May 15, 2026 • 32 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So Michael Arry Show is on the air. This town
needs an enema. The following feature has been rated R.
It is intended for mature audiences. Have you the girl's host?
That's it more get in the last sleeper. I can
put my whole fist in my mouth. Recipe. You know
what you're looking to me. But you have good dag
and your cheap shoes. You look at a load.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Don't put that even only Richie Bobby, don't.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Put that on up heart in your general direction. We
got in Moon and I got that's famous stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Oh, celebrities use that, radio announcers and everything.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'll see that bars just like a tattoo, gets under
your skin, going moon, I got what we're dealing with.
Here's a lot of respect for the laws. It's a
(01:18):
highlight of my week right here about to happen right now.
I got an email from a friend of mine named
Kenny Allen. Kenny Allen hosts a radio show out in
the country. He works at a small business. He posts goofy, goofy,
goofy ass videos of himself with great old les Paul guitars.
(01:41):
He's got quite the collection. He's got like ten dollars
to his name, but he uses all of it for
interesting stuff. Sometimes he'll post videos of himself on a
riding lawnmower, pop and wheelies that he's you know, took
it to John Hennessy and juiced it up, or maybe
the guy that's the new mayor of Magnolia. Anyway, he
always sends me interesting stuff. So he sends me a picture.
(02:02):
He sends me a deal here and it said zar,
I figured you'd appreciate this. Yes, it is real. I checked.
It was listed on the Lagrange page, but I think
the barbershop is actually in Fayetteville. It's a handmade sign.
It's pink. It's taped to the wall with blue painters tape,
and it says free summer buzz cuts for kids under
(02:26):
twelve Larry's Barbershop number one, two, three, and four. I
guess that's the clipper length. And I called him and
I said, why'd you send me that? He says, cause
I knew you'd like it. What do you think I'd
like about it? That In twenty twenty six, a dude
is given free haircuts to the kids for summer A
and B that he's given buzz cuts, and I said,
(02:49):
you're right, I love it. So we've tracked him down.
He didn't want to do the interview today. He said
he could do it one day next week, he could
take some time off, and we said no, no, no, no no,
we want to talk to you while you're cutting hair.
So we're making a very rare variance of issue to
variance for him to do the interview on speakerphone because
he's cutting hair during that time. Larry the barber, Yes, sir, Okay, Well,
(03:13):
first of all, I think it's real cool that you
do this. Okay, Okay, we started, We're in it. We're already,
we're in the thick of it.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
All right.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Well, I have Michael on my longtime customers in the
chair right now. Okay, so I'm go go let him
hold the phone while I try to talk.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I hope you can hear me and clear on your end.
It's a little bit soft.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, I'll try to talk a little louder here. Okay.
My first question is I looked at the picture of
the sign you put up, and you got a tractor
back behind it that says Minneapolis Moline, and they haven't
made that brand since nineteen sixty three. I'm wondering what
the history of that tractor is.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The tractor? Is that actually a calendar from First National Bank?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Okay, And I loves I love farm work and farmers
and all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I work here in Smithville for twelve years and majority
of my business is all farmers and all of that stuff.
This hard work in Americans.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
All right, Larry, I'm going to ask you a question
that is intended to stump you. So if you don't
know it, it's not a bad thing. But if you
do know it, then you're a superstar with tractor knowledge.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The brand of that tractor, Minneapolis Molin MM, was established
by the merger of three companies that come together. Do
you know what they were? No, sir, it was Minneapolis
Steeling Machinery, Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, and the Molein Implement Company.
Does that jar your memory?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Oh yeah, a little bit, yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Okay, Somewhere out there, there's an old farmer that can't
believe that that was just discussed on the air.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, I tell you, how come you give up?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
How come you to do free buzz cuts for the kids?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, because I want to give back to the community
of Smithville. You know, they've been so kind to me.
I've been an outsider. I'm not born and raised in Smithville.
I was born in Austin, And you know, everything I
can do to help out the community that adopted me,
why not. So it's not I don't just stop with
(05:28):
free buzz cuts for kids. I also go to the
volunteer Fire Department. I've been going for ten years and
giving money and donations to the volunteer Fire Department. I
also like to go to the school in Smithville and
do haircuts for kids going back to school. I even
thought about later maybe doing for the guy that is
(05:49):
trying to get a job and he ain't really got
much money to do a free haircut for someone that's
working to trying to get a job. You know, my
barber's story, you know, is has lots of ups and downs,
a lot of cork screws.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
It's you know, I've been a barber my entire life.
I went to barber school when I was fourteen years old.
I got my barber's license at sixteen, and like Forrest
Gump one said in his movie you know, life is
like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're
going to get. So I never forget, ever, have I
(06:29):
ever forgotten where I came from. I've had a lot
of hard times, a lot of hard struggles, so that
encourages me. That puts the fire under my feet to
constantly always thinking about others and how I can give that.
What's good about being a barber is you become a
jack of all trades and a master of none. One
(06:51):
day I'm in here talking to a guy's struggling with
drug addiction. Another time I'm here talking with a kid
that's been abused. Another time I'm in here talking to
one of my church customers and talking about God, and
we just talked about everything. One thing I've learned in
a small town like Vegas, whatever I say in the
barbersop kind of stays in the barbersop. You don't know
(07:14):
who somebody's related to. We have less than five thousand
people here. When I first would be here in town,
I didn't know anybody. Twelve years later, I can't even
stand outside without people honking their horn, driving by, yellowing
out the window. I'll be in at lunch to get
a haircut and I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Larry, Can you hold just a moment? Can you hold
with me for just a moment. I'll tell you one
thing about Michael. I don't know anything else about him,
but he's a good phone holder. That guy is an
A plus phone holder.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Hold on just a moment, Snowflakes, prepare for a complete
meltdown with more of the Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Did you really play the barber of Seville? I think
you so that, don't you? Okay? Are you doing credit?
I didn't see that coming. I should have.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Larry, the barber in Smithville gives free buzz cuts to
the kids at the start of summer. I don't want
to get emotional. When I was a wee willie and
my parents were really really struggling, and I remember how
(08:36):
bad it was. My mother would take me and my
brother over to a fellow named Ellis in what's called
the Cove in Orange. We lived in an area called Riverside,
which had been military housing, been Navy housing during World
War Two, supposed to be just temporary housing, but then
when the war was over, it was housing and it
became kind of public housing. I don't know if it
(09:02):
was ever actually public housing per se when we were there,
But it was cheap housing in every It didn't cost
much and it wasn't real well, but it did the trick.
It was. It was just a little like a little
ship lap box on some block and base that you
could crawl up under and anyway, it worked, and there
(09:25):
was affordable things over in that area, and you'd walk along.
I don't know if that wasn't Green Avenue. What was
the road called. Somebody from Orange helped me out. It
was over the road that ran from the from the
courthouse down to the cove. And Ellis had a little
He had a little He had one room in the
back of a barber shop that he just it was
(09:46):
a barber shop and he just rented that one little space,
paneled walls. He was a Dallas Cowboys fan and I wasn't.
But I would sit there while he was cutting my
hair and while I was waiting, and I would study
the he had, you know how they do the team
picture of each player and all the names, and I'd study
all the names and the numbers, and I, you know,
look through all that. I was fascinated by it. Oh,
I've been fascinated by barbers anyway. I thought it was
(10:08):
a great story, free buzz cuts for all the kids.
And then I had Kenny Allen call him, and then
I had Jim Mudd call him, and he said, I
don't know about this. I don't know what he's going
to do when we get him on there. It hadn't
gone so far.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
So far.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
It's okay, Larry, yes, sir? Okay, all right, Michael's still
holding the phone.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
No, I'm holding the phone now. He's right here beside me.
But if he had a second to say something, he
would love to say something.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh, okay, all right, and then he can hold it
while you cut. If you want, just put on speaker. Okay, okay,
this is Michael's opening.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I want to tell y'all he's a very good guy.
I've been coming here for years. I'm just glad that
I held the phone because for a second I thought
he was going to cut my ear off. Oh but
he's a good guy, and it's really good. Y'all got
a good one on your radio station. And he does
a lot for the community. In the community loves him.
Who doesn't know Larry's the barber?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Are you hispanic? Michael? Yes, sir, I sir, m where
do you live?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Smithfield, Texas? Born in Lagrange, Texas, raising Smithfield my whole life?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And what do you do?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I'm a welder?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Okay? Are you off today?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yes, sir, I actually am. I'm headed to West Texas,
the Midland Texas. My niece's first birthday this weekend.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Oh that's nice. Okay, all right? And is this a
standing appointment? How often do you get your haircut?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I'm me usually once a week. Oh I'm in town.
I stop tying to see Larry. If I'm not in town,
well I can catch him on the next one.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Okay. Do you drive in and just you know he
works in when he can? Or do you call ahead?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
You just walk on in?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay? And what do you do while you're waiting?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Do you sit here and either you watch old westerns
on the on the TV? Bone earns there? You just
sit here, talk to everybody else that's in the shop.
How long is Larry tell jokes while he's cutting there?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
How long is the wait? Usually?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Use it's pretty quick, about five minute?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Wait? Oh okay. Do you ever walk in and goes
straight to the chair?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Oh, yes, sir, but it's very rare. He's always got
somebody in a chair.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Does he have drinks?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Now I'm fixing.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I'm glad you here on this subject. I think we
need refrigerator in here.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah. Yeah, and have like big red and RC Cola
and and and uh nee high, you know, old fashioned stuff,
throwback stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah. Sure, give your a beer or wine while I
cut your hair and charge you forty five dollars.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
No, that's that's that's the Houston stuff. You don't want
to do that, just this simple stuff, but it should
be you.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Ever get a chance. You got to come in the
barber shop. He's got a bunch of vintage stuff in here.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I'm going to come in. Is it just him and
there is the other barbers?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's just him?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Oh I like that.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It is him and another he has two chairs. But
it's just him in here.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Okay. And how do you tell him you want your
hair cut? Is this same every time?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Buzz it every time? But it on the side, one
on top, he knows.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Okay, does he do you have any facial hair?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yes, sir, He trims my beard and then I tell
him to leave my sideburns. Even though I get the
buzz top buy sides.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Okay, all right, I like it. Well, thank you, Michael. Yes,
hold again, put it on speaker and then we'll pass
over to Larry.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, we're on this speaker, just in case I get
busy again.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah. So, how much Michael's haircut with the little beard
work and a buzz on top, how much would that
cost for him?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
It's forty dollars even, okay, yeah, because the haircut is
twenty five and that beard cleaned up is fifteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
You don't do the thing. I used to go to
a guy in downtown Houston's name was Jesse. He'd been
there forever, and he would put this this vibrator thing
in his hand and strap it over the back of
his hand, and when you were done, you'd put on
your shoulder for a second and felt real good. Do
you do that?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
No, sir, But I do have the vibrator thing you
put on the hand, but it's an old antique and
I turn it on. It smells a little funny.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, I could see.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So I don't trust it. But a lot of times
what I was doing was doing the hot taul shaves
around the outline, yeah yeah, shaving cream and all of that.
And when I take the shaven cream off around your ears.
Michael's had it done before then I kind of missed
off around your temples all down to your neck.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, is what I do. I like the smell of that,
like an old aquavilva smell. I haven't had a straight
razor shave in a long time, but I like to
let it get real, real scraggly and real long, and
then go in and have it shaved down smooth. That's who.
There's nothing like that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yeah, Barbara's face shave is almost obsolete because so many
people got, you know, a big five, and they got
all these fancy little things to get a real baby
smooth and all of that. So it's it's a treat
to find a barber that does a few face.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yes, thank you, Larry. How many free haircuts you think
you give away?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Free haircut? I have a punch card system when they
get to that tenth haircut.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
No, no, I'm in the free bus cuts. How many
the free bus cuts for the kids you think you do?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I really don't know, sir. It can be it can
be five, it can be twenty five. Okay, what's the
name you say, Michael, buddy?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
What was the old line Ramon's shaving a haircut two bits?
What was Yeah, that's what I was thinking. What did
mama's old cow hand? I can't even remember. We're talking
to Larry the Cape, Larry the Sorry, Larry the barber
from Larry's barbershop. Boy, that was strong branding, Larry the Cable.
(16:01):
I have a cousin just across my mind. I have
a cousin who's a barber and his name is Larry,
Larry Childress. He's got a little barbershop in Troop, Texas,
which is outside of Tyler. Oh, and he's also a barber.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, I mean barbering his I mean there's a lot.
It's not it doesn't just start and end with a
haircut for your customer. That's what I'm suing to get paid.
But you know, barbera has become like lifetime mentors, lifetime therapist,
lifetime guidance counselor marriage counselor.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
But you.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
No, all of that comes with the servant, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
I never know.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I might be like I was saying, well, I go
help one person out be struggling with drug adviction, help
somebody else out that maybe be abused, you know, and
It's always about giving that to the community and giving
back to people because in my barber career, I went
(17:13):
through a lot of things myself. You know, I've been
homeless and often.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Lived under a bridge. I struggled with drug addiction. This
August the first I got fourteen years clean and sober.
I started my Fool and Sober at eight one twelve,
so this will be fourteen years coming up. So when
you go to a barber shop, it's always real comfortable
(17:41):
when you can sit down and talk to your barber,
hair stylists, tattoo audits, bartender about your life in general.
And that's what I love about being a barber from
whatever topic I'm talking about. You know, I feel like
I've been there and I've done that, and I give
(18:02):
you my ears and I give you the best feedback
that I can give you. And if I only faced
one person out while one hundred, I did my job.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You know, Larry, you say you give people your ear.
I think there's a lot of people out there that
may be their widower, or maybe they're in a bad marriage,
or they're divorced, or whatever their situation is. They're they're
single and hadn't been married and just to have somebody
(18:33):
to actually talk to that they that just that connection
that's important, that's human element is important. Yes, sir, I.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Got my second customer here, now, okay, can he hold
the phone for us?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Can you get him to hold the phone? Yeah? Sure,
I'll tell you what though, that's a high borrow. Michael
was a good phone holder.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, Michael, Michael's coming back. You got to go run
get some.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Cash to Brandy some cast James works and bast drop
at the Walmart meat market needs another good guy. In
ninety percent of these people, one way or the other
have heard my whole life Barbara's story, and I keep
pausing because it takes, you know, more than just a
couple of minutes to say it all. But I don't
(19:27):
know what else to share online except for about my
free buzz cuts, you know, in Smithfield, Texas.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
And I want to I would love to share my
barber story whenever you're ready for me to get started,
I am.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I don't want to have to cut you short, so
let's do it in the next segment. But I wanted
to ask you. I'm looking online, it looks like you're
very close to the first Baptist Church.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yes, Sarah. First Baptist Church is right across the street.
That's where me and my wife marry. That I got
mister James here. I paused on his haircut because it's
hard to hear here you're in with the clipper going.
I got to really put the phone even though it's
on speaker close to my ear. Yeah, so I kind
(20:10):
of just pause with Dames so I can talk to
you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yet, do you wet the hair and a bowl before
you start? Is a dry cut?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I do a clipper dry cut around the ears and neck,
and then I do scissor cut on top. Everybody that
comes to Larry's barbershop in Smithfield, they all have a number,
like mister James here, he's the number eight around the
sides and back and scissor cut the top. But he
asked me because it's getting hotter, to do a number seven.
So now I'm doing seven for this summer. It makes
(20:42):
it really easy with me because even though I'm in
a small town, I've been here a little over twelve
years and I've probably built up about three fifty sometimes
four hundred people a month. So I'm really trying to
get another license barber to work with me because I
can't keep up with everybody. It's hard for me remember
everybody's name. That's why everybody's name is next.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
But do you remember what number that you're cutting them?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Majority of the time, yes, sir, But you know, if
I don't remember the number, I just ask them what's
your hair cut number? And they say, I'm a number one,
I'm a number two, I'm a number three. That's all
they have to say. And then we talked about third
day or how the dog spot is doing, or if
they're struggling with something in life. We talk about that.
And that's what I really love my job and I
(21:32):
can help somebody else out that struggled because I have
a whole barber story about struggles from where I came from.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All Right, I want to hear that in the next segment.
So here, here's the deal. We got two minutes left
in this segment, and then we got a couple of
minute break and then we'll come back, and I want
you to tell that story. Why don't you go ahead
and start with the buzzers and we'll just listen in
while you're doing the buzzer. You're using the buzzer on.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Him, okay, I'm gonna hand him the phone that I'm work.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, that's okay, we'll be able to hear you. Go ahead.
I like the hum of the buzzer.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
So what do you want me to start with?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
You don't have you don't have to start. We'll get
to that in a minute. Just buzz. We'll do this.
We'll just we'll just listen in while you buzz.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, uh, okay, do you want to say hi? And
mister Jim.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well in a minute. I just really wanted to hear
the buzzers, hear my little buzzard.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Not well, I got one here. It's a lot loud.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah. I like the.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I'm just kind of a found the money right then.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Well, I did do the math four hundred times forty.
Here we go, let's see what we got. I really
like to see a little refrigerator in there, wouldn't you.
You can even do those little drinks, you know. I
like those little drinks, just some diet cokes and cokes,
some Doctor peppers and then some throwbacks, you know. I
bet people would bring a six pack of you know,
(23:07):
old knee high and and tab. I bet somebody bring
some tab.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
We used to have coffee in the morning for my customers.
The farmers want the coffee. Then I wound up a
half a pot of coffee away. Then they asked me
to get donuts, and then I grabbed donuts on Saturday mornings,
have donuts with customers and kids and stuff. Then I
wind up taking them home and looking like a donut myself.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Okay, we'll take us to break. We got just a
few seconds before we go to break, and then we'll
have a quick break and then we'll hear your your
barber story. But let's hear the buzzers.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Okay, you hear the barber story.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Well, I mean that's a very distinctive.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Having sign outside the buzz cut. And then they got activate.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
The Michael Barry Show. So I got an email from
Kenny Allen telling me, I think you'll love this story.
There's a guy in Smithville who is doing free buzz
cuts for the kids to start the summer, so they
got a summer haircut and then but then he does
(24:28):
it again when they start to school in the fall,
and he does it free for the kids. And I
thought that was the coolest thing ever because he knew
I would. And uh, Larry the barber is our is
our guest. You got him? Okay, Larry, you're gonna tell
your barber story. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, I want to tell my barber's story. And let
me cast my customer out. And I got another customer.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
How much is his? How much does his cost? His cask?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Twenty five dollars? Regular haircut here there's barbershop Smithville are
twenty five dollars, and the first seniors and veterans, I
also get veterans of discount for twenty bucks. And kids
under twelve are sixteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
But they get a free bus cut to start the summer. Huh,
but they get a free bus cut to start the summer.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yes, yes, yes, most definitely. I'm gonna do a free
bus cuts for kids twelve and younger for the summer,
and uh, I'm gonna love every minute of it. I
did my very first buzz cut on my brother when
I was six years old. I had to stand in
my dad's barbershop and stand on a milk carton uh
(25:47):
to cut his hair, and I laugh and giggle. My
dad said, why are you laughing? Larry? When you're done
with brother, brother gets to buzz your hair.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I love it. All right, tell your story.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
My story starts back in nineteen eighty five. I was
fourteen years old and I got out of high school
at eleven forty five, and I went to barber's school.
So I want to give a big shout out to
Roffler's School of Hair Design on Burnett Road. And my
barber instructor was Ron Brown. He became a whole life
(26:26):
dad kind of speak. So fourteen years old, the only
one close to my age was a boy or girl,
probably about nineteen years old. So I went to barber
school and then I got my barber's license at sixteen
years old, and then I went on my journey being
a barber. And my stepdad that raised me. He had
(26:50):
a problem with alcohol and he was very abusive to
me and my brother my stepmom. So I had to
deal with that and then that led me into becoming
a drug.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Attic.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I went through that in my life about twenty years.
I've lost my kid. I became homeless on the streets
of Austin, sleeping under a bridge. Horrible time in my life,
but I kept moving forward. You know, I'll never forget
where I came from. I kept moving forward. I knew
one of these days that Barbaring was going to take
(27:23):
me where I'm at today. But I had to go
through the fights and the struggles and the pains and
tears and all of that. And so I was a
ranch hand for about two years. And then one of
my friends from a recovery center says, my dad left
me one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. I want to
give you five thousand dollars to open up a barber shop.
(27:47):
And if you go back on drugs, you know you're
just pretty dumb. So I said, I'm done with drugs.
I want to straighten my life out. I put drugs
down one twelve fixed to come up on a birthday,
fourteen years cleaning over. I give all the credit to
Jesus Christ, Thank you God. And so then so then
(28:09):
I my friend gave me the money, and then I
bought me a soccer's mom van. I know it's a
soccer mon's van because I had all them little stick
people in the back. And there went twenty five and
I still don't have a barber shop. Then I went
over the other twenty five down to sixteen hundred, and
my buddy John Gardner, which has passed now in seventeen.
(28:31):
He said, are you going to open up a barber
shop or not? Are you going to work for free
to raise your life on that ranch? For a room
and board. I'm going to open up a barber shop,
but I don't know where to go. He said, come
come to Smithville and talk to my friend Bob Parker.
So I talked to Bob Parker and he said rent
was for twenty five a month and okay. And then
(28:52):
I got two hundred dollars to pay for the turn
the lights and everything on, okay. And I got to
get barber's supply and all this okay, okay. And then
I said, you know, mister Parker, what if I don't
make it, then what Larry? You're a ranch hen and
you're working for free and bash drop taking care of
eighteen horses and building fences. So I have a barn
(29:15):
that needs to be painted, okay. And if you're short,
then you just work it off, okay. And then then
I said, I just don't know, you know, I was
barely a year clean and sober, some a little sketchy
at this time, and I don't know if I'm gonna
make it, mister Parker. You know if I crash and burn, well,
at least you tried. He goes, shake my hand, Larry,
(29:36):
Let's make it happen. So I should mister Parker's hand.
We made it happen. I put my first sign out
there February the first, twenty and twelve. It was a
cold booger that time. I stand out signed with a
huge sign that says barbershop now open. And my first
customer comes a woman. Oh, come on, God, I'm just
(29:58):
a regular barber shop, not a style shop. And hang on,
God said it might have a little boy or husband
or grandpa or something. She come into signs, come in
the shop that's and looked at the sign that said
barber shop now open. I thought that said bakery shop
now open. Now it's a barber shop. Then another week
another one saw the sign holding out there outside and
(30:23):
said he came in and said barber shop now open.
I thought that said banner shop now open. I said, God,
I am doomed. People in Smithfield cannot read. But you
know I got my I made it my first month.
I did not have to touch a paint brush. I
(30:45):
thank God for that A bunch of times, and I
paid my first month's rent for twenty five I paid
my youth til It's bill. I had one hundred dollars
to my name. So grateful, so grateful to have one
hundred dollars. And I started building my building blocks, and
(31:06):
I remember where I come from. So anybody's struggling with
drug addiction, homeless, child abuse, it don't matter what it is.
Larry the Barber's been there and done that. I love
love helping people out in those areas. So I paid
my first month's rent, and then I made the money
to pay my next month, and here I am. Twelve
(31:28):
years later, I got married to my sweetheart. I was
also a recovering atic. She's recovering from heroin and she
has two more years clean time than me. And her
name is Jamie Simpson, and she works across the street
from me at seven to eleven. She's my rock, she's
(31:52):
my everything, and she's a little beauty thing. And I'm
a big two hundred and thirty pounds guy, and she
keeps me straight. I keep herstrate. I've got my kid back.
I bought me a house, well, got vehicles, and life
is really good as long as I continue to do
(32:13):
the next right thing, God bless you, Larry,
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So Michael Arry Show is on the air. This town
needs an enema. The following feature has been rated R.
It is intended for mature audiences. Have you the girl's host?
That's it more get in the last sleeper. I can
put my whole fist in my mouth. Recipe. You know
what you're looking to me. But you have good dag
and your cheap shoes. You look at a load.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Don't put that even only Richie Bobby, don't.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Put that on up heart in your general direction. We
got in Moon and I got that's famous stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Oh, celebrities use that, radio announcers and everything.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'll see that bars just like a tattoo, gets under
your skin, going moon, I got what we're dealing with.
Here's a lot of respect for the laws. It's a
(01:18):
highlight of my week right here about to happen right now.
I got an email from a friend of mine named
Kenny Allen. Kenny Allen hosts a radio show out in
the country. He works at a small business. He posts goofy, goofy,
goofy ass videos of himself with great old les Paul guitars.
(01:41):
He's got quite the collection. He's got like ten dollars
to his name, but he uses all of it for
interesting stuff. Sometimes he'll post videos of himself on a
riding lawnmower, pop and wheelies that he's you know, took
it to John Hennessy and juiced it up, or maybe
the guy that's the new mayor of Magnolia. Anyway, he
always sends me interesting stuff. So he sends me a picture.
(02:02):
He sends me a deal here and it said zar,
I figured you'd appreciate this. Yes, it is real. I checked.
It was listed on the Lagrange page, but I think
the barbershop is actually in Fayetteville. It's a handmade sign.
It's pink. It's taped to the wall with blue painters tape,
and it says free summer buzz cuts for kids under
(02:26):
twelve Larry's Barbershop number one, two, three, and four. I
guess that's the clipper length. And I called him and
I said, why'd you send me that? He says, cause
I knew you'd like it. What do you think I'd
like about it? That In twenty twenty six, a dude
is given free haircuts to the kids for summer A
and B that he's given buzz cuts, and I said,
(02:49):
you're right, I love it. So we've tracked him down.
He didn't want to do the interview today. He said
he could do it one day next week, he could
take some time off, and we said no, no, no, no no,
we want to talk to you while you're cutting hair.
So we're making a very rare variance of issue to
variance for him to do the interview on speakerphone because
he's cutting hair during that time. Larry the barber, Yes, sir, Okay, Well,
(03:13):
first of all, I think it's real cool that you
do this. Okay, Okay, we started, We're in it. We're already,
we're in the thick of it.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
All right.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Well, I have Michael on my longtime customers in the
chair right now. Okay, so I'm go go let him
hold the phone while I try to talk.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I hope you can hear me and clear on your end.
It's a little bit soft.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, I'll try to talk a little louder here. Okay.
My first question is I looked at the picture of
the sign you put up, and you got a tractor
back behind it that says Minneapolis Moline, and they haven't
made that brand since nineteen sixty three. I'm wondering what
the history of that tractor is.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The tractor? Is that actually a calendar from First National Bank?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Okay, And I loves I love farm work and farmers
and all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I work here in Smithville for twelve years and majority
of my business is all farmers and all of that stuff.
This hard work in Americans.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
All right, Larry, I'm going to ask you a question
that is intended to stump you. So if you don't
know it, it's not a bad thing. But if you
do know it, then you're a superstar with tractor knowledge.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The brand of that tractor, Minneapolis Molin MM, was established
by the merger of three companies that come together. Do
you know what they were? No, sir, it was Minneapolis
Steeling Machinery, Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, and the Molein Implement Company.
Does that jar your memory?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Oh yeah, a little bit, yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Okay, Somewhere out there, there's an old farmer that can't
believe that that was just discussed on the air.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, I tell you, how come you give up?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
How come you to do free buzz cuts for the kids?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, because I want to give back to the community
of Smithville. You know, they've been so kind to me.
I've been an outsider. I'm not born and raised in Smithville.
I was born in Austin, And you know, everything I
can do to help out the community that adopted me,
why not. So it's not I don't just stop with
(05:28):
free buzz cuts for kids. I also go to the
volunteer Fire Department. I've been going for ten years and
giving money and donations to the volunteer Fire Department. I
also like to go to the school in Smithville and
do haircuts for kids going back to school. I even
thought about later maybe doing for the guy that is
(05:49):
trying to get a job and he ain't really got
much money to do a free haircut for someone that's
working to trying to get a job. You know, my
barber's story, you know, is has lots of ups and downs,
a lot of cork screws.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
It's you know, I've been a barber my entire life.
I went to barber school when I was fourteen years old.
I got my barber's license at sixteen, and like Forrest
Gump one said in his movie you know, life is
like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're
going to get. So I never forget, ever, have I
(06:29):
ever forgotten where I came from. I've had a lot
of hard times, a lot of hard struggles, so that
encourages me. That puts the fire under my feet to
constantly always thinking about others and how I can give that.
What's good about being a barber is you become a
jack of all trades and a master of none. One
(06:51):
day I'm in here talking to a guy's struggling with
drug addiction. Another time I'm here talking with a kid
that's been abused. Another time I'm in here talking to
one of my church customers and talking about God, and
we just talked about everything. One thing I've learned in
a small town like Vegas, whatever I say in the
barbersop kind of stays in the barbersop. You don't know
(07:14):
who somebody's related to. We have less than five thousand
people here. When I first would be here in town,
I didn't know anybody. Twelve years later, I can't even
stand outside without people honking their horn, driving by, yellowing
out the window. I'll be in at lunch to get
a haircut and I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Larry, Can you hold just a moment? Can you hold
with me for just a moment. I'll tell you one
thing about Michael. I don't know anything else about him,
but he's a good phone holder. That guy is an
A plus phone holder.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Hold on just a moment, Snowflakes, prepare for a complete
meltdown with more of the Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Did you really play the barber of Seville? I think
you so that, don't you? Okay? Are you doing credit?
I didn't see that coming. I should have.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
So.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Larry, the barber in Smithville gives free buzz cuts to
the kids at the start of summer. I don't want
to get emotional. When I was a wee willie and
my parents were really really struggling, and I remember how
(08:36):
bad it was. My mother would take me and my
brother over to a fellow named Ellis in what's called
the Cove in Orange. We lived in an area called Riverside,
which had been military housing, been Navy housing during World
War Two, supposed to be just temporary housing, but then
when the war was over, it was housing and it
became kind of public housing. I don't know if it
(09:02):
was ever actually public housing per se when we were there,
But it was cheap housing in every It didn't cost
much and it wasn't real well, but it did the trick.
It was. It was just a little like a little
ship lap box on some block and base that you
could crawl up under and anyway, it worked, and there
(09:25):
was affordable things over in that area, and you'd walk along.
I don't know if that wasn't Green Avenue. What was
the road called. Somebody from Orange helped me out. It
was over the road that ran from the from the
courthouse down to the cove. And Ellis had a little
He had a little He had one room in the
back of a barber shop that he just it was
(09:46):
a barber shop and he just rented that one little space,
paneled walls. He was a Dallas Cowboys fan and I wasn't.
But I would sit there while he was cutting my
hair and while I was waiting, and I would study
the he had, you know how they do the team
picture of each player and all the names, and I'd study
all the names and the numbers, and I, you know,
look through all that. I was fascinated by it. Oh,
I've been fascinated by barbers anyway. I thought it was
(10:08):
a great story, free buzz cuts for all the kids.
And then I had Kenny Allen call him, and then
I had Jim Mudd call him, and he said, I
don't know about this. I don't know what he's going
to do when we get him on there. It hadn't
gone so far.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
So far.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
It's okay, Larry, yes, sir? Okay, all right, Michael's still
holding the phone.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
No, I'm holding the phone now. He's right here beside me.
But if he had a second to say something, he
would love to say something.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh, okay, all right, and then he can hold it
while you cut. If you want, just put on speaker. Okay, okay,
this is Michael's opening.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I want to tell y'all he's a very good guy.
I've been coming here for years. I'm just glad that
I held the phone because for a second I thought
he was going to cut my ear off. Oh but
he's a good guy, and it's really good. Y'all got
a good one on your radio station. And he does
a lot for the community. In the community loves him.
Who doesn't know Larry's the barber?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Are you hispanic? Michael? Yes, sir, I sir, m where
do you live?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Smithfield, Texas? Born in Lagrange, Texas, raising Smithfield my whole life?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And what do you do?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I'm a welder?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Okay? Are you off today?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yes, sir, I actually am. I'm headed to West Texas,
the Midland Texas. My niece's first birthday this weekend.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Oh that's nice. Okay, all right? And is this a
standing appointment? How often do you get your haircut?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I'm me usually once a week. Oh I'm in town.
I stop tying to see Larry. If I'm not in town,
well I can catch him on the next one.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Okay. Do you drive in and just you know he
works in when he can? Or do you call ahead?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
You just walk on in?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay? And what do you do while you're waiting?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Do you sit here and either you watch old westerns
on the on the TV? Bone earns there? You just
sit here, talk to everybody else that's in the shop.
How long is Larry tell jokes while he's cutting there?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
How long is the wait? Usually?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Use it's pretty quick, about five minute?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Wait? Oh okay. Do you ever walk in and goes
straight to the chair?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Oh, yes, sir, but it's very rare. He's always got
somebody in a chair.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Does he have drinks?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Now I'm fixing.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I'm glad you here on this subject. I think we
need refrigerator in here.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah. Yeah, and have like big red and RC Cola
and and and uh nee high, you know, old fashioned stuff,
throwback stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah. Sure, give your a beer or wine while I
cut your hair and charge you forty five dollars.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
No, that's that's that's the Houston stuff. You don't want
to do that, just this simple stuff, but it should
be you.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Ever get a chance. You got to come in the
barber shop. He's got a bunch of vintage stuff in here.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I'm going to come in. Is it just him and
there is the other barbers?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's just him?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Oh I like that.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It is him and another he has two chairs. But
it's just him in here.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Okay. And how do you tell him you want your
hair cut? Is this same every time?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Buzz it every time? But it on the side, one
on top, he knows.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Okay, does he do you have any facial hair?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yes, sir, He trims my beard and then I tell
him to leave my sideburns. Even though I get the
buzz top buy sides.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Okay, all right, I like it. Well, thank you, Michael. Yes,
hold again, put it on speaker and then we'll pass
over to Larry.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, we're on this speaker, just in case I get
busy again.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah. So, how much Michael's haircut with the little beard
work and a buzz on top, how much would that
cost for him?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
It's forty dollars even, okay, yeah, because the haircut is
twenty five and that beard cleaned up is fifteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
You don't do the thing. I used to go to
a guy in downtown Houston's name was Jesse. He'd been
there forever, and he would put this this vibrator thing
in his hand and strap it over the back of
his hand, and when you were done, you'd put on
your shoulder for a second and felt real good. Do
you do that?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
No, sir, But I do have the vibrator thing you
put on the hand, but it's an old antique and
I turn it on. It smells a little funny.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, I could see.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So I don't trust it. But a lot of times
what I was doing was doing the hot taul shaves
around the outline, yeah yeah, shaving cream and all of that.
And when I take the shaven cream off around your ears.
Michael's had it done before then I kind of missed
off around your temples all down to your neck.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, is what I do. I like the smell of that,
like an old aquavilva smell. I haven't had a straight
razor shave in a long time, but I like to
let it get real, real scraggly and real long, and
then go in and have it shaved down smooth. That's who.
There's nothing like that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yeah, Barbara's face shave is almost obsolete because so many
people got, you know, a big five, and they got
all these fancy little things to get a real baby
smooth and all of that. So it's it's a treat
to find a barber that does a few face.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yes, thank you, Larry. How many free haircuts you think
you give away?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Free haircut? I have a punch card system when they
get to that tenth haircut.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
No, no, I'm in the free bus cuts. How many
the free bus cuts for the kids you think you do?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I really don't know, sir. It can be it can
be five, it can be twenty five. Okay, what's the
name you say, Michael, buddy?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
What was the old line Ramon's shaving a haircut two bits?
What was Yeah, that's what I was thinking. What did
mama's old cow hand? I can't even remember. We're talking
to Larry the Cape, Larry the Sorry, Larry the barber
from Larry's barbershop. Boy, that was strong branding, Larry the Cable.
(16:01):
I have a cousin just across my mind. I have
a cousin who's a barber and his name is Larry,
Larry Childress. He's got a little barbershop in Troop, Texas,
which is outside of Tyler. Oh, and he's also a barber.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, I mean barbering his I mean there's a lot.
It's not it doesn't just start and end with a
haircut for your customer. That's what I'm suing to get paid.
But you know, barbera has become like lifetime mentors, lifetime therapist,
lifetime guidance counselor marriage counselor.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
But you.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
No, all of that comes with the servant, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
I never know.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I might be like I was saying, well, I go
help one person out be struggling with drug adviction, help
somebody else out that maybe be abused, you know, and
It's always about giving that to the community and giving
back to people because in my barber career, I went
(17:13):
through a lot of things myself. You know, I've been
homeless and often.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Lived under a bridge. I struggled with drug addiction. This
August the first I got fourteen years clean and sober.
I started my Fool and Sober at eight one twelve,
so this will be fourteen years coming up. So when
you go to a barber shop, it's always real comfortable
(17:41):
when you can sit down and talk to your barber,
hair stylists, tattoo audits, bartender about your life in general.
And that's what I love about being a barber from
whatever topic I'm talking about. You know, I feel like
I've been there and I've done that, and I give
(18:02):
you my ears and I give you the best feedback
that I can give you. And if I only faced
one person out while one hundred, I did my job.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You know, Larry, you say you give people your ear.
I think there's a lot of people out there that
may be their widower, or maybe they're in a bad marriage,
or they're divorced, or whatever their situation is. They're they're
single and hadn't been married and just to have somebody
(18:33):
to actually talk to that they that just that connection
that's important, that's human element is important. Yes, sir, I.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Got my second customer here, now, okay, can he hold
the phone for us?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Can you get him to hold the phone? Yeah? Sure,
I'll tell you what though, that's a high borrow. Michael
was a good phone holder.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, Michael, Michael's coming back. You got to go run
get some.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Cash to Brandy some cast James works and bast drop
at the Walmart meat market needs another good guy. In
ninety percent of these people, one way or the other
have heard my whole life Barbara's story, and I keep
pausing because it takes, you know, more than just a
couple of minutes to say it all. But I don't
(19:27):
know what else to share online except for about my
free buzz cuts, you know, in Smithfield, Texas.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
And I want to I would love to share my
barber story whenever you're ready for me to get started,
I am.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I don't want to have to cut you short, so
let's do it in the next segment. But I wanted
to ask you. I'm looking online, it looks like you're
very close to the first Baptist Church.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yes, Sarah. First Baptist Church is right across the street.
That's where me and my wife marry. That I got
mister James here. I paused on his haircut because it's
hard to hear here you're in with the clipper going.
I got to really put the phone even though it's
on speaker close to my ear. Yeah, so I kind
(20:10):
of just pause with Dames so I can talk to
you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yet, do you wet the hair and a bowl before
you start? Is a dry cut?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I do a clipper dry cut around the ears and neck,
and then I do scissor cut on top. Everybody that
comes to Larry's barbershop in Smithfield, they all have a number,
like mister James here, he's the number eight around the
sides and back and scissor cut the top. But he
asked me because it's getting hotter, to do a number seven.
So now I'm doing seven for this summer. It makes
(20:42):
it really easy with me because even though I'm in
a small town, I've been here a little over twelve
years and I've probably built up about three fifty sometimes
four hundred people a month. So I'm really trying to
get another license barber to work with me because I
can't keep up with everybody. It's hard for me remember
everybody's name. That's why everybody's name is next.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
But do you remember what number that you're cutting them?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Majority of the time, yes, sir, But you know, if
I don't remember the number, I just ask them what's
your hair cut number? And they say, I'm a number one,
I'm a number two, I'm a number three. That's all
they have to say. And then we talked about third
day or how the dog spot is doing, or if
they're struggling with something in life. We talk about that.
And that's what I really love my job and I
(21:32):
can help somebody else out that struggled because I have
a whole barber story about struggles from where I came from.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All Right, I want to hear that in the next segment.
So here, here's the deal. We got two minutes left
in this segment, and then we got a couple of
minute break and then we'll come back, and I want
you to tell that story. Why don't you go ahead
and start with the buzzers and we'll just listen in
while you're doing the buzzer. You're using the buzzer on.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Him, okay, I'm gonna hand him the phone that I'm work.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, that's okay, we'll be able to hear you. Go ahead.
I like the hum of the buzzer.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
So what do you want me to start with?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
You don't have you don't have to start. We'll get
to that in a minute. Just buzz. We'll do this.
We'll just we'll just listen in while you buzz.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, uh, okay, do you want to say hi? And
mister Jim.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well in a minute. I just really wanted to hear
the buzzers, hear my little buzzard.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Not well, I got one here. It's a lot loud.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah. I like the.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I'm just kind of a found the money right then.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Well, I did do the math four hundred times forty.
Here we go, let's see what we got. I really
like to see a little refrigerator in there, wouldn't you.
You can even do those little drinks, you know. I
like those little drinks, just some diet cokes and cokes,
some Doctor peppers and then some throwbacks, you know. I
bet people would bring a six pack of you know,
(23:07):
old knee high and and tab. I bet somebody bring
some tab.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
We used to have coffee in the morning for my customers.
The farmers want the coffee. Then I wound up a
half a pot of coffee away. Then they asked me
to get donuts, and then I grabbed donuts on Saturday mornings,
have donuts with customers and kids and stuff. Then I
wind up taking them home and looking like a donut myself.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Okay, we'll take us to break. We got just a
few seconds before we go to break, and then we'll
have a quick break and then we'll hear your your
barber story. But let's hear the buzzers.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Okay, you hear the barber story.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Well, I mean that's a very distinctive.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Having sign outside the buzz cut. And then they got activate.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
The Michael Barry Show. So I got an email from
Kenny Allen telling me, I think you'll love this story.
There's a guy in Smithville who is doing free buzz
cuts for the kids to start the summer, so they
got a summer haircut and then but then he does
(24:28):
it again when they start to school in the fall,
and he does it free for the kids. And I
thought that was the coolest thing ever because he knew
I would. And uh, Larry the barber is our is
our guest. You got him? Okay, Larry, you're gonna tell
your barber story. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, I want to tell my barber's story. And let
me cast my customer out. And I got another customer.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
How much is his? How much does his cost? His cask?
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Twenty five dollars? Regular haircut here there's barbershop Smithville are
twenty five dollars, and the first seniors and veterans, I
also get veterans of discount for twenty bucks. And kids
under twelve are sixteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
But they get a free bus cut to start the summer. Huh,
but they get a free bus cut to start the summer.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yes, yes, yes, most definitely. I'm gonna do a free
bus cuts for kids twelve and younger for the summer,
and uh, I'm gonna love every minute of it. I
did my very first buzz cut on my brother when
I was six years old. I had to stand in
my dad's barbershop and stand on a milk carton uh
(25:47):
to cut his hair, and I laugh and giggle. My
dad said, why are you laughing? Larry? When you're done
with brother, brother gets to buzz your hair.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I love it. All right, tell your story.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
My story starts back in nineteen eighty five. I was
fourteen years old and I got out of high school
at eleven forty five, and I went to barber's school.
So I want to give a big shout out to
Roffler's School of Hair Design on Burnett Road. And my
barber instructor was Ron Brown. He became a whole life
(26:26):
dad kind of speak. So fourteen years old, the only
one close to my age was a boy or girl,
probably about nineteen years old. So I went to barber
school and then I got my barber's license at sixteen
years old, and then I went on my journey being
a barber. And my stepdad that raised me. He had
(26:50):
a problem with alcohol and he was very abusive to
me and my brother my stepmom. So I had to
deal with that and then that led me into becoming
a drug.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Attic.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I went through that in my life about twenty years.
I've lost my kid. I became homeless on the streets
of Austin, sleeping under a bridge. Horrible time in my life,
but I kept moving forward. You know, I'll never forget
where I came from. I kept moving forward. I knew
one of these days that Barbaring was going to take
(27:23):
me where I'm at today. But I had to go
through the fights and the struggles and the pains and
tears and all of that. And so I was a
ranch hand for about two years. And then one of
my friends from a recovery center says, my dad left
me one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. I want to
give you five thousand dollars to open up a barber shop.
(27:47):
And if you go back on drugs, you know you're
just pretty dumb. So I said, I'm done with drugs.
I want to straighten my life out. I put drugs
down one twelve fixed to come up on a birthday,
fourteen years cleaning over. I give all the credit to
Jesus Christ, Thank you God. And so then so then
(28:09):
I my friend gave me the money, and then I
bought me a soccer's mom van. I know it's a
soccer mon's van because I had all them little stick
people in the back. And there went twenty five and
I still don't have a barber shop. Then I went
over the other twenty five down to sixteen hundred, and
my buddy John Gardner, which has passed now in seventeen.
(28:31):
He said, are you going to open up a barber
shop or not? Are you going to work for free
to raise your life on that ranch? For a room
and board. I'm going to open up a barber shop,
but I don't know where to go. He said, come
come to Smithville and talk to my friend Bob Parker.
So I talked to Bob Parker and he said rent
was for twenty five a month and okay. And then
(28:52):
I got two hundred dollars to pay for the turn
the lights and everything on, okay. And I got to
get barber's supply and all this okay, okay. And then
I said, you know, mister Parker, what if I don't
make it, then what Larry? You're a ranch hen and
you're working for free and bash drop taking care of
eighteen horses and building fences. So I have a barn
(29:15):
that needs to be painted, okay. And if you're short,
then you just work it off, okay. And then then
I said, I just don't know, you know, I was
barely a year clean and sober, some a little sketchy
at this time, and I don't know if I'm gonna
make it, mister Parker. You know if I crash and burn, well,
at least you tried. He goes, shake my hand, Larry,
(29:36):
Let's make it happen. So I should mister Parker's hand.
We made it happen. I put my first sign out
there February the first, twenty and twelve. It was a
cold booger that time. I stand out signed with a
huge sign that says barbershop now open. And my first
customer comes a woman. Oh, come on, God, I'm just
(29:58):
a regular barber shop, not a style shop. And hang on,
God said it might have a little boy or husband
or grandpa or something. She come into signs, come in
the shop that's and looked at the sign that said
barber shop now open. I thought that said bakery shop
now open. Now it's a barber shop. Then another week
another one saw the sign holding out there outside and
(30:23):
said he came in and said barber shop now open.
I thought that said banner shop now open. I said, God,
I am doomed. People in Smithfield cannot read. But you
know I got my I made it my first month.
I did not have to touch a paint brush. I
(30:45):
thank God for that A bunch of times, and I
paid my first month's rent for twenty five I paid
my youth til It's bill. I had one hundred dollars
to my name. So grateful, so grateful to have one
hundred dollars. And I started building my building blocks, and
(31:06):
I remember where I come from. So anybody's struggling with
drug addiction, homeless, child abuse, it don't matter what it is.
Larry the Barber's been there and done that. I love
love helping people out in those areas. So I paid
my first month's rent, and then I made the money
to pay my next month, and here I am. Twelve
(31:28):
years later, I got married to my sweetheart. I was
also a recovering atic. She's recovering from heroin and she
has two more years clean time than me. And her
name is Jamie Simpson, and she works across the street
from me at seven to eleven. She's my rock, she's
(31:52):
my everything, and she's a little beauty thing. And I'm
a big two hundred and thirty pounds guy, and she
keeps me straight. I keep herstrate. I've got my kid back.
I bought me a house, well, got vehicles, and life
is really good as long as I continue to do
(32:13):
the next right thing, God bless you, Larry,
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