Celebrate the upcoming Crossroads of Texas GO TEXAN Country Festival in Waxahachie, Texas on October 25th. It's the biggest single day event in Texas featuring over 200 vendors, artists, 10 bandstands...with one featuring today's guest The Prairie Dogs.
Meet Byron Williamson and Michael Borger of the Prairie Dogs. They have played Crossroads for over 25 years. Hear their story and intersection with Bob Philipps, pioneer of Crossroads and this year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award as Truly Significant Texan.
Listen to Byron sing a few lines from Blessed Assurance. Byron serves as a Bible teacher and provides encouragement to the elderly.
Joy comes from helping others...according to Mike who serves as Mayor of Pampa.
Come meet Mike and Byron at the Truly Significant Texas booth. And maybe consider helping others. Show 'em your big hearts.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
Meet Byron Williamson and Michael Borger of the Prairie Dogs. They have played Crossroads for over 25 years. Hear their story and intersection with Bob Philipps, pioneer of Crossroads and this year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award as Truly Significant Texan.
Listen to Byron sing a few lines from Blessed Assurance. Byron serves as a Bible teacher and provides encouragement to the elderly.
Joy comes from helping others...according to Mike who serves as Mayor of Pampa.
Come meet Mike and Byron at the Truly Significant Texas booth. And maybe consider helping others. Show 'em your big hearts.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The flowers boon on your backbush.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You don't ever see.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Colors of the rainbow.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Mystery dude, running back again.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
To the source of no never.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Hey, welcome back to truly significant dot com presence. I'm
Rick Tokeiney. Last week we had on Lorie Moseley and
we were talking about this great event coming up called
Crossroads of Texas Go Texan Country Festival. And lo and behold,
we have two of the great musicians from the Prairie
(00:55):
Dogs that will be one of the first performing bands
at this October twenty fifth event, Walks a Hatchie Texas
and we are welcoming today the one and only Mike
Borger and Byron Williamson. Welcome guys.
Speaker 6 (01:12):
Hey, hell.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
Are you good. Good to see you both. Thanks for
taking time out of your busy day to come and
talk to us and help promote this wonderful festival. Let's
get a backstory on both of you. Let's start with Byron.
Tell us about yourself.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
Well born and raised Amreilla, grew up loving music, ran
into this guy and a few others that have been
in the band all back in the early seventies and
just started playing music for fun and then all of
a sudden, we were playing music out among folks, and
(01:53):
here we are forty eight, forty nine years later, still
doing it. The first time we played together publicly, I
think was in the fall of nineteen seventy six, so
we played a back to school college event at our
little junior college here at Ambrello.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Amazing. And how about you, Mayor Borger, Yeah, well, I
appreciate the respect. I'm not used to that mayor business,
but yeah, I would agree with Byron. It's been a
long road, but it seems short in a way because
we've had so much fun playing music together. But I
think we all started way back there in the seventies,
(02:36):
following Jerry, Jeff and all of that Texas music, you know,
And that's the first stuff we learned, and we got
a lot of fun out of writing our owners and
we do a few covers, but we like to do
original music. And we have five albums out there on
all platforms now and most of it is original stuff.
(02:57):
And so Dennis Garvey, JD Garvey, and Byron and I
started the way back there in the seventies making up
music and performing for people and just had a lot
of fun doing it. It's been. It's been incredible, just
the people we've met, like you, getting to meet you
(03:19):
just kind of out of the blue. And I appreciate
Laurie hooking us up. But that festival Walks of hatche
has been a real blessing dust Believe it or not.
I think this is like twenty seven years we played
that festival. Not all of them were in Walks of Hatchie,
but most of the I guess twenty or more something
like that. I'm right there. But what a huge deal.
(03:42):
I mean, gosh, if the weather's pretty, there'll be forty
thousand people out there. It's nuts. And so we've had
We've had such fun getting to do things like that.
We got to open for Merle Haggard one time, got
to meet him. He had a blonde on each arm.
It kind of just just kind of crawled up to
(04:05):
the stage. But when he got to the step of
the stage, man he lit up and hopped up those
steps and I turned twenty one in prison then went yeah, Yeah, Anyway,
we've had a lot of music's blessed our life, for sure.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
It sounds like I'm going to ask y'all some silly
and semi serious questions this morning as we promote Crossroads
of Texas October twenty fifth in Marksahatchiet's Go Texan Country Festival.
Was this performance of Yours Born from a Dream, a
dare or down Home Destiny.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Well, I'll tell you how it first happened. There's a
there's an outdoor musical drama in Amrolla called Texas. It's
been around, gosh, I don't know, since the nineteen sixties,
been performed down in Paloderro Canyon and we form down
there before the barbecue, dinner and the show for twelve
(05:04):
or thirteen years. And one of the first years we
were performing down there, Bob Phillips came through with a
tour group and heard us and said to one of
one of the guys in the band, say, you know,
I was in a garage band when I was in
high school. And our guy said, well, we're still practicing
(05:25):
a garage and you know, and he said, well, hey,
I'm having a little party in Dallas. Would you like
to come play for it? And that's how this deal
with Texas Country Reporter and now the Crossroads of Texas
Music Festival started. Was an invitation from Bob Phillips and
(05:47):
so it has been a wonderful ride that we've been
on for these twenty I think it's twenty seven. I
think you're right, Mike.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah. Well, and I would say I would agree that destiny.
You know, when we when we first started playing music
and enjoyed playing for people, well you know that leads
you to the bars and stuff. We did that for
a while and it wasn't real healthy for us or
anybody else, and so we kind of quit playing for
a little bit, and then I think we just all
(06:17):
got our and we were having kids at that time,
all had families, little kids. We kind of decided, let's
just focus on playing places where families come, and that
kind of that kind of led us down the road
where we met people like Bob Phillips, and a lot
of our music has played at festivals outdoor things, and
we love that. And the great thing about that is
(06:37):
often we're playing for many many people, thousands of people,
and so that's been it's been destiny. I would say.
The thing about doing family deals like that too, is
you you get to meet people. You know, they don't
just get drunk and leave, They come and talk to
you afterwards, maybe by seady and stuff like that. So
(06:58):
we met some really great people and then that led
to playing some other places and it's really been fun.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Yeah, just to comment on Bob Phillips, one of the
lead singers for The Lads nineteen sixty nine, Brian Adams
High School, we did a Bob came down to Austin,
we recorded a podcast and we brought back most of
(07:25):
the living Lads together and it was a whot a
bit as a drummer, I had them sign one of
my little symbols and I.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Still have it.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It's just so it was such a memorable time and
people don't realize from our generation how much music has
impacted our lives. And I can tell you, guys are
genuine friends, deep friends, and what is music? Is music
(08:00):
meant to you as brothers.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I'll jump in on that, you know. I'd just say,
like Saturday, we played my brother has a pumpkin farm
here outside of amarill Maxwell's Pumpkin Farming. It's kind of
redneck Disneyland. It's really fun. And so when we play
out there, we bring our own sound and stuff like that,
and I'm telling you, it's it's getting harder every time
(08:26):
we do it. That stuff's heavy, and and so you know,
our running deal is when we were kind of unloading
the last speaker cabinet, we said, what give up show business?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You know?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
So that's running joke. But we've had so much fun.
We've you know, we've been through sickness and health and
laughter and many road trips and and so, man, I
wouldn't trade for it. I would say, Byron's really my
closest friend. Uh, Byron Hall. We were talking about that, brother,
Would you do my few funeral if I don't outlive you?
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Only if you'll do mine? If if if you're still here?
And I'm not.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Okay, So weird that you say that because a friend
that we were playing golf about a year ago with
two friends and I had a dream the night before
and I said, I saw you two guys providing my
eulogy and I said, well you provided one said yes
and the other one said no, Well I'm not, he said.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Because you're going to outlive me.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
He's like, why are we talking about this stuff? Okay?
Speaker 6 (09:33):
A lot of me?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Move on to another question. I was going to win
the sun dips low over Ellis County and your first
chord rings out? What do you hope your audience feels
in that moment about the Prairie Dogs.
Speaker 6 (09:48):
Hmm. Well, I hope they say yehaw, they're back, because
that that'll be, like I say, it'll be the twenty
seventh time we've we've hit the first chord. Yeah, I
hope they say, yeehaw, we're back. But man, it's just
so fun to have people walk up, walk stand in
(10:09):
front of the stage, walk by the stage and make
that connection and see those feet tapping and if they
if they know some of our songs singing along with them,
and that that connection and and just the energy is
so important to us.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah. I think Rick too. We've always tried to be
a little bit different.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
We we've never really been interested in doing covers, and
you know, if I want to hear a cover, I
want to hear the original guy do it.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
So we've never been good imitators. And so I think
our sound that first chord, people go, that sounds like
a prairie dog. And I've had so many people say that,
you know, y'all sound just like a prairie dog. That's
what we do.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Well, speak this morning to Flower and I want to
unpack part of it. I first want to tell you
that when you harmonize, it feels like kenfolk, not like chords.
There was something, there's something magical, and so my question is,
(11:17):
tell me what this really means. Run back to the
source of love that never ends. And if you believe,
why not go back to the source of love that
never ends. I'm a man of faith. So I heard this,
you know, the story of my savior in there. But
is that what is that what you guys were talking about?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, you heard right. That song is really about goy
mentioned earlier Dennis Garvey. He was one of the original
guys in the Periode Dogs and we still play quite
a bit together. But he'd had a couple of bad
experiences in marriage and he had one of them, the
(11:58):
last one that had gone south. He really blamed it
on the band kind of music, and I knew that
music was the gift and it wasn't that thing that
was hurting him. Yeah, and he had got involved in
that relationship wasn't really his fault. And so that's what
that's about. And we're just saying, you know, don't neglect
(12:19):
the gift cud put in your hand, and that dude
can flat play. He put in stream instrument in his hand.
He can flat play. I'll put him up against anybody.
But if you go out there and listen to our
live album, it's Dogs Hit Bottom, it's from Powder Cannon.
It's actually one of our live shows down there at
play Texas, you'll hear Dennis playing mandolin, banjo, let guitar.
(12:41):
He's incredible. And anyway, he had a time where he
was down the dumps. That's what flowers is about. And
so there's flowers blooming on your back porch. You just
need to go back to the source of love, and
that's Jesus.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Hey, Rick.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
One thing you may not know, Mike is a former pastor.
I still pastor a church and I am a chaplain.
And so all of the guys in the band are
our believers and and we come from all different backgrounds,
but we are all believers. And that's that's an important
(13:16):
part of what gets us together. And you know, we've
lived a lot of life together. And I was going
to say a while ago. Sometimes we get together to
practice and we play music for two or three hours straight.
And sometimes we get together to practice and we never
play a thing because it's it's our group therapy. It's
(13:36):
our talking with our brothers through life and those kind
of things. So our faith is a very important thing to.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Us, Yes, sir. It shows up in your music and
how you listen to each other. Even in this conversation.
We're going to take a quick commercial break and I'm
going to read a little bit about the crossroads, and
then I want you to you gots to fill this out.
So this is a commercial for Lori Moseley for Bob
philis Uh the mat. What you're gonna see, folks when
(14:08):
you come to Walkshatchee are Texas made arts, crafts, culinary favorites.
Over two hundred booths will fill the historic courthouse square.
And if you've never seen that courthouse, it's it's a
stunning in my opinion. So there's handcrafted goods, there's dishes,
(14:30):
there's ten different bandstands. To my knowledge, you're gonna hear
music from all over Texas if you're German or Moravian
or Hispanic or whatever color or race or creed. I
think they've got it covered on band on the music side.
And then when it comes to food, what sort of
(14:54):
tickled me was they've got wild caught offerings from the
Texas Gulf Shrimp Niche and I always go wild cought,
wild cought. Somebody write a song about that, because doesn't
that mean the same. But anyway, I'm excited that we're
going to be there.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
We're going to have a booth.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
We're presenting two lifetime Achievement awards to to truly significant
Texans Bob Phillips, one of my journalism heroes, is one,
and then to Commissioner Sid Miller. So fill out the rest, gentlemen,
what else?
Speaker 7 (15:31):
What?
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Why should our listening audience all drive to waksa Hatchee
on October twenty fifth.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, so I would say that's it's such a unique thing.
You know, it's a free festival, pretty rare, and you'll
hear great entertainment all day and you can listen to
the music as you walk around, just see the craziest stuff,
you know, art made out of toilet seats and just
just the craziest stuff in the night people. I just say,
(16:01):
it has a vibe like no other place, and it's
worth going just kind of feel the vibe and and
it's interesting just watch the crowd go by. It's a
lot of people.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
It's it's a great it's a great time for people
watching the city of Wauksahatchie and the and the merchants
bend over backwards to just accommodate people, and and uh
and it's just there's something for everybody at this festival.
And just I just think it's an amazing time. It's
(16:34):
it's the highlight of our year musically. I will tell
you that we we look forward to this this trip
every year.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
Well said, Okay, we will be right back after this
other commercial with our special guest, and we'll be talking
a little bit more about Crossroads of Texas.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
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Speaker 7 (17:06):
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Speaker 8 (17:10):
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Speaker 5 (18:40):
And we are back with Mike Borger and Byron Williamson
of the Prairie Dogs. All right, this is a This
has got Bob Phillips's signature on it. You can tell
he's mentored me at Crossroads. You're not just performing, You're
part of a gathering of stories. What story will you
be telling from the stage?
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Well, I may be, I may be telling the stories.
Sometimes we can get Bob to sing with us, you know,
as as one of the lads. Every once in a
while we can go to him up on the stage
and get him to get him to sing one and
and that's awful fun just because it's off the cuff.
But uh, you know, part of part of the joy
(19:27):
of the festival for me is we get to hang
around with Bob and hear stories. Uh you know, we
go out to dinner or meet for breakfast before this
or that, and and just getting to hang out with
him and hear some of his his crazy stories are wonderful.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah. And I'd say pretty much any booth if you
wanted to hear a story, just stop and talk to
whoever's selling whatever, and they got stories. You know, you
can spend all day walking those streets and hearing stories.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Absolutely. Okay, we're going to go a little bit deeper
philosophical here. In times like these, it helps us to
remember that there have always been times like these. How
does your music speak to the time that we're in
now as a nation? Hm?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Oh yeah. So I started to send you a song.
It's called I Want to Know. That's on that just
for us album, the two that I sent you. But
it's exactly about that, and it's about the in these
days sing verses. In these days, there's no middle of
the road. What I am will surely soon be told
(20:42):
with a gun up in my face, what will I say,
speak his name or choose to walk away? And that's
the times we're living in. You know, the fide is deep.
You see it everywhere, and you can't you can't ride
the middle anymore. I think for a long time you could, good,
but not now.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So that's my answer. I want to know. Check it
out Ricky time, Okay, just for us. Yeah, it's under
my name, Michael Border. That particular one Lloyd Mains helped
me do that. So it's got some great instrumentation on
there that Lloyd did, right. Any further comment on that Byron?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Oh goodness. You know, I work with senior adults and
that's that's my world. And h man, I'm constantly in
the how things used to be and the surprise of
how things are now and trying to trying to explain
(21:46):
some of that to some of our seniors. Man, it's
a it's a tough it's a tough deal, but I
will tell you this, Uh, music bridges a lot of
those gaps and and that's one of the reasons we
do it. When you know, I just came from I
lead five Bible studies every week. And I just came
(22:09):
from from a Bible study to part to start this
podcast with you, and and I sang sing a couple
of hymns. I take my guitar and sing a couple
of hymns with the old folks, because that gets everybody
on the same page for a few moments. And then
and then we go from there, so that the thing
(22:30):
about music bridging the gaps and and kind of a
bomb for the world that we're living in today.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
What hymns did you sing today?
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Oh gosh, what hymns did I sing today? I should
have them right here in front of me somewhere. Uh leaning,
Where did you say that?
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Byron? Because it's like if you the old saying that
we had back in Sherman, Texas, was are we all
singing from the same hymnal now?
Speaker 6 (22:59):
I sang leaning on the Everlasting Arms and blessed.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
Assurance, blessed assurance. That's great. You want to give us
a little bit of that acapella, blessed.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Assurance, blessed assures. Jesus is mind. Oh what a foretaste
of glory? Divine?
Speaker 6 (23:23):
One more line, oh air of salvation, purchase of God,
born of His spirit lost in his love.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Now, people, if you don't hum that the rest of
the day, you can't fog up a mirror.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
It's an ear wig. You'll get in your ear and
be with you all day.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Hopefully that's exactly right. Okay, guys, let's wrap up the show.
I want you to leave an encouraging word to our
national audience about why they're chasing of success isn't important,
but significance is is when it means meaning to serve
other people. Okay, yeah, I'll go with that.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
You know, Baron said, pastored for a while and those
in business for a long time, thirty five years, and
then just got to the place we didn't have to
chase that anymore, and we decided we want to do
something that mattered. And I can tell you when you'll
get to a point in your life everybody does, might
be on your deathbed, but you'll go, Wow, what really mattered?
(24:30):
What I do that, Matt, Not that you're going to
earn your way for any reward, but just you want
to make a difference, and you want to We want
to make somebody's life better. And so that's where joy
comes from. That's where real happiness comes from. When you
can make a difference for a person or a couple
or a family, or someone who's hurt or broke or hungry.
(24:53):
And if you pursue personal joy, personal gain is pretty
soon gets old tireson. But if you're serving others, you'll
always be happy.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Yeah, that's right. We're supposed to model we're supposed to
model ourselves after the greatest servant, and that was Jesus.
And you know he said I came not to be served,
but to serve, And so serving others is a high calling.
And sometimes music does that. It just soothes the soul
(25:28):
and connects everybody and lets you serve. And so that's
that's lots of fun for us.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yes, sir, thank you both for being on. That was
your sixth Bible study of the day. And I hope
this one. I hope this one reaches some people with
deaf ears who need to find their way again. I'm
Rick Tolkeiny. This is truly significant dot com Presents. Thank
you fellas for being on, and make sure and make
(25:58):
it to the October over twenty fifth Crossroads of Texas
Go Texan Country Festival. We'll finish this show off by
playing some music from the prairie dogs.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Y'all have great week, all right?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Thanks One night it wasn't you bank, y'all a hunderdneath
the stoves.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
I saw the spark of God come down. It was
coming from you. Get fingers that no man can move.
Sign nobody in me a cover nun was made with
you that nobody should bring. Then I was moon on
(27:00):
your backbas If you don't ever.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
See colors all the rainbow and mytery, you little word,
go running back again.
Speaker 6 (27:19):
To the source of love to never.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Then the woman came to.
Speaker 9 (27:41):
You, wither beautiful fruit. It tasted noo, so very good.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
What's a man gonna do?
Speaker 9 (27:53):
Take the swimming and herder if you let the music flow,
takele with the gifting.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
Ame, it didn't seem no.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Man.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Flowers bloom on your backbones and you don't ever see
the colors of a rainbow.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
Histery, You.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Wann go running back again.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
To the source of love and never ran a paradise,
(28:50):
said it's in a meet you would lose it all.
He came into good the week, See how are you bout?
And now you say that the music's gone? She took
your gift away, but the promise didn't come from her.
(29:13):
God wants to hear you play, because flowers move on your.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Black board and you don't ever see the colors of
the rainbow.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Mystery.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
You leave, and will you go.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Running back again.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
To the source of love.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
The never is.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
To the source of love.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
The never is
Speaker 7 (31:07):
No
The flowers boon on your backbush.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You don't ever see.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Colors of the rainbow.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Mystery dude, running back again.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
To the source of no never.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Hey, welcome back to truly significant dot com presence. I'm
Rick Tokeiney. Last week we had on Lorie Moseley and
we were talking about this great event coming up called
Crossroads of Texas Go Texan Country Festival. And lo and behold,
we have two of the great musicians from the Prairie
(00:55):
Dogs that will be one of the first performing bands
at this October twenty fifth event, Walks a Hatchie Texas
and we are welcoming today the one and only Mike
Borger and Byron Williamson. Welcome guys.
Speaker 6 (01:12):
Hey, hell.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
Are you good. Good to see you both. Thanks for
taking time out of your busy day to come and
talk to us and help promote this wonderful festival. Let's
get a backstory on both of you. Let's start with Byron.
Tell us about yourself.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
Well born and raised Amreilla, grew up loving music, ran
into this guy and a few others that have been
in the band all back in the early seventies and
just started playing music for fun and then all of
a sudden, we were playing music out among folks, and
(01:53):
here we are forty eight, forty nine years later, still
doing it. The first time we played together publicly, I
think was in the fall of nineteen seventy six, so
we played a back to school college event at our
little junior college here at Ambrello.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Amazing. And how about you, Mayor Borger, Yeah, well, I
appreciate the respect. I'm not used to that mayor business,
but yeah, I would agree with Byron. It's been a
long road, but it seems short in a way because
we've had so much fun playing music together. But I
think we all started way back there in the seventies,
(02:36):
following Jerry, Jeff and all of that Texas music, you know,
And that's the first stuff we learned, and we got
a lot of fun out of writing our owners and
we do a few covers, but we like to do
original music. And we have five albums out there on
all platforms now and most of it is original stuff.
(02:57):
And so Dennis Garvey, JD Garvey, and Byron and I
started the way back there in the seventies making up
music and performing for people and just had a lot
of fun doing it. It's been. It's been incredible, just
the people we've met, like you, getting to meet you
(03:19):
just kind of out of the blue. And I appreciate
Laurie hooking us up. But that festival Walks of hatche
has been a real blessing dust Believe it or not.
I think this is like twenty seven years we played
that festival. Not all of them were in Walks of Hatchie,
but most of the I guess twenty or more something
like that. I'm right there. But what a huge deal.
(03:42):
I mean, gosh, if the weather's pretty, there'll be forty
thousand people out there. It's nuts. And so we've had
We've had such fun getting to do things like that.
We got to open for Merle Haggard one time, got
to meet him. He had a blonde on each arm.
It kind of just just kind of crawled up to
(04:05):
the stage. But when he got to the step of
the stage, man he lit up and hopped up those
steps and I turned twenty one in prison then went yeah, Yeah, Anyway,
we've had a lot of music's blessed our life, for sure.
Speaker 5 (04:20):
It sounds like I'm going to ask y'all some silly
and semi serious questions this morning as we promote Crossroads
of Texas October twenty fifth in Marksahatchiet's Go Texan Country Festival.
Was this performance of Yours Born from a Dream, a
dare or down Home Destiny.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Well, I'll tell you how it first happened. There's a
there's an outdoor musical drama in Amrolla called Texas. It's
been around, gosh, I don't know, since the nineteen sixties,
been performed down in Paloderro Canyon and we form down
there before the barbecue, dinner and the show for twelve
(05:04):
or thirteen years. And one of the first years we
were performing down there, Bob Phillips came through with a
tour group and heard us and said to one of
one of the guys in the band, say, you know,
I was in a garage band when I was in
high school. And our guy said, well, we're still practicing
(05:25):
a garage and you know, and he said, well, hey,
I'm having a little party in Dallas. Would you like
to come play for it? And that's how this deal
with Texas Country Reporter and now the Crossroads of Texas
Music Festival started. Was an invitation from Bob Phillips and
(05:47):
so it has been a wonderful ride that we've been
on for these twenty I think it's twenty seven. I
think you're right, Mike.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah. Well, and I would say I would agree that destiny.
You know, when we when we first started playing music
and enjoyed playing for people, well you know that leads
you to the bars and stuff. We did that for
a while and it wasn't real healthy for us or
anybody else, and so we kind of quit playing for
a little bit, and then I think we just all
(06:17):
got our and we were having kids at that time,
all had families, little kids. We kind of decided, let's
just focus on playing places where families come, and that
kind of that kind of led us down the road
where we met people like Bob Phillips, and a lot
of our music has played at festivals outdoor things, and
we love that. And the great thing about that is
(06:37):
often we're playing for many many people, thousands of people,
and so that's been it's been destiny. I would say.
The thing about doing family deals like that too, is
you you get to meet people. You know, they don't
just get drunk and leave, They come and talk to
you afterwards, maybe by seady and stuff like that. So
(06:58):
we met some really great people and then that led
to playing some other places and it's really been fun.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Yeah, just to comment on Bob Phillips, one of the
lead singers for The Lads nineteen sixty nine, Brian Adams
High School, we did a Bob came down to Austin,
we recorded a podcast and we brought back most of
(07:25):
the living Lads together and it was a whot a
bit as a drummer, I had them sign one of
my little symbols and I.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Still have it.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It's just so it was such a memorable time and
people don't realize from our generation how much music has
impacted our lives. And I can tell you, guys are
genuine friends, deep friends, and what is music? Is music
(08:00):
meant to you as brothers.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I'll jump in on that, you know. I'd just say,
like Saturday, we played my brother has a pumpkin farm
here outside of amarill Maxwell's Pumpkin Farming. It's kind of
redneck Disneyland. It's really fun. And so when we play
out there, we bring our own sound and stuff like that,
and I'm telling you, it's it's getting harder every time
(08:26):
we do it. That stuff's heavy, and and so you know,
our running deal is when we were kind of unloading
the last speaker cabinet, we said, what give up show business?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You know?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
So that's running joke. But we've had so much fun.
We've you know, we've been through sickness and health and
laughter and many road trips and and so, man, I
wouldn't trade for it. I would say, Byron's really my
closest friend. Uh, Byron Hall. We were talking about that, brother,
Would you do my few funeral if I don't outlive you?
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Only if you'll do mine? If if if you're still here?
And I'm not.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Okay, So weird that you say that because a friend
that we were playing golf about a year ago with
two friends and I had a dream the night before
and I said, I saw you two guys providing my
eulogy and I said, well you provided one said yes
and the other one said no, Well I'm not, he said.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Because you're going to outlive me.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
He's like, why are we talking about this stuff? Okay?
Speaker 6 (09:33):
A lot of me?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Move on to another question. I was going to win
the sun dips low over Ellis County and your first
chord rings out? What do you hope your audience feels
in that moment about the Prairie Dogs.
Speaker 6 (09:48):
Hmm. Well, I hope they say yehaw, they're back, because
that that'll be, like I say, it'll be the twenty
seventh time we've we've hit the first chord. Yeah, I
hope they say, yeehaw, we're back. But man, it's just
so fun to have people walk up, walk stand in
(10:09):
front of the stage, walk by the stage and make
that connection and see those feet tapping and if they
if they know some of our songs singing along with them,
and that that connection and and just the energy is
so important to us.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah. I think Rick too. We've always tried to be
a little bit different.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
We we've never really been interested in doing covers, and
you know, if I want to hear a cover, I
want to hear the original guy do it.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
So we've never been good imitators. And so I think
our sound that first chord, people go, that sounds like
a prairie dog. And I've had so many people say that,
you know, y'all sound just like a prairie dog. That's
what we do.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Well, speak this morning to Flower and I want to
unpack part of it. I first want to tell you
that when you harmonize, it feels like kenfolk, not like chords.
There was something, there's something magical, and so my question is,
(11:17):
tell me what this really means. Run back to the
source of love that never ends. And if you believe,
why not go back to the source of love that
never ends. I'm a man of faith. So I heard this,
you know, the story of my savior in there. But
is that what is that what you guys were talking about?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, you heard right. That song is really about goy
mentioned earlier Dennis Garvey. He was one of the original
guys in the Periode Dogs and we still play quite
a bit together. But he'd had a couple of bad
experiences in marriage and he had one of them, the
(11:58):
last one that had gone south. He really blamed it
on the band kind of music, and I knew that
music was the gift and it wasn't that thing that
was hurting him. Yeah, and he had got involved in
that relationship wasn't really his fault. And so that's what
that's about. And we're just saying, you know, don't neglect
(12:19):
the gift cud put in your hand, and that dude
can flat play. He put in stream instrument in his hand.
He can flat play. I'll put him up against anybody.
But if you go out there and listen to our
live album, it's Dogs Hit Bottom, it's from Powder Cannon.
It's actually one of our live shows down there at
play Texas, you'll hear Dennis playing mandolin, banjo, let guitar.
(12:41):
He's incredible. And anyway, he had a time where he
was down the dumps. That's what flowers is about. And
so there's flowers blooming on your back porch. You just
need to go back to the source of love, and
that's Jesus.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Hey, Rick.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
One thing you may not know, Mike is a former pastor.
I still pastor a church and I am a chaplain.
And so all of the guys in the band are
our believers and and we come from all different backgrounds,
but we are all believers. And that's that's an important
(13:16):
part of what gets us together. And you know, we've
lived a lot of life together. And I was going
to say a while ago. Sometimes we get together to
practice and we play music for two or three hours straight.
And sometimes we get together to practice and we never
play a thing because it's it's our group therapy. It's
(13:36):
our talking with our brothers through life and those kind
of things. So our faith is a very important thing to.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Us, Yes, sir. It shows up in your music and
how you listen to each other. Even in this conversation.
We're going to take a quick commercial break and I'm
going to read a little bit about the crossroads, and
then I want you to you gots to fill this out.
So this is a commercial for Lori Moseley for Bob
philis Uh the mat. What you're gonna see, folks when
(14:08):
you come to Walkshatchee are Texas made arts, crafts, culinary favorites.
Over two hundred booths will fill the historic courthouse square.
And if you've never seen that courthouse, it's it's a
stunning in my opinion. So there's handcrafted goods, there's dishes,
(14:30):
there's ten different bandstands. To my knowledge, you're gonna hear
music from all over Texas if you're German or Moravian
or Hispanic or whatever color or race or creed. I
think they've got it covered on band on the music side.
And then when it comes to food, what sort of
(14:54):
tickled me was they've got wild caught offerings from the
Texas Gulf Shrimp Niche and I always go wild cought,
wild cought. Somebody write a song about that, because doesn't
that mean the same. But anyway, I'm excited that we're
going to be there.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
We're going to have a booth.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
We're presenting two lifetime Achievement awards to to truly significant
Texans Bob Phillips, one of my journalism heroes, is one,
and then to Commissioner Sid Miller. So fill out the rest, gentlemen,
what else?
Speaker 7 (15:31):
What?
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Why should our listening audience all drive to waksa Hatchee
on October twenty fifth.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, so I would say that's it's such a unique thing.
You know, it's a free festival, pretty rare, and you'll
hear great entertainment all day and you can listen to
the music as you walk around, just see the craziest stuff,
you know, art made out of toilet seats and just
just the craziest stuff in the night people. I just say,
(16:01):
it has a vibe like no other place, and it's
worth going just kind of feel the vibe and and
it's interesting just watch the crowd go by. It's a
lot of people.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
It's it's a great it's a great time for people
watching the city of Wauksahatchie and the and the merchants
bend over backwards to just accommodate people, and and uh
and it's just there's something for everybody at this festival.
And just I just think it's an amazing time. It's
(16:34):
it's the highlight of our year musically. I will tell
you that we we look forward to this this trip
every year.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
Well said, Okay, we will be right back after this
other commercial with our special guest, and we'll be talking
a little bit more about Crossroads of Texas.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
This is Arcus Aurelius reappearing to proclaim that truly significant
conversations with.
Speaker 7 (17:06):
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Speaker 8 (17:10):
This book reminds me of one of my more stirring quotes,
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should
be be one. If you're stepping into your next life
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this book is for you. Dive into forty soul stirring
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Speaker 7 (17:47):
That outlasts you.
Speaker 8 (17:49):
Authored by Rick TOLKINI Truly Significant will challenge your view
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Speaker 7 (18:10):
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help others so that death found her empt.
Speaker 8 (18:23):
Visit truly significant dot com and celebrate the most truly
significant people in your life with the truly Significant community.
How bold of you to make your next chapter matter
and be truly significant.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
And we are back with Mike Borger and Byron Williamson
of the Prairie Dogs. All right, this is a This
has got Bob Phillips's signature on it. You can tell
he's mentored me at Crossroads. You're not just performing, You're
part of a gathering of stories. What story will you
be telling from the stage?
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Well, I may be, I may be telling the stories.
Sometimes we can get Bob to sing with us, you know,
as as one of the lads. Every once in a
while we can go to him up on the stage
and get him to get him to sing one and
and that's awful fun just because it's off the cuff.
But uh, you know, part of part of the joy
(19:27):
of the festival for me is we get to hang
around with Bob and hear stories. Uh you know, we
go out to dinner or meet for breakfast before this
or that, and and just getting to hang out with
him and hear some of his his crazy stories are wonderful.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah. And I'd say pretty much any booth if you
wanted to hear a story, just stop and talk to
whoever's selling whatever, and they got stories. You know, you
can spend all day walking those streets and hearing stories.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Absolutely. Okay, we're going to go a little bit deeper
philosophical here. In times like these, it helps us to
remember that there have always been times like these. How
does your music speak to the time that we're in
now as a nation? Hm?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Oh yeah. So I started to send you a song.
It's called I Want to Know. That's on that just
for us album, the two that I sent you. But
it's exactly about that, and it's about the in these
days sing verses. In these days, there's no middle of
the road. What I am will surely soon be told
(20:42):
with a gun up in my face, what will I say,
speak his name or choose to walk away? And that's
the times we're living in. You know, the fide is deep.
You see it everywhere, and you can't you can't ride
the middle anymore. I think for a long time you could, good,
but not now.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So that's my answer. I want to know. Check it
out Ricky time, Okay, just for us. Yeah, it's under
my name, Michael Border. That particular one Lloyd Mains helped
me do that. So it's got some great instrumentation on
there that Lloyd did, right. Any further comment on that Byron?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Oh goodness. You know, I work with senior adults and
that's that's my world. And h man, I'm constantly in
the how things used to be and the surprise of
how things are now and trying to trying to explain
(21:46):
some of that to some of our seniors. Man, it's
a it's a tough it's a tough deal, but I
will tell you this, Uh, music bridges a lot of
those gaps and and that's one of the reasons we
do it. When you know, I just came from I
lead five Bible studies every week. And I just came
(22:09):
from from a Bible study to part to start this
podcast with you, and and I sang sing a couple
of hymns. I take my guitar and sing a couple
of hymns with the old folks, because that gets everybody
on the same page for a few moments. And then
and then we go from there, so that the thing
(22:30):
about music bridging the gaps and and kind of a
bomb for the world that we're living in today.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
What hymns did you sing today?
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Oh gosh, what hymns did I sing today? I should
have them right here in front of me somewhere. Uh leaning,
Where did you say that?
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Byron? Because it's like if you the old saying that
we had back in Sherman, Texas, was are we all
singing from the same hymnal now?
Speaker 6 (22:59):
I sang leaning on the Everlasting Arms and blessed.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
Assurance, blessed assurance. That's great. You want to give us
a little bit of that acapella, blessed.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Assurance, blessed assures. Jesus is mind. Oh what a foretaste
of glory? Divine?
Speaker 6 (23:23):
One more line, oh air of salvation, purchase of God,
born of His spirit lost in his love.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Now, people, if you don't hum that the rest of
the day, you can't fog up a mirror.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
It's an ear wig. You'll get in your ear and
be with you all day.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Hopefully that's exactly right. Okay, guys, let's wrap up the show.
I want you to leave an encouraging word to our
national audience about why they're chasing of success isn't important,
but significance is is when it means meaning to serve
other people. Okay, yeah, I'll go with that.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
You know, Baron said, pastored for a while and those
in business for a long time, thirty five years, and
then just got to the place we didn't have to
chase that anymore, and we decided we want to do
something that mattered. And I can tell you when you'll
get to a point in your life everybody does, might
be on your deathbed, but you'll go, Wow, what really mattered?
(24:30):
What I do that, Matt, Not that you're going to
earn your way for any reward, but just you want
to make a difference, and you want to We want
to make somebody's life better. And so that's where joy
comes from. That's where real happiness comes from. When you
can make a difference for a person or a couple
or a family, or someone who's hurt or broke or hungry.
(24:53):
And if you pursue personal joy, personal gain is pretty
soon gets old tireson. But if you're serving others, you'll
always be happy.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Yeah, that's right. We're supposed to model we're supposed to
model ourselves after the greatest servant, and that was Jesus.
And you know he said I came not to be served,
but to serve, And so serving others is a high calling.
And sometimes music does that. It just soothes the soul
(25:28):
and connects everybody and lets you serve. And so that's
that's lots of fun for us.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yes, sir, thank you both for being on. That was
your sixth Bible study of the day. And I hope
this one. I hope this one reaches some people with
deaf ears who need to find their way again. I'm
Rick Tolkeiny. This is truly significant dot com Presents. Thank
you fellas for being on, and make sure and make
(25:58):
it to the October over twenty fifth Crossroads of Texas
Go Texan Country Festival. We'll finish this show off by
playing some music from the prairie dogs.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Y'all have great week, all right?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Thanks One night it wasn't you bank, y'all a hunderdneath
the stoves.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
I saw the spark of God come down. It was
coming from you. Get fingers that no man can move.
Sign nobody in me a cover nun was made with
you that nobody should bring. Then I was moon on
(27:00):
your backbas If you don't ever.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
See colors all the rainbow and mytery, you little word,
go running back again.
Speaker 6 (27:19):
To the source of love to never.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Then the woman came to.
Speaker 9 (27:41):
You, wither beautiful fruit. It tasted noo, so very good.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
What's a man gonna do?
Speaker 9 (27:53):
Take the swimming and herder if you let the music flow,
takele with the gifting.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
Ame, it didn't seem no.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Man.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Flowers bloom on your backbones and you don't ever see
the colors of a rainbow.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
Histery, You.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Wann go running back again.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
To the source of love and never ran a paradise,
(28:50):
said it's in a meet you would lose it all.
He came into good the week, See how are you bout?
And now you say that the music's gone? She took
your gift away, but the promise didn't come from her.
(29:13):
God wants to hear you play, because flowers move on your.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Black board and you don't ever see the colors of
the rainbow.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Mystery.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
You leave, and will you go.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Running back again.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
To the source of love.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
The never is.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
To the source of love.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
The never is
Speaker 7 (31:07):
No
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