um, I, I think that it's movingback towards it.

(54:02):
You know, that it has kind ofundergone different iterations
of leadership and has changedover in management and has, has.
It's been in flux for quite sometime.
Right, right.
But what's really exciting nowis that they have a really solid
trajectory.
Okay.
Um, and that's what I, I think,gets me most.
We signed up for it to helpfigure that out.
Yeah, absolutely.
Because it's, again, it's goingback to kind of the way that it

(54:24):
was.
And can you paint that picturesome?
Like, I'm sure it's, like, lotsof little steps to make big
progress, or is that allowed?
I feel like I have the mostcontroversial stories, because
I'm, you know, not playing forKing Charles, but have playing
for King Charles, and nowtalking about things that I
shouldn't be talking about.
Well, I mean, um, Well, if youdon't, shouldn't want to talk

(54:44):
about it, then don't, you know.
No, no, it's really excitingstuff.
Um, so, You're talking about OldTown, Fort Collins, and Old
Town, Fort Collins was actually,I guess, how do I say this,
sketched out, drawn, designed bya man called Ed Goodman who is
from Fort Collins, born andraised.

(55:06):
He went off and lived inCalifornia for many, many years,
worked for Disney, reallyInteresting, amazing
imagination, great guy, and hewas actually brought in for this
project specifically, and usingall of his knowledge, expertise,
and brainpower to reimagine whatSunrise could be.
Oh, is that right?
Interesting.
So it, it really is.

(55:27):
It's his vision, um, coupledwith what the community would
like to bring.
So you're talking about a realdevelopment here.
A full blown development.
Like a raising capital and likeyou're Yellowstoning this bitch.
Yeah, we are.
So Sunrise, it's big.
It's a really big project.
Yeah.
And it's, it's really exciting.
And, um, just to have Ed'sbrainpower backed with the

(55:51):
community and the enthusiasm of,of Sunrise Ranch communities.
I think your property.
Neighbors with the other ranchthere that's more famous, uh,
Sylvandale, Sylvandale.
Yeah, so that, they're up on theridge.
The lady that owns that wastelling me how her parents and
the Sunrise Ranch people weresuch close friends during those
early years when they were bothbuilding their ranches up and

(56:11):
stuff like that.
Right, yeah.
And just their resonance, um, isone of the things that she
shared.
Like even though that TheSunrise folks weren't Christians
per se.
Oh, no, they were.
Oh, were they?
Oh, yeah, totally.
I didn't realize.
Mm hmm.
I thought it was kind of a, atleast an off shooty kind of
thing, but it is.
Uh, well, at least they don'tboo poo Jesus.
Anyway, she felt like they werea little different, but they

(56:33):
had.
So many more similarities andthat they were very much, uh,
Total similarities.
Kind of in the same vein.
And I would have to think thatSylvandale's struggling too.
I don't know.
I'm sure it is.
I don't know, I know.
Like as long as you're blowingthis shit up, why don't you buy
that and save her and blow thatup all the way down.
I'll, I'll talk to theirinvestors and see what happens.

(56:53):
I don't know.
I'm just saying, I'm not sayingSylvan Dale is struggling, but
it doesn't seem like it'sprospering either.
Yeah.
Neither through their baseoperations nor through dude
ranchie things and stuff.
Um, yeah, I think it's been hardfor them since COVID too.
It's, it's a hard, it's a hardtime.
Um, I mean, Sunrise Ranch isalready enormous.
It's 450 acres, so it's, it's abig, it's a big process.

(57:16):
Oh, was it?
Well, there you go.
You have more space, um, but forSunrise's development, what
we're looking to do, like Isaid, is that there is already
the main campus that has, it wasbasically built up in the 1970s,
1980s.
That was the main developmentarea.
Functional rooms, some greatsunlight.
Really beautiful, um.

(57:37):
And they also have the dome.
So it's a Buckminster Fullerdesigned dome, um, for residence
and for great acoustics.
And so right now we're in theprocess of getting everything
landmarked.
So they have some beautifulhistory that needs to be
preserved.
And I'm really keen on seeingthat project through so that
when we move forward with thedreamscape development that, you

(58:00):
know, we have that history.
We're in the present looking atthe future and moving forward
with it.
So, um, is there like atimeline?
Like, when should, when would weexpect to hear things about this
in our community?
It's imminent.
So, yeah, we're looking to gofull fledged forward this year.
And, and what's, so the, the,the dome becomes more of like a

(58:24):
venue?
It's always been a venue.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
405 seats.
Oh, is it that big?
Yeah, it's a good venue.
Alright.
Um, the historical landmark.
stamp on it will help a lot.
Um, there are renovations thatneed to be done to bring it back
up to code and to make it safeand open again to the public.
But we're, we're in process ofthat.

(58:44):
So, yeah.
Well that could be a highfunctioning space just in
itself.
Totally.
I mean honestly like there'sbands out there that could, that
could fill a 400 seat.
Place, but they, you know, theAggie doesn't trust them.
Yeah, or whatever.
They don't have a place to play.
Like, this is it.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
And probably it's like, will youmake food for them and stuff

(59:08):
too?
Like, is it full serviceoperation?
Sunrise Ranch is known for theirfood.
I know.
We were there over the weekendand it was Well, I mean, they
were former chefs.
Uh, go on to be famousrestaurant chefs here locally or
vice versa, you know, hirepeople and they always have
great.
Yeah, they're brilliant.
So that's, that's a big part ofour community.
Okay.
Yeah.

(59:28):
Other, other major things thatyou can.
Like get in trouble over tellingus no.
I haven't signed any NDAs yet.
So I mean, I think we're okayBut no, I mean a that whole
project is we've been planningit for about a year and a half
Oh, well, okay moment.
And so we're just like I said atthe precipice of moving full

(59:48):
steam ahead and it is So the oneof the reasons I like Sunrise
Ranch so much is because I'm amotorcyclist and so You drive by
there all the time.
Way too fast, yeah.
No, it's one of the best roadsto go fast on over there.
That's a beauty.
Yeah, so anyway, that whole EdenValley stretch is just awesome.

(01:00:08):
Yeah.
So, you're a festival creator,and let's talk about harp.
Yeah, let's talk about harp.
I mean, that's ultimately how,um, you were introduced to me as
the, whatever harp is for King'sharp.
I know, master harpist.
So talk about, let's talk aboutyour harp career just a little
bit.
And is that, like, how you earnthe most of your income now?

(01:00:29):
Um, most of it now is businessconsulting, but I mean, I've,
I've had a, such a big career asa Harpist.
Um, that that's what you're mostfamous for.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
That's how I'm introduced to theAmerican Harpist.
Jay often introduces me as, isthat right?
Yes.
American Harpist.
Or the American Harpist inScotland.
Yeah.

(01:00:49):
Oh, totally.
I met.
Yeah.
Pretty much.
Yeah.
You are.
The list is you.
Yeah.
That is, that is.
So, uh, like.
Talk to me about the developmentof that path, like, uh, were you
like a piano girl that then waslike, Oh, I want to harp instead
mom and she's like, oh, come on.
We already have your Yeah, itwas very much along those lines.
Um, I, I spent a lot of time,um, when I was really little at

(01:01:14):
my great grandma's and she hadthis beautiful painting in her,
I think it was in her guestbedroom or something.
And it was of a beautiful womanin a beautiful dress in a castle
playing harp.
And I thought, that's what Iwant to do.
I want that.
And I actually, I think I wantedthe dress.
Right.
More than anything.
You're like seven or something.
I was totally little.

(01:01:34):
I was very, very little.
Princess era.
And, um, I was like, I want thedress and I want to live in the
castle.
Princess era.
I know what you're going to say.
Well, in America, in America,like the three to four is the
beginning and then up to sevento eight, kind of, when every
girl wants a princess party forher birthday every year and as

(01:01:56):
many princess things as they canget in between.
Yeah.
Meredith?
He's 39, will be 40 soon.
He outed me! So you are older.
And she is still a princess.
Yes, he reminds me.
I am still a princess.
Still a princess.
I have a loud voice.
In fact, I think your 40thbirthday should be princess
themed at, yes.
Okay.
I am gonna organize this.

(01:02:17):
Oh yeah, your 40th, for sure.
When is your birthday?
Oh no, you've gone away.
But I'm still going to have amassive party.
I've actually rented out a hugeestate house.
Oh, wow.
Already.
I know.
I'm insane.
In Scotland?
In Scotland.
Okay.
Yep.
I dig it.
I dig it.
Yeah, it sleeps 16 people.
A bunch of us turned 50 thispast year, including myself.

(01:02:37):
Oh, I like that.
I in St.
Lucia.
A couple of us went down therewith our family.
Amazing.
St.
Lucia's beautiful.
Oh, it was really cool.
Um, a lot warmer than Scotland.
Yes, yes, definitely.
An October.
Do you know that the that St.
Lucia has been controlled by theBritish and the French seven
times each?

(01:02:58):
Really?
Yes.
Like in like back and forth.
They fought over it back andforth.
And so the the local language isa is a Pigeon language, a mix of
British and French.
Wow! But you can't understand itbecause it's almost as bad as
Scottish to understand on thepigeon side.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Do I need to translate?

(01:03:18):
So, so you had this, yourgrandma's picture inspired you
and then like.
Oh yeah, so I wanted that, Iwanted the dress.
Middle school, high school, youwere like the harp girl?
I was totally the harp girl.
Yeah, I started playing when Iwas 10.
And, um, went to university forit in New Orleans.

(01:03:39):
Um, and played professionallysince really, I mean I played my
first wedding when I was 15.
Yeah, yeah.
And then that was it.
Like, I didn't do thebabysitting thing, you know how,
uh, teenagers have odd jobs.
Yeah, yeah.
Or, you know, when you'reyounger you can play this.
You just made 500 bucks once amonth at a show.
I played weddings.
And that was always my job.
I was never a very goodbabysitter.

(01:04:01):
I'm sure that was actually my,my, uh, My nephew, my wife's
oldest nephew, um, has been leadchair on the flute for Colorado
Christian University.
Okay.
And, and has been like stateranked, kind of like the lead
flute, and he was a piano guyand then he changed to flute and
now we go down there.
for his Christmas concerts andstuff.

(01:04:22):
And he, he goes down to Arizonawith the lead of the music
college to go shake donors downfor money.
And yeah, so he's a little biton the edge of the experience
you had, although probably a loteasier to get.
Weddings with a harp than it iswith a flute.
I, I play a lot of weddings.
Yeah.
120.
You still year?
A year?

(01:04:42):
Yeah.
Still?
Yeah.
Well, last year it was, I thinkit was a little less than that.
I think it was about 90.
Um, but that's a lot.
It is a lot.
But, but that's almost a thirdof the day.
But I guess it's only a fewhours you go.
It's only a few hours and it'susually on the weekend.
Right.
So it's like Friday, Saturday,Sunday.
Those are my, my busy times.
And so the rest of the weekI'll, I'll do, you know, work
for sunrise and, and businessconsulting.

(01:05:04):
You think, yeah, event, eventconsulting is another, okay.
Interesting.
Another thing that I do.
And what's your, like, why doyou have a special talent in the
space?
Like are you quick processor,just marketing, understanding,
like it seems like you've beenlike trapped.
Learning how to play the harpgood and, and being King

(01:05:25):
Charles's moving furniture pieceand stuff like that.
That was one of the highlights.
It would seem like your focuswould be hard to build kind of
that diverse skill set thatoftentimes business consulting
needs.
I, I like the challenge.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, I really like, I likehaving the challenge and I also,
uh, I like being busy and I getbored very easily.
Fair enough.
As Jerry knows, cause he's beenvoluntold to too many things in

(01:05:46):
our time.
Well, you just keep doing whatshe tells you to do and you'll
be just fine.
Yeah.
It's fine, that's how I got toColorado, so I'll keep doing it.
I mean, I got him, I got thisScotsman in a kilt up a mountain
and for a video.
I like it.
And it was fun, we did have agood time.
I'm gonna do a quick time check.
Oh, I was actually, I found apicture I was gonna show you

(01:06:07):
guys, because I was the emcee ofa movie premiere this weekend.
Oh, sweet! On Run.
Wild, a documentary about theWild West Relay.
Cool.
Which is a running race fromPort Collins to Steamboat
Springs.
Oh my gosh, that's a long way.
And I wore my, my running gearon the bottom and my checkered
flag jacket on top.

(01:06:28):
That's hilarious.
Look at that.
Ava, I'll get you that pictureso you can weave that into the,
into the show here.
That is a costume.
It was uh, yeah we had like 220people in the theater and the
movie was really good.
Nice.
We don't really know what we'redoing, but it's cool and it's
fun.
I mean, none of us really knowwhat we're doing.
Right.
No, but we always have fun.

(01:06:50):
That's our rule.
That's the rules.
True.
Um, I guess if you're talking toa business putting on an event,
um, since you're an eventconsultant especially, kind of,
but what, uh, what are some ofthe don't be dumb, don't I'll do
this for sure.
Um.
I always go for the creativeauthenticity hooks.

(01:07:14):
So be real and authentic.
Absolutely.
Anytime you're making an eventbecause that's what people will
respond to.
Um, that and details.
I'm big on details.
That and like, like his talkingabout that poem plus Halloween
was like this amazing thing.
And somehow you, like, you wereearly in Scotland even probably
at the time, relatively.

(01:07:36):
I guess so.
Yeah.
So the first one.
Fascinated by this poem?
Like, what was the why of that?
Yeah, so 2015 was the first TamO'Shanter Festival.
So the first Tam Fest.
Um, it was one of those thingsthat, for me, loving history and
being in the space that I was.
It was natural.
I was like, I love Halloween.
Like this, and this story is thebest Halloween story that I've

(01:07:58):
ever read.
And we're not doing anythingwith it.
And it takes place in air where,where we live.
And so it was, it was tying upall of those, again,
authenticity.
Was Halloween a thing inScotland?
I mean, it is a thing.
Not really.
It's bigger now.
It's certainly bigger now thanit was.
Because the world has gottenglobalized more.
Totally.

(01:08:18):
In some ways.
Yeah.
Everybody sees TikTok of yourcool Halloween costume.
Yeah, I love Halloween.
We would always go, we called itguising, but we'd always go
guising.
Guising.
Disguise.
Halloween.
Um, you know, even, even since Iwas a kid.
So it's, we, we, we would alwaysdo that trick or treating
almost.
Yeah.
Okay.
Um, but the Kind of, as you say,globalization or

(01:08:41):
commercialization of Halloweenhas gotten bigger because of,
you know, things like Amazon andsure, you can get whatever you
want.
Yeah, big, massive inflatable.
So it's just, yeah, it's, it's,um, I think a lot of people at
home would say it's beenAmericanized as such, because
obviously you guys go back here.
We do a lot of holidays and, uh,And I think just because it's

(01:09:05):
easier for us to get things inScotland, you know, they now do
that.
Well, and what I love is thatreally that kind of festival is
Scottish, you know, havingHalloween is all Hallow's Eve.
That is British.
That's from the British Isles.
So for me, I was going, you guysshould like do more.
Yeah, this totally fits.
I mean, I, I always say thatit's amazing that it took an

(01:09:30):
American to come here and do allof this stuff.
Like we're just so annoyinglylaid back.
Um, but it's also like, youknow, when I went to, I went to
New York for the first time lastyear for a, uh, uh, a festival
called tartan week and uh, andon the It takes place in April,
because it's all about thedeclaration of Arbroath, which

(01:09:53):
is kind of like Scottishindependence, almost.
Kind of.
It's like a constitution.
Yeah.
Okay.
And so.
That's very cool.
Um, but it was really funnybecause my friend that took me
over there, he plays a bagpipes,and his name's Craig Weir, and
he, uh, he actually said, youknow, I live not too far away
from Arbroath.
And we're in New York.
We're currently doing a paradedown 6th Avenue.

(01:10:15):
Do you know what's happening inArbroath?
Nothing.
And it's just mental becauseit's like why?
It baffles me.
It's part of the Scottishmentality of like, don't Don't
shine too bright.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't go too big.
You know, keep humble.
Stay, stay me.
And of course I'm like, no, likethis is amazing.

(01:10:36):
Shout this from the rooftops.
Yeah.
We have Tam O'Shinter andeveryone's like, man, I'm used
to it.
And I'm thinking this is such agreat story.
Like let's have a parade throughthe high street.
And then obviously somethinglike me goes, that is absolutely
fucking amazing.
Right.
So, right.
Cause you thought it was.
Uh, flamboyant and wonderful andbeautiful, right?
Like it's like this big thing.
And it's all those things that Iwish sometimes Scottish people

(01:11:00):
could be or Scottish culturecould have.
I mean, we have a lot, butsometimes, you know, it's not
that we don't have anything.
We do.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But.
Well, it's probably a lot likeFinland and like North Dakota,
where you kind of grow up withthe mentality that you just kind
of suck compared to other peoplein the world.
No, that is part of it, becausewhy would our people live here

(01:11:23):
if they didn't suck?
Because this place is kind ofcold and miserable.
I mean, it's probably less so inScotland, but So, I'm going to
tell a joke from my late highschool years, I think, but
Because Minnesota is You know,it's got Minneapolis, and it's a
lot more kind of progressive ingeneral and stuff, and then
North Dakota is right next door,and North Dakota's one seventh

(01:11:46):
the population, right, andthere's barely anybody that
wanted to be there, you know?
Anyway.
But they would say that, uh Geta bucket of crawfish from
Minnesota and one from NorthDakota and you don't have to put
a cover on the one from NorthDakota because as soon as one
gets close to climbing out, theother ones will just grab it and
pull it back down.

(01:12:07):
Yeah.
Um, because of that kind ofmentality that, you know, you
don't deserve to be out of thisbucket.
Wow.
That's a little bit like whatyou're describing and a little
bit what I've heard from, fromFinland too, from our exchange
student from Finland.
And then I, you know, I was, hadto be at college for like a year
before I realized it.
Oh shit, I'm just as smart asthese fuckers from Minnesota,
you know, or whatever it was.

(01:12:28):
And I was kind of thatexpressive, you know, there's a
reason I got a podcast and Icame from North Dakota because I
wanted to tell stories and beinteresting, you know, see
interesting things, meetinteresting people.
And as it's, it's, it'sdifficult because as you say,
like, you know, one scene that Iremember, uh, so obviously I
went onto the TV show and, andwhen I won it.

(01:12:48):
A lot of people would be like,don't you get too big for your
boots now?
Right.
And I'm like, whoa, give me ashot.
Just give me a chance.
Right.
Just, you know, and it can, Itry to get three gigs that pay,
right?
Is that going to be okay?
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Same mentality.
Yeah.
And it's hard because, you know,I love my country.
I absolutely adore it.
And as I said earlier, you know,I haven't moved away because of

(01:13:11):
that, because my heart willalways belong to Scotland and,
but at times it's just reallydifficult because you meet
people at Meredith who do.
So much and she shines so brightand she's so good at everything
she does and it's just amazing.
And then you're like, Oh man,give me a piece of that, give me
a piece of that.
That's why you hang out with me.
That's why you're alive.

(01:13:33):
It's not because we both haveADHD.
It's nothing to do with that.
In America we have this thingthat's called absence makes the
heart grow fonder.
Also, basically when you comehere, I don't speak to you for a
couple of years and then I'llcome and visit you.
Well, what I was thinking ismaybe you should leave Scotland
behind for a year and do like aworld tour.
Oh, right, fair do.
So yeah, I like that idea.
And then you'll come back toScotland just appreciating it

(01:13:54):
that much more.
Yeah, I would agree.
World tour.
If anybody's listening and wantsto put me on one of those,
that'd be great.
I've got a harpist.
We're gonna have to, uh, startworking our way towards
something.
No, we're not done yet, butwe're gonna have to start
working our way there.
I'm glad you're having fun,actually.
Yeah, we always have fun.
We always have a good time.
Um, I want to go, uh, in thetime capsule to you at Seven

(01:14:20):
years old and you also at sevenyears old and just kind of get
an idea of as you were turninginto a little person yourself,
like what was your, like, didyou have siblings?
What were your parents up to?
Were you a smart ass?
Were you a singing singeralready?
All those things.
And then I'll shift the samequestion.
Well, okay.
Uh, I'm trying to remember.

(01:14:41):
I have siblings.
Yes.
Okay.
You can be five.
You can be seven, whatever.
Good memory on that pace.
Um, seven.
God, I would have been Justin,maybe like primary, we do, we do
different school systems, butprimary three and seven.
So, I was quite a quiet wee boy.
I think I was quite, you know.
You were pretty small.

(01:15:01):
Yeah, oh yeah.
I was very small too.
I was five foot one at the endof my sophomore year of high
school.
I was a, I was a small guy.
Really little.
With uh, Potentially a mulletstill at that point.
My mom and dad did that to me.
All right.
All right.
Um, I had a mullet too, but Iwas popular.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it was, it waskind of popular back in the day
as well.
And my dad was an old rocker whohad a mullet.

(01:15:22):
Um, and so it was just one ofthose things.
And what did he settle into?
Uh, I assumed it was, was he amusician your whole growing up?
Yeah.
Oh, is that right?
Okay.
Yeah.
So my, my dad.
That's cool.
That's quite a differentexperience too.
So, you know, I kind of grew upwith that.
Yeah.
And, and although.
I, I was singing from a veryyoung age because as I say, my

(01:15:42):
dad's a singer, but also my, myNana and Papa, his mum and dad
were also singers.
Oh, wow.
So they used to have this reallylovely, like, tape recorder that
had a microphone attached to it.
And we used to just sing nurseryrhymes with, you know, and it
was always, you know, thecousins and, and, and things
like that.
And we'd always just go up andwe'd get this little thing out,

(01:16:04):
sing lots of different, uh,nursery rhymes into this tape
recorder.
And that was sort of where itall kind of started.
And then, you know, as I gotolder, I think it just sort of
progressed, you know, and as, asI was saying earlier, you know,
you kind of stop things for awhile because you don't, you
don't want to be seen or toomuch attention.

(01:16:27):
But I mean, it's seven yearsold.
Can't be striving too much.
No, no.
Seven.
Oh God.
I was just.
I was into.
Captain Planet.
And lots of, uh, and lots ofother stuff.
And, uh, it's called a callbackin the comedy world.
Were you early in the sibling?
I was, I was, so I, we come froma bit of a blended family.

(01:16:48):
Um, my, my dad was marriedbefore we met my mom and my mom
was married before she met mydad.
So I have four older siblings,uh, three of which were my
dad's, one of which was mymom's.
Um, and.
Then I would have, at seven, hada younger sister as well, uh,
Diane, and um, I was technicallyin the household.
So that's a pretty big crew.

(01:17:09):
Yes.
Was that big for Scotland?
Yeah, yeah, when you get, yeah.
It's pretty normal to have bigfamilies, isn't it?
Are the Scots They kept theCatholics out, pretty much,
right?
It's mostly Protestants.
Catholics versus Protestants.
It's still a lovely conversationfor another day.
We could spend two hours onthat.
Oh, we could.
Easily.
But yeah, I, so, so, my, myolder siblings on my dad's side,

(01:17:34):
they lived with their mum, andthey came at the weekends.
And, uh, my older brother andyounger sister lived in our
house.
So, I was the middle child,basically.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, uh, So, I obviously, youknow, didn't like being ignored,
so I was like, I'm gonna go on afucking TV show and I'm gonna
show you all and you're gonnalook at me.
Um, no, I, um, but no, at seven,I was a quiet kid.

(01:17:57):
I had, you know, a best friendwho, who was just seven doors
down the road and we were kindof inseparable, um, you know, me
and Ryan and, and, uh, and yeah,just.
Yeah, just a normal kid playeddown the, the woods and you
know, in the village, thingslike that.
In the, in the village.
In the village.
And, you know, and that's totake it back to, you know,
sunrise Ranch.
You know, I.

(01:18:17):
Um, I said to Meredith the otherday, you know, I love that
community feel because at homewe have a saying, you know, it
takes a village to raise a childand uh, and it really does
because you know, I was, I wasalways at other people's homes
like we have another saying, youknow, you'd get a jam piece at
anybody's door.
Hmm.
Um, and I was that kid, it'slike a piece of toes with some

(01:18:38):
jam.
'cause your dad was off doingmusic gigs and different things.
Lot Yeah.
Mean stuff.
He gigged at the weekend and,and he worked through the week.
Oh, okay.
Um, and, you know, and my momwas always, you know, and
because obviously they had threekids at home, it was like shift
work.
So one would be in the morningand one would be overnight.
And it would, yeah.
And then we'd go my granny andgrandpa's or we'd go down the
street to anybody's house.

(01:18:59):
Um, I, I, I grew up in a villageof about a hundred people.
Yeah.
And like when you got.
To be five, you've got a bicycleand a pass, basically, you know,
good luck, don't die.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's exactly the same.
And even at a young age, youknow, it was just such a nice
place to grow up just becauseeverybody knew who I was and

(01:19:19):
everybody looked out for you.
Yeah, it was just nice.
And that sense of community, ittakes, you know, it's why places
like Sunranches, you know, acommune living or, you know, a
community where you just, yeah,where you just all coexist and,
and, well, and hopefullyprobably you saw a lot of the

(01:19:39):
same kind of notion at theRotary Club the other day.
Yeah, like it's pretty cool,even though we're only together
for that hour every week, youknow, they have other
engagements and stuff, but thosepeople love each other a lot,
you know, and they're from avery diverse backgrounds and
senses and all that stuff, andthey still love each other.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, so to answer yourquestion, my, my upbringing

(01:20:02):
actually was, was similar, butdifferent.
I mean, I grew up on a ranchoutside of Philadelphia.
Outside of Houston.
Outside of Houston.
Okay.
Yeah.
And, um, and a and what was thecircumstances?
Like a, a real working ranch,like you're It was okay.
It was, it was actually my greatgreat, not a ranch with oil, oil
ranch with oil wells.
It was a ranch with oil wells,That's why you were able to get
a harp.
Yeah, exactly right.
Um, it was actually my greatgrandfather's ranch.

(01:20:24):
That's cool.
It was very cool.
And, um, and he had umpteenanchors.
And after he died, my greatgrandma sold off the plots.
Mm.
And it became this makeshiftneighborhood.
So by the time I was born, wehad loads of houses and kids and
so we were, we sat on five acresand we could see, you know, the
nearest house was 10 acres awaybecause everybody had acreage.

(01:20:47):
It was, it was brilliant and wehad like girl gangs and we would
terrorize the neighborhood andgo karts.
It's all young families prettymuch.
Exactly.
And you were in a gang?
Girl King.
It was girl power era.
Um, you know, they had, we had,we had chickens.
So my mom raised chickens and wehad our own vegetables.

(01:21:08):
And then my neighbor had horsesand raised their own vegetables.
And another one had a trout.
Pond and.
So we had, I had the mostincredible upbringing and then
my dad taught me to shoot when Iwas, I don't know, eight.
He would take me out and we'd goall the way down, you know, to
the very end of the cul de sac.
Yeah, exactly.

(01:21:28):
And we'd save the gallons ofmilk for weeks and then dad
would take me out.
Do you feel a little bit ofwater too?
Oh, absolutely.
Well, you only explode when youdo that.
Yes, exactly.
So, I learned how to shoot froma very young age and play piano
and, you know, uh, live free.
And what did your dad do for,like, income and employ?
Yes, my dad is an optometrist.

(01:21:49):
Oh, that's right.
I actually met him.
Yes.
I remember now.
Yeah, he was there.
He was there.
So you had a professionalcareer.
He did.
He did.
And so did my mom.
So my mom was, um, um, sheworked in, um, psychiatric
hospitals and she was atherapist and, uh, she did that
for a really, really long time.
It was not very easy.
So she retired very young.

(01:22:10):
And, um, and help my dad withhis work.
And then other siblings too?
No, it's just me.
It's just me.
I also got a harp.
Princess.
I was like, yeah, this, youknow, gun toting thing is great,
but I really want to live in acastle and play harp.
Well, I think, I mean, I mean,frankly, every man kind of wants

(01:22:33):
a princess that can shoot.
Well, there you go.
I am that, I am that woman.
So, um, let's uh, let's doquick, we're going to do the
quick hitters because we alwaystalk about faith, family,
politics.
Okay.
And we already talked aboutCatholics and Protestants in
Scotland and stuff.

(01:22:54):
So we've got some ground sethere if you want, but do you
have a preference on where westart?
No.
All right.
I don't know.
Open book.
Let's talk faith.
Okay.
Yeah Texas is like the home ofthe Baptist.

(01:23:49):
Yeah.
Oh, yes.
Yeah devout.
Yeah, my great grandmother.
I would go to church with herShe was a devout Baptist.
Okay.
Um, I was I wasn't really lessso in your race Anything so my
parents were old hippies.
So very spiritually based, butalso very open to all religions.
So when I was a kid, I learnedabout Hindu and I learned about

(01:24:11):
everything.
I mean, I always had this jokethat my, my godparents were
Jewish.
My grandmother was Baptist.
I went to Catholic school and mybest friend was Muslim.
And that's all true.
Um, and it is, it's, it's very,very diverse.
growing up.
Um, which I think is, is thebest way to remain that for you.

(01:24:32):
Have you, I think it has, um,I've been going, I went to
Catholic school, personal faith.
Now that you, I could say I,I'm, I am a regular person.
Power of prayer.
Like I, I, I love, um, my, myprayer, um, especially when I,
when I need it most, it's there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but I, I would saymeditation is really where my

(01:24:54):
mind goes most of the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, and that's been very, verypowerful for me.
Is there a, a creator being.
In your understanding of themetaphysical?
Oh, for sure.
For sure.
Yeah.
I mean, that's across scienceand Whether his name is Yahweh
or Jesus or Buddha or It's allthe same thing.
The universe or, you know, Ithink Yeah, kind of
universality.

(01:25:14):
You don't think they'redifferent as much as they are
the same in some respects?
Exactly.
Fair.
Yeah.
Alright.
Jai, would you like to take onthe same topic?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, sure.
Um, so I Almost similar.
Uh, I I grew up and I waschristened, uh, Protestant.
Okay.
However, my mom, I hope my momdoesn't list us.

(01:25:35):
Just Protestant?
Like, do they have, they don'thave the divisions like we do
here in America?
Oh, they do.
Like the Methodists and theBaptists and all that?
Not as diverse.
Yes.
Not as diverse.
There's probably Church ofEngland and then those that said
that's a bunch of bullshit.
It's the Church of Scotland.
But we're also Protestants?
Yeah.
Okay.
Church of, yeah.
Okay.
So it's, uh, it would be Churchof Scotland.
Yeah, I think.
Um, but it would be, I would beChristian, uh, by instead of

(01:25:59):
Catholic.
Like we still agree that MartinLuther was right.
Mostly he, he and a lot ofothers.
Right.
Um, okay.
But, um, but yeah, I, so my,that was from my mom's point of
view and I think, this soundsreally bad towards my mum, but
it's not, it was sort of the,the thing that people done.

(01:26:21):
Right.
Um, it wasn't, she did, yeah,she did go to, to church when we
were kids, uh, and then fellaway from it as she's, she's
gotten older.
My dad grew up, uh, quitesimilarly to Meredith.
His parents, uh, allowed them togrow up and choose their own
faith.
Um, and one of my aunts isCatholic.
The other one is, uh, Christian.

(01:26:44):
But, well, my dad and my uncleare nothing, technically, so
they didn't really, and I'm sortof, if I'd been left to my own
devices, I think I'd have beenthe same, like I, same as your
father, yes, yes, sorry, yeah,and I think because, and it's
not, I believe, and you know,spirit, universe, that sort of

(01:27:05):
thing.
Um, obviously there is, there issomething.
Something spun it all up, itseems.
But, do I have a specific faith?
No.
Not really.
Um, and I have, like, you know,I have, um, high school for us,
but it would be secondary.
We did do religious education.

(01:27:26):
And I, um, You know, I foundmyself drawn to many different
faiths and, and, and I lovedlistening, like hearing about
different, the way people,different people, uh, would Kind
of approach those hardchallenges, if you will.
Yes, and do, uh, and, and howthey deal, dealt with life

(01:27:47):
struggles and all that sort ofthing.
So, I wouldn't say, I don'tspecifically go to, Sort of
prayer, but yes, meditationwould be something that I would
go to.
Um, you know, and finding justthe stillness and the quiet
within myself rather than Yeah.
Yeah.
Outwardly.
Uh, yeah.
Well, I think that's franklyvery biblical because there's

(01:28:08):
like a still small voice that'scommonly mentioned, you know,
you just, oh, it totally, it'sprayer or meditation, I believe
we're the same thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So like, if you do it right,it's you, you are there.
Yeah.
Well, and.
Depending on the faithbackground you're talking about,
what's the, uh, manifestation?
Oh yeah.
Uh, there's some people thatthink their manifestation powers
are a little bit outside the boxof what really could be or

(01:28:32):
whatever.
It seems a little bit likewishiness, but I do think that,
you know, prayer moves, whateverthat force is that happens.
Um, Oh, I had a thought there.
I was going to ask you, Jai.
Oh, it was.
We're just going to octopus thatout because I can't quite grab
onto it, and I didn't want tointerrupt you, so, um, Uh, let's

(01:28:54):
talk about family just a littlebit more.
Let's stay on you, Jai.
Uh, so, was your dad like a amedian level star of sorts?
Like, was he a common name inacross Scotland kind of thing in
the music career?
Or was it more of a I mean, we,we couldn't go anywhere without
someone knowing who my dad was,but it wasn't sort of like

(01:29:15):
celebrity as such.
It was just, he played in a lotof places and he played for a
long, long time.
Yeah.
And he has, you know, For all hedoes, he has a good reputation,
you know, like my dad is a, is agood musician.
He works hard, you know, he, forinstance, like we'll, you know,

(01:29:35):
even now he's in his late 60sand he will get for four and a
half hours straight.
Whereas young men who do thisgig, like that, that kind of job
will be like, Oh, I'm going totake an hour and then a 15
minute break and then anotherhour and then a 15 minute break.
So it's like, man up.
But my, no, he, he's, he's, he'san incredible man, but he never

(01:29:59):
made more than like a middleclass income, probably or upper
middle class, maybe a few years.
Yeah.
I mean, he's always had a dayjob as I would call it.
However, I mean, I always telllike he gets more than I do,
he's always on the call.
He's always out.
Right.
Cause he loves it.
Yeah.
Uh, Jill and I went to, do youknow who Steve Miller band is?

(01:30:21):
Yes.
I do.
So we went to Steve Miller bandat the Budweiser event center
this last year and he's, 79 or81.
Wow.
And that fucking guy loved toplay music.
Like there is nothing he wouldrather do than go out there and
be on the road 130 days a year.
Yeah.
Well, that's, I always say thatto people.

(01:30:42):
I genuinely.
Can't see a day where I don't dowhat I do.
Yeah.
I love it.
And it's, it's a blessing and acurse.
I think.
Like I look at people likeMeredith and she's like, she
does so much things and I'mlike, I don't want to do
anything else.
I'm alright.
I'll just focus on this.
There's a, uh, there's a bandhere in town you guys should

(01:31:04):
check out, uh, if not this time,next time around, but it's
called The Brothers Fountain.
Actually, my lead in song forthe podcast is, is their
original music, but they've gota song recently that's kind of
like, It doesn't really matterif I'm playing in my garage or
playing at Red Rocks.
10 years from now, I'm going tobe playing.
And that's not going to change.

(01:31:25):
Uh, you know, hopefully it's RedRocks, because then we can quit
doing so much other shit to tryto stay alive in our mortgages.
But, uh, um, family, that'swhere we kind of went.
Oh no, we kind of started withyou on family, but I think
that's sufficient.
Probably we kind of finished upFaith.
So you've talked a fair bitabout your family already.

(01:31:46):
You're an only child, but youwant to give some special kudos
to Grandma's, mom's, whatever.
Anybody that's been reallysignificant for you?
Yeah, I mean, I would say mykids.
Your kids, of course.
Duh.
My kids, yeah.
Oh shit, I forgot, Kyla.
We haven't talked about thatmuch.
That's okay.
I have twin boys.
They are 11.
Okay.
They're gonna be 12 this year.
Yes.
And, I mean Do you want to talkabout your ex husband?

(01:32:08):
No.
Okay.
Just kidding.
I asked a question nobody elseanswered.
Um, I do have a question though.
Actually, I forgot to warn you,so this is going to be
spontaneous, but we ask peoplefor a one word description of
their children.
Most of the time, would you bewilling to do that of your two
boys?
Is it the same word?

(01:32:29):
Are they identical twins orfraternal twins?
They're fraternal.
He's got his words alreadyfigured out.
He knows my boys very well.
Well, I'll come back to you, Ja,you can share those.
Yeah, I would say rambunctious,I think is Do you have a
different word for each of them,though, if you were going to try
to describe them to, uh They arevery different.
Um, I have one that is verystudious.

(01:32:50):
Studious.
Okay.
Yeah, so Alexander has wanted tobe a doctor since he was about
two.
Oh, wow.
And he had actually a doctor'sname picked out.
Like, like you would have astage name.
He has a doctor name, and he isDr.
Kilmarnock.
And Kilmarnock is actually thetown where he was born.
Um, so he wants to be a Dr.
Kilmarnock, which is hilariousto me.
Um, but he's dedicated that thatis his path and still to this

(01:33:14):
day, he's sounds like he's fullof perseverance potential.
He definitely is.
I don't know where to get.
I have no idea.
Yeah.
Um, and then there's William.
William's my favorite.
William is Jai's favorite.
And likewise, um, well, I don'tthink Alexander would be
offended.
I like Alexander too.

(01:33:34):
He's fine.
Alexander loves you too.
Um, William's just more like me.
William is rambunctious.
William is, is the actor.
He is the comedian.
He is constantly trying to makeyou laugh.
Very high energy.
Alexander is too.
Um, but yeah, they're, they'rejust, they're very different
kids.
They're, they're wonderful.

(01:33:55):
And I'm very lucky.
What's his name?
No, no.
They're fraternal.
They are very different.
I gotcha.
Yeah.
They're very different.
Until you give them a set ofnerf guns.
And then they're pretty much thesame and then they will shoot
you in the face.
Yes.
The hardest, the hardest partabout being a twin mom is when
they team up because thenthey're like twin power unite,
you know, and it's, it's doubletrouble and it really is.

(01:34:17):
It's just, yeah, it is.
It's great.
I love being a mom.
What do you hope for them andtheir, kind of, next chapters,
like, would you want them tohave a more normal existence, or
should they go have weird harpthings?
What's, what's normal?
Like, normal?
I guess there isn't really anormal thing, is there?
No, I, I, I hope that they havea very fulfilling adventurous

(01:34:39):
life like that's that is thelife that I've I have tried to
build for myself and experienceas much as possible yeah and I
want that for them I dodefinitely want that for them.
Um, politics.
You can have this one.
We're uh, well I would becurious, I'm gonna start with
you actually go back.

(01:34:59):
What, what do like I'm sure Iwould suspect I'm gonna put a
theory out there that.
The average Scotsman's opinionof Donald Trump has changed
quite a bit over the last 10years.
Am I wrong?
Or right?
I don't think it's changed atall, but I don't know.
To be fair, 10 years ago, Ididn't really have an opinion

(01:35:22):
about Donald Trump.
I think that would be fair.
And then he became president.
Well, it'll be what?
No, does it work out?
Well, it'll be 10.
Well, he was 4, Biden was 4, soit was like 8 years ago plus.
Um, yeah.
I mean, I've obviously got to becareful because I'm here for
another week.

(01:35:43):
I don't think he'll deport youyet.
No.
We're getting on a plane onMonday.
So it isn't a positive then andit still isn't now?
I, I don't, right, so I don'tlive in America.
Sure.
So I don't know the impacts ofHow we got so fucked up that we
had to choose between Biden andTrump.
There's not much choice.

(01:36:03):
Or Hillary, yeah.
Um, however, I just, I think,you I hate to say that I
shouldn't comment because I'mnot from here.
Because, obviously, theoutreach, that sort of, power,
yes.
It matters, frankly.
The sort of control that leadershave, it echoes worldwide,

(01:36:24):
nowadays.
Because of, because ofeverything.
Um, but, uh, it depends becauseit, some issues, he'll be great
for.
Other issues, not so much.
So it's, it just depends whereyou are.
Priorities?
Yeah, kind of.
But yeah, yeah.

(01:36:46):
What, what you focus on, itdepends what you're focusing on,
because I would say that thereare a lot of things that I've
seen in the last week or so thathave upset me because of people
that I care about.
However, there are going to be alot of things that will benefit
people, other people that I careabout.
So it just depends.

(01:37:06):
I mean, that's kind of the thingabout being a decider, right?
Like there's going to be Hardchoices.
Yeah.
And you're never, you're nevergonna please everybody.
And yeah, I just, I, yeah, as ahuman being, I don't know him.
So yeah, however, it's just thatway.

(01:37:27):
Would I, would I be his mate?
Would I go for a drink with him?
Probably not.
But yeah, so it's kind of whereI'm at.
I, uh, actually I did speech inhigh school just a little bit
and one of my Um, favorites wasBill Cosby who was very popular
at the time because he was, andI still quote him because I'm a
fucking libertarian.
I'm going to quote him.
It's funny shit.

(01:37:48):
It doesn't matter.
You know, he might have rapedpeople or whatever.
It doesn't make this line anyless bad or any less good.
Um, but it's, uh, I don't knowthis.
I don't know the secret tosuccess, but I know that secret
to failure is to try to pleaseeverybody.
Hmm.
Yes, so anyway.
Ooh.
That was one of my lines that Iused to have.

(01:38:09):
It's really deep.
But it's, but it speaks to thechallenge of being the decider,
being the president, right?
Like Alma in my office isHispanic descent, and she was
talking about, you know, Idon't, what's this ICE thing
gonna happen?
Like, it's great if it'scriminal and stuff, but I know
quite a few people that are nothere on papers right now that
are a little nervous aboutwhat's going to happen, you

(01:38:31):
know?
Oh, so that's real, you know.
Stuff.
And if you're listening,whatever, you know, Trump or any
of your lackeys, she's not goingto give up any names about where
to find those people.
No.
No, I'm teasing.
But, but I mean, it's a realconcern, right?
Yeah.
And I was trying to besensitive, like, I'm pretty sure
they're just focused on thepeople with a lot of arrests and
stuff like that.

(01:38:52):
And, like, I can't say, Iguarantee you that people that
you love aren't going topotentially get caught in this
too.
Deported.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I can't see.
Necessarily even that it's notthe right thing to do because
like they did break the law likewith their first act to get here
and a lot of other people likewaited a long time to get their

(01:39:15):
papers, you know, including herparents, for example.
Well, for sure.
I've, I've been on the otherside of that.
Right.
I've already had to apply.
How many years did you have towait?
Oh, uh, ten?
Right.
10, 12, 12 years.
So they at least shouldn't havea fast track in my opinion.
I'm a justice warrior, I feellike, you know, and so anyway,
that's just one.
Um, small example of, of onetopic where you're like, huh,

(01:39:38):
where is, it's reallyinteresting.
Where's it going to go?
I think it's fascinating.
It's, it's a really fascinatingtopic.
Um, well, I mean, I've, I've,I've, I've played for Trump, so
yeah, I know I've, I've told youwell in the rotary speech, um,
Trump Turnberry and Ayrshire isa really interesting place and
Turnberry is in Scotland, soyes, yeah, it's, it's about 20

(01:40:01):
minutes south of, of Ayr.
So you're kind of the standard.
Harp player for any world leaderthat Scotland.
Yeah, that's just, that's, Ithink that's a better title for
me, don't you?
harp to royalty and to, youknow, world leaders.
Um, it, it Cher's amazing.
Just kidding.
I'm teasing.
Um, king Charles is, you know,one direction and, you know,

(01:40:22):
president Trump is the otherdirection and it's like.
They're only 20 minutes.
Oh, totally.
They're very controversial.
And I've played for both ofthem.
And, um, and I, I said this tothe Rotary, uh, as well, both
wildly unpopular in their ownrespects.
Yeah.
And I remember the first time Iwas asked to play for Trump.
I really had to think about itbecause he's not popular in

(01:40:43):
Scotland at all.
When he came over, I wasthinking this could be bad for,
for my, my reputation and for mycareer.
Or not, like it was a really bigquestion for me.
Uh, I reached out to some of mycolleagues.
I reached out to former teachersof mine and I said, what would
you do in this situation?
And I got some really goodadvice.

(01:41:04):
I am one of my harp teachers,Ian.
He he's played for the Royalfamily for many years.
He played for the Pope, likehe's paid, he's played for, he
was fine.
So he said to me, it's, it's ajob and.
hotels, which of course Trumpowns, um, Trump Turnberry.
He said hotels go throughdifferent iterations of owners.

(01:41:27):
All the time.
Right.
And from his own experience, hewas going, this is, this is a
job.
And the job is, is potentially alot bigger than the owner.
And this is something that youshould consider doing.
And I did, and it was, it wasgreat.
And, um, can I be like supernoisy?
No, not noisy.
Noisy.
You could be super noisy.

(01:41:47):
Uh, yeah.
I want to hear the, no, butlike, Mm hmm.
Like, when you do a three hourharp gig in the ballroom at some
Trump event at the castle, like,is that worth a thousand
dollars?
Is it worth five thousanddollars?
Is it worth 20, 000 like I haveno idea Right, is it worth 300

(01:42:11):
bucks?
You know, I have like I have noidea like what your dollar per
hour is Yeah, working for thesefancy pants people.
Yeah in particular.
I'm sure there's some hens Itdepends.
I mean I was hired by Dior toplay for them for five nights
and that was that was a That wasa pretty penny.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was a really good gig.
Um, alternatively I'll play gigsfor 200 quid for, for weddings

(01:42:34):
and Scotland, weddings inScotland.
Uh, all the way up.
I mean the most, it is like apound or yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
The biggest gig that I ever did,I didn't want to do.
And I actually, I quoted for ita stupid amount.
I was like, uh, I don't reallywant to do it.
It was, it was a big wedding inthe middle of winter.
I was like, not interested.

(01:42:54):
And a friend of mine said, justquote for it.
Just be, just stupid money.
And I was like, okay, for theday, 2, 500.
Okay.
And, because I really didn'twant to do it.
And they said, yeah, that'sfine.
I was like, shit.
I could have asked for more.
And I have to do it now.
Ah, you know.
Um, so it does, it just dependson the circumstances.
That's a really interesting,like, that's probably one of the

(01:43:17):
more fascinating things aboutbeing a musician, especially a
niche musician, is, like, theprice is kind of what makes
sense for you and makes sensefor me.
Yep.
Mm.
And what their budget is.
Right, right, right, right.
And who it's for.
If it's 400 people in front ofTrump and, you know, and Elon
Musk is paying the tab.

(01:43:38):
Well, then it's ten grand, youknow, or whatever.
It doesn't really matter whatthe price is.
If you want me, then this is Butthen there's other, like your
cousin's wedding, you know, tenmiles away, or even not your
cousin, but your, your cousin'sfriend's cousin.
Yeah.
Because Scotland is small, andyou're like, yeah, 200 quid, 300
quid, you know, compared to alot of people, like lawyers,

(01:44:02):
it's like, it's a buck 15 hour,right?
Or business consultants, even tosome extent, you're kind of got
that timer on there.
Well, how much time is thisgoing to take?
How much should I pay?
Yeah, for sure.
But in music, it's kind of like,uh, I don't know what you got.
Yeah.
Like let's hear about it.
Let's talk about what makes it.
It's probably the same for you.
It's exactly the same.
I mean, I've done exactly thesame myself.
I've, I've looked at a gig,thought, God, I don't want to do

(01:44:23):
this, quoted silly money andthey've agreed.
And I've went, oh shit.
Right.
And then it's, it's that way.
It's like, you know.
And, and again, it's the old,you know, adage of like, you're
not just paying for someone toturn up at your gig and do the
gig on that day, you're payingfor the years of experience that
that person has.
The hours of practice.

(01:44:44):
And it's, you know.
Rehearsal.
For, for, for us.
I mean, you know, Meredith'sbeen playing since she was a
child.
I've been singing since I was achild, so we practiced for a
long time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you know what I mean?
We know what we're doing and it,and it sometimes, you know, as
you, you were saying, you know,you think it takes you a long
time to get to the point ofrealization that actually I'm
really good at what I do.

(01:45:05):
Sure.
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like stepping into yourbrilliance in a way kind of, and
it's.
Well, we study longer than mostother professions.
Sure.
Musicians, like, like Jay wassaying, we start as children.
Right.
And if you were here, you know,next winter visiting again in
Colorado, and I had a local Uh,think tank social for 45
business owners and I waswilling to give you 200 bucks,

(01:45:27):
maybe you'd do it.
Um, so it's totally dishonoring,but 200 bucks and another swag
bag.
And a plane ticket.
Oh, and a plane ticket.
Yeah.
I need to get you.
You'd have to already be here.
You don't have much time.
You'd have to already be here.
We'll see if we can worksomething out.
We can get somebody else to playfor the plane ticket.

(01:45:47):
It'd be fun.
If I could double book you, wecould figure it out, maybe.
A mini tour around Colorado.
Yeah, I was gonna say, a minitour.
So, um, I guess, uh, while we'restill kind of on politics, we
can get off of Trump, but justget into, like, world politics.
Like, we're, like, Got a lot ofintense stuff.
Like, any thoughts on where wego from here?

(01:46:10):
What do the next two years looklike?
Any, any guesses?
We're all going to die.
No, don't say that.
I mean, we could if World War 3starts.
Oh God, don't say that.
I mean, yeah.
I was kind of kidding, but thenI realized, actually, I might
not be joking.
I don't think we're heading thatway.
Geez.
But, um, I mean, I, I hope thatwe are heading for Better days.

(01:46:34):
And I know that might be naive,but it's, the thing is people
are more aware of what's goingon.
Mm-hmm.
And I think with social media,are I say, I say they're more
aware are we just being fedhowever that's a good question.
I mean, and that's the thinglike, we'll, never like my.

(01:46:54):
My, my dad's a massiveconspiracy theorist.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, he talks about loadsof things and I, I, I listen to
him and I'm like, I don'tdisagree with what you're
saying, but you're literallyruining your own life and your
own time here on this planet byriling yourself up.
Right.
Being consumed by that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's, it's easily done.
It's, and I understand itbecause he cares and he wants,

(01:47:15):
you know, but at the same time.
I will, I will, uh, take thisstuff in, but I don't always let
it affect me because, becausehow much change, how much change
can I, can I do and I, and I'mnot, you know, I am one of many
and I know that, you know, if weall band together and all that,

(01:47:37):
you know, like unions and thingslike that, like I totally
understand how all that works.
Yeah, I've been in organizationsbefore where in consulted in
organizations before, but It wasthat mentality.
It's like, well, I can't affectthe bigger picture and I know
that I can.
Um, it's just impossible.
But when you band together, youcan go, well, I can only affect

(01:47:59):
what, what I do and what myactions are and what the actions
of those around me and can haveimpact there.
Then I'm making a differencefor, for the bigger whole.
Um, but in terms of the, the bigpicture, I don't, I don't know.
I mean, I think that this is areally interesting time to be
alive.
Like we're right in theprecipice, probably, hopefully
of the Russia Ukraine warending.
I think so.

(01:48:20):
You know, to me, it's likeobvious that there has to be a
deal that Ukraine doesn't get tobe in NATO.
Uh, just part of the rules, youknow, uh, that's just, uh,
Ukraine's going to lose a littleterritory over there, the
Russian speaking part.
And.
Otherwise, uh, things can kindof go back to where they were.
please stop.
Exactly, and you agree not toinvade anymore.

(01:48:42):
Oh, exactly.
And, you know, I don't know whatthe stick is for that,
necessarily.
But, I mean, to me that's theobvious.
Well, that was the obviousconclusion two years ago.
Mm hmm.
Um, Well, maybe now we have achance.
Well, yeah, now that we'vekilled another couple hundred
thousand people, uh, you know,What will it take?
We can go back to the same dealwe had two years ago.
Uh, anyway.

(01:49:02):
Uh, I got nothing else for youright now.
Let's do the loco experiences.
Oh.
Yeah, this is, uh, the craziestexperience of your lifetime that
you're willing to share with ourlisteners.
Oh, wow.
Presumably individualexperiences.
Craziest experience.
I heard you punched SimonCrowell.
I mean, you got your second namewrong, so I can answer that with

(01:49:23):
a yes.
No, I'm joking.
Um, I did, no.
Um, no.
I, um, God, my craziestexperience, I've had quite a lot
to be honest.
You've had a lot of crazyexperiences.
Like near death experiences?
Or crazy?
Well, I have died.
I've died.
You died?
Yeah, I died as a baby, so Idon't remember.
Oh, okay.
Um, I was literally born, andthen I, uh, my lungs collapsed,

(01:49:46):
stopped breathing, and I wasdead.
I was dead.
And then somebody went, and Iwas, yep, and somebody brought
me back.
No shit, that's cool.
So yeah, that's what I've done.
You started out with a I wonderhow much more normal you would
be if that event hadn'toccurred.
I'm just kidding.
You probably wouldn't have hadthose big, big lungs.
I was gonna say.
It was those, it was those bigover inflated lungs from the CPR

(01:50:07):
that hooked you up with thatjuice.
I mean, what is, what is normal?
I don't even like, I don't even,you know what?
I spent a lot of my life tryingto be normal.
And you know what?
See, when I accepted the factthat I wasn't fucking normal.
Life got better.
There's wisdom in that.
Um, and yeah, God, crazy stuff.
Geez.
I've done, I have done so much.
Um, I, I keep coming back.

(01:50:31):
How about winning?
Winning the talent show?
Well, hey, I mean, ugh,everybody knows that.
Do you know what one of themost.
Liberating things, and it was abit crazy, and I, cause I keep
going back to it, you asked mestraight away, and it was the
first thought I had, so I'mgoing to go, I went to Australia
in uh, 2010, my, one of my bestfriends moved over there, this

(01:50:51):
was while you were still like abroke unknown dude, yes, I
actually, I like it, severelybroke, Well, I had the chance,
well, that's the thing.
So I was also broke when I wasthere because I just used all of
my wages.
But I had the chance to go over.
My friend was like, we havetime, I have space.

(01:51:11):
And I thought, I'm never goingto get this chance, ever.
Um, so I went over and we, uh,we ended up, she paid for
flights for the, there was threeof us at the time, well four of
us, including, uh, Katya.
So you were like a gigolo at thetime?
Oh, yes I was.
No.
Still is.
Still is.
You'd have come to Australiawith them, I don't know.
No, she didn't pay for my Myticket to get there.

(01:51:32):
When I got there, uh, she was ina pretty decent position.
She had a good job.
Um, so she paid for, uh, myselfand, and my two friends that
went over to go to Sydney and wehired a camper van and we went
down the coast, uh, back toMelbourne, but, uh, And actually
I've just realized that we couldhave been killed by sharks.

(01:51:53):
But anyway, it's fine.
We, uh, we, we ended up at nighttime, going onto the beach,
having a drink and going skinnydipping.
And it was just one of thosemoments where the sky was clear,
the moon was out, the stars wereout.
It was just such a magicalmoment.
And, uh, And yeah, I was nakedin the water.
So that was kind of, but it wasone of those things where, do

(01:52:15):
you know what, it was justliberating.
I remember my first time beingnaked in the water.
It was a hot springs for me herein Colorado.
I had went to a hot spring.
I did not.
And I definitely came out with avagina.
It's different than being in abathtub, like being in a public
place and being butt ass naked.
There's something to it.
And, uh, and I've, I've done itseveral times since.

(01:52:37):
Perfect.
speak great, but veryliberating.
It's wonderful.
Meredith, you're done.
My, I don't know, I dunno whatthe accent's about.
The other one I know.
Well, you know, it's, you Idon't know.
I, I'm trying to think.
You figured.
Gassed from being the King'sHarpist for like talking about

(01:52:58):
being the King's Harpist.
Yeah, that was probably thecraziest story.
Can you, uh, like, because I wasat the Rotary Club we talked
about, can you kind of recap ita little bit?
Yeah, I can talk about that.
Um, in 2018 I had released, orit was in process of releasing,
my debut album.
Um, when walls speak and thatwas, it took me three years to

(01:53:19):
write.
It was dedicated to Dumfrieshouse, which was King Charles's
Scottish residence, personalresidence.
And I put my heart and soul intothis project because it had
given me so much like Dumfrieshouse was amazing for, for me
as, as a Harpist.
Um, as a result, the DumfriesHouse PR team said, we will help

(01:53:39):
you promote it and, you know,we'll give you the space and the
culture.
I wondered culturally if it waslike a little bit like, Ooh, are
you trying to use your positionhere with Dumfries House to
like, No, I don't think so.
They certainly didn't.
That wasn't a problem.
No.
No.
Because it was a very sincerething.
They wanted to be.
Yeah.
It was.
Yeah.
It was honoring from yourperspective.

(01:54:01):
Well, that's what, that was theintention.
Right.
That's right.
And so the team that I workedwith were brilliant and they
wrote a press release for me andsent it out across the UK.
I mean, I was in loads ofpapers, um, before, before the
album release and it went out tothe Daily Mail and the Daily
Mail took the, the press releaseand they basically ripped it up

(01:54:26):
and they, they called me andsaid, Hey, we'd like an
interview.
And I said, well, I can't talkabout.
playing for His Majesty.
I, I can't.
Um, but you know, read the pressrelease and off you go.
And, and they basically rippedit up and wrote their own story
and I ended up being in Edenconfidential, which is It's the
Scandal, um, section of DailyMail.

(01:54:49):
Okay, gotcha.
And, um, in Eden Confidential,it basically ripped me a new one
and said, oh, well, she, youknow, Meredith McCrindle, and it
fabricated a lot of, or ittwisted a lot of the facts of
reality.
This American harpist that'sbeen rumored to have spent one
on one time with King Charles.
With King Charles.
It was really Was it really likethat?

(01:55:09):
Like, scandalous?
You can read it.
It's still online.
Oh, Yeah.
And the title, the title of thearticle was Megan Markle, not
the only American to captivate.
Oh, damn.
Prince Charles.
Oh, damn.
And, uh, then it went on to, tosay, you know, he spotted me at,
uh, during my time at St.
Andrews.
Oh, gosh.
Where Prince William was.
Oh, gosh.
And, and now he hand selected meto be his resident harpist at

(01:55:31):
Dumfries House.
It was all, it was allfabricated.
Right.
I've never even met him, really.
Like.
No, I, I never, I hadn't seenhim.
I've seen him across the room,like it wasn't an actual thing.
Um, I was a member of staffeffectively, but they took it
and they made their own storyand the ending line of the
article was how long before, um,Prince Charles, who played.

(01:55:54):
Cello at Gordonstoun asksMeredith for a duet in
incredible innuendos, and I'mjust going, you could read the
article one of two ways, eitherI won the lottery because now I
am like this amazing residentHarpist, or I'm having an affair
with Prince Charles.
And um, the, this, theorganization that Dumfries

(01:56:16):
House.
chose to, chose the latter.
They severed their, uh, contractwith you.
So they pulled me in the officeand they said, Meredith, you
gave this interview, and I said,I didn't, I swear, that was not
me.
I turned it down, um, theypulled me in, and they said, we
can no longer have you play Forlike, it doesn't matter if it's
bullshit or not.

(01:56:36):
Yeah.
And, and I said, honestly, itwasn't me.
And they said, we know a lot ofpeople here have been daily
mailed, and that was the termthat they used.
Oh wow.
Interesting.
Um, and then there was a fiveyear window where I did not play
for, for Wow.
His highness.
Israel Highness at the time.
Um, and then in 2023, I wasredeemed and I was totally

(01:56:58):
brought back and it was thebest.
It was actually the day that mydivorce was finalized.
I was in court and it wasfinalized because you were freed
up for hanging out.
I know now now it's all, it'sall, it's all fine anymore.
So, um, I need to write thatout.
we're probably gonna pick upthis podcast right here.
That would be great.
It'll make us all.
Um, and, and I went, I knew Iwas leaving court to meet King

(01:57:22):
Charles, and I thought that wasthe only thing that kept me
going because that was myredemption.
Wow.
Like, I knew that I was the onlyperson in that courtroom going
to meet his majesty.
Right.
So, and I, and I did, and Ipracticed my curtsy and, and he
was lovely.
He asked me if I, if I played aproper harp, and I was like,
yes.
I do.
Yeah, I've actually played foryou.
It's been a few years, you know,since that incident.

(01:57:44):
But, uh, you know, it was great.
Well, you guys have a show forOff the Hook Hearts here, uh,
this week on the 30th.
It'll be too late by the timeanybody hears this to see the
show, but I would encourage youto check out Off the Hook.
Definitely.
Definitely.
Great initiative.
And, uh, as far as like, ifpeople want to check you guys
out, do they just check out yournames and Google you, I guess?
Yeah, we have a YouTube Stuff,we have YouTube stuff, and we

(01:58:06):
have a beautiful, we have abeautiful music video, all of
me.
Yeah, well check that out too.
Check out some of his covers.
Yeah, please do.
Thanks guys for being here.
Thank you so much Kurt.
Bye for now.
Bye.

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EXPERIENCE 206 | Harpist to a King and Winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2011 - Meredith McCrindle and Jai McDowall drop by The LoCo Experience podcast!

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