Latest / Single Tree Nation Show / Amy Mills - Carrying the Legacy of 17th Street BBQ & Building a Family Empire

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Amy Mills - Carrying the Legacy of 17th Street BBQ & Building a Family Empire · Single Tree Nation Show

• 0:02
  Welcome back to Singletree Nation.
• 0:05
  I'm your man, Charlie Eblen.
• 0:06
  And as always,
• 0:07
  we have our illustrious co-host, Mr.
• 0:09
  Derry Wells with us today.
• 0:11
  What is up, everybody?
• 0:13
  Look, as always,
• 0:14
  we want to take a quick second and
• 0:16
  thank our primary sponsor by Toast for
• 0:19
  sponsoring our show and partnering with
• 0:21
  here and at the restaurant.
• 0:23
  Without them,
• 0:24
  we couldn't provide the undeniable
• 0:25
  hospitality that we do to become the Nike
• 0:27
  of barbecue.
• 0:29
  And I am absolutely stoked about our guest
• 0:32
  today, Derry.
• 0:34
  It is going to be an epic show.
• 0:38
  I just like her Instagram post.
• 0:40
  you just like her instagram post it is
• 0:42
  quality no i shouldn't say just like let
• 0:44
  me hang on quality social media team i
• 0:49
  haven't had a barbecue but yes so so
• 0:53
  um did you know that amy is from
• 0:58
  murfreesboro no she is from murfreesboro
• 1:03
  Did you know that?
• 1:04
  No, just said that.
• 1:05
  Well, welcome to the show, Amy.
• 1:07
  I am going to let you introduce yourself.
• 1:09
  Tell everybody who you are and what you
• 1:11
  do,
• 1:12
  and we can dive into the fact that
• 1:13
  you are actually from Murfreesboro.
• 1:16
  Well, we actually say Murfreesboro,
• 1:18
  so we're spelled a little bit differently,
• 1:19
  but that's okay.
• 1:20
  Gotta take the R out.
• 1:22
  Oh, wait.
• 1:22
  Yes.
• 1:23
  Play on words.
• 1:24
  Well done.
• 1:25
  All right.
• 1:25
  We get that confusion all the time.
• 1:27
  All the time.
• 1:28
  But that's okay.
• 1:29
  I'm Amy Mills,
• 1:31
  owner of Seventeen Street Barbecue,
• 1:33
  which is the barbecue restaurant that my
• 1:35
  dad, Mike Mills,
• 1:37
  also known as the legend in the world
• 1:39
  of barbecue, started forty years ago.
• 1:42
  We're celebrating our fortieth year all
• 1:44
  year this year.
• 1:45
  So that's congratulations.
• 1:46
  Thank you.
• 1:47
  That's that's a feat for sure.
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  And in addition to Seventeen Street,
• 1:52
  we actually have seven lines of business
• 1:54
  here,
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  most notably starting in twenty twenty one
• 1:58
  is the factory at Seventeen Street,
• 2:01
  where we pack our sauces and rubs and
• 2:04
  Copac for other barbecue restaurants all
• 2:07
  over the country.
• 2:09
  That is outstanding.
• 2:14
  What made you start your own co-packing
• 2:17
  company?
• 2:18
  Well, that's a good question.
• 2:20
  I'm asking myself that a lot recently.
• 2:22
  Say, wait a minute.
• 2:25
  This is way harder than I thought it
• 2:26
  was going to be.
• 2:28
  We wanted to take back production of our
• 2:30
  own product because if you use a
• 2:32
  co-packer,
• 2:33
  you know that sometimes that product is
• 2:35
  not exactly what it's supposed to taste
• 2:37
  like after they have...
• 2:39
  manipulated your recipe and used other
• 2:41
  products that you didn't quite start out
• 2:43
  with.
• 2:44
  And we not only wanted to bring that
• 2:47
  production back in house,
• 2:48
  but our town is a factory town.
• 2:50
  At one time,
• 2:51
  we had five factories in Murfreesboro.
• 2:53
  It was really a booming hub of activity
• 2:55
  here.
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  And one by one,
• 2:57
  those factories all went overseas.
• 3:00
  really decimating our town.
• 3:02
  You could see where the factories were
• 3:04
  located and all the little homes that were
• 3:06
  around them.
• 3:07
  It was possible to live a very quality
• 3:10
  middle life here in Murfreesboro with good
• 3:13
  jobs, good pay, nice housing.
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  You could walk to work.
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  And that's gone away.
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  And so I wanted to bring back a
• 3:20
  factory to our town.
• 3:22
  And in doing that,
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  I wanted to bring other people's money
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  into our economy here.
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  So
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  When we are bottling sauces for somebody
• 3:28
  in New York or in California or any
• 3:31
  point in between,
• 3:32
  that's obviously an influx of funds that
• 3:35
  are coming into our economy.
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  It's also provided a career path for some
• 3:40
  longtime people.
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  who we have here at Seventeen Street,
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  Philip Hearn,
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  who's our company pit master.
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  He's been with us since two thousand four.
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  He's now the factory manager.
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  So that was a great career path for
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  him.
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  And we have two other people who have
• 3:55
  been promoted and are made lateral moves
• 3:59
  over into the sauce factory.
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  So it's another revenue stream.
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  It's something that's not dependent upon
• 4:06
  the restaurant world,
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  which I don't know how things are in
• 4:08
  your neck of the woods,
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  but
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  The winter is always very dicey for us
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  when it's cold and dark.
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  And the hope is that we have this
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  as just a different sort of revenue
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  stream.
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  The industry,
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  I think I think twenty twenty five ended
• 4:24
  with the industry as a whole restaurant
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  business as a whole ended at about five
• 4:28
  or six percent down.
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  over twenty twenty four and it was a
• 4:33
  very tough year for a lot of people
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  a lot of businesses closed in twenty
• 4:36
  twenty five and continue to struggle today
• 4:41
  it's it's the restaurant business not easy
• 4:42
  by any means so good for you for
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  for recognizing that and diversifying by
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  all means we we at Singletree think about
• 4:50
  think about that quite often
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  and how we can diversify our revenue
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  streams and continue to grow the business
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  in different ways.
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  So, well, Amy,
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  I would like to take it back.
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  We're talking about forty years of
• 5:05
  barbecue.
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  This was started when you were a very
• 5:12
  young lady.
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  Yes,
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  and I actually ran far and fast from
• 5:17
  this world when, you know,
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  I went away to school.
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  I lived in Boston for- Sounds like our
• 5:22
  Murfreesboro.
• 5:23
  Plus years.
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  Didn't you run away from our Murfreesboro?
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  I did, I did, yes.
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  As fast as I could go,
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  but I was actually, you know,
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  I'm drawn back into this world.
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  And it's funny when I,
• 5:34
  Still,
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  I was actually remote before remote was a
• 5:37
  thing.
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  So still living in Boston in two thousand,
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  I started doing work for my dad and
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  it would be things, you know,
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  create an ad or I need this written
• 5:46
  different things that were happening at
• 5:48
  that time.
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  Before we before we get that far,
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  what were you doing and what took you
• 5:52
  to Boston to begin with school?
• 5:55
  Sure.
• 5:55
  No, I actually went to school in Missouri.
• 5:57
  I'm a journalism major.
• 5:59
  I've always had advertising, marketing,
• 6:01
  PR jobs.
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  And I moved to Boston with my now
• 6:05
  ex-husband and worked in a variety of
• 6:08
  industries from financial services to
• 6:11
  retail and mail order, doing advertising,
• 6:15
  marketing, and PR for those companies.
• 6:17
  So I did all of the things that
• 6:19
  I did for other people.
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  I just turned around and did all of
• 6:21
  that for Seventeenth Street.
• 6:23
  Nice.
• 6:23
  Okay.
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  So in two thousand,
• 6:25
  you started doing odds and in things
• 6:27
  remotely for your dad.
• 6:29
  right well even before that i would do
• 6:31
  little things here and there but really
• 6:34
  ramping up more in two thousand because
• 6:36
  that was around the time that he started
• 6:39
  partnering with danny meyer to open blue
• 6:41
  smoke and since i was in boston and
• 6:43
  just four hours away i could go back
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  and forth to new york and i would
• 6:48
  come back and forth to southern illinois
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  when those chefs were coming here to learn
• 6:54
  and test and do different things so that's
• 6:57
  really um
• 6:58
  what brought me back in.
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  And once I got back in,
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  I started looking around and all these
• 7:04
  people who I thought were a little bit
• 7:05
  weird when I was growing up,
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  I realized they weren't all so strange
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  after all.
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  We all know barbecue is a very unique
• 7:12
  subculture of America.
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  And I just looked at all of those
• 7:17
  people and all the things that were
• 7:19
  happening through a different lens.
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  And that's when I decided to write Peace,
• 7:23
  Love and Barbecue,
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  because at that time there was no book
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  about barbecue that really talked about
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  the people and the culture and what makes
• 7:32
  barbecue so special.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  So now when did you you were you
• 7:42
  were part time in Boston coming back?
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  When did you come back to Murfreesboro and
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  and start really headfirst into the
• 7:53
  business?
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  Well,
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  as my children grew and then went away
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  to school,
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  I could be here more frequently and for
• 8:01
  longer stretches of time.
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  When I was writing our second book,
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  I was here for very long stretches of
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  time because we were testing recipes and
• 8:11
  doing photography and different things
• 8:12
  like that.
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  But my dad...
• 8:16
  had his health turned at the end of
• 8:18
  twenty sixteen.
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  And so I really got a phone call
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  and had to be on a plane the
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  next day.
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  And and that was my entree back here
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  full time.
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  But before that,
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  I was here for stretches of time,
• 8:29
  a couple week here, a week there.
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  So I was I was very involved.
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  And if I wasn't coming here,
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  I was meeting our team at some event
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  all over the country where we were all
• 8:41
  where we were gathering or where we were
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  participating in an event or a festival.
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  cetera so there was never a month that
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  i wasn't here or somewhere in the country
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  with seventeenth street i got it i love
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  that i love that i mean every every
• 8:58
  show we have a segment that we we
• 9:00
  call dinner for two and i like to
• 9:03
  i like to have this early in the
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  show because i kind of think it sets
• 9:06
  a little bit of a tone of of
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  who you are and tells the world a
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  little bit about yourself
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  Um, if you could have dinner with anyone,
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  any singular person, uh, past, present,
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  or future, it doesn't matter.
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  It doesn't matter to you.
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  Um, who would that be and why?
• 9:22
  Oh,
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  I wish you sent me that question in
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  advance.
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  That's a kicker.
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  I know.
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  Oh, what would I give this?
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  It makes me teary for one more dinner
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  with my dad.
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  Oh, I love you.
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  Oh, you just, you just warm my soul.
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  yeah that's that's amazing your your
• 9:46
  father was a very special person he uh
• 9:50
  for for for people outside the barbecue
• 9:52
  world probably don't understand how much
• 9:54
  he actually impacted the the barbecue
• 9:57
  community and what he means to the
• 10:00
  barbecue community um would you be able to
• 10:03
  kind of summarize what what you believe he
• 10:07
  means to the barbecue community
• 10:10
  Sure.
• 10:10
  Well, he did not earn that nickname,
• 10:12
  the legend for nothing.
• 10:13
  Obviously, it was for cooking prowess.
• 10:16
  But I think more than anything,
• 10:18
  the word generosity describes my dad.
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  He really did believe that generosity is a
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  recipe for success.
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  And he
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  took every phone call,
• 10:28
  would sit for hours and talk to somebody
• 10:30
  about the barbecue business,
• 10:32
  try to help somebody in any way that
• 10:34
  he possibly could,
• 10:35
  often to the detriment of our own business
• 10:37
  or what we were trying to do in
• 10:39
  a day.
• 10:40
  And he has forgotten more about barbecue
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  than most people will ever, ever,
• 10:48
  ever know.
• 10:49
  He really embodied,
• 10:52
  barbecue sauce was in his veins.
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  He really embodied the spirit of barbecue.
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  I just don't know another person dead or
• 10:59
  alive who symbolizes barbecue more than
• 11:03
  Mike Mills.
• 11:04
  And obviously I'm a little biased,
• 11:05
  but I would still be hard pressed to
• 11:07
  find that person.
• 11:09
  Um, bias or not, um, you, you,
• 11:14
  you hit the nail on the head there.
• 11:16
  Um, it's incredible.
• 11:17
  It's, um, when,
• 11:20
  when you guys post every Sunday,
• 11:22
  your Sunday sermons, um, on,
• 11:26
  on all of your social medias, um,
• 11:31
  it really resonates with me.
• 11:34
  We do a thing every week on our
• 11:36
  show called the Friday Feel Good,
• 11:38
  and Derry is absolutely amazing with it.
• 11:40
  But you guys,
• 11:45
  where does that inspiration come from?
• 11:48
  I'm always in awe.
• 11:49
  Derry comes up with some amazing things,
• 11:52
  and we talk about them offline and on
• 11:55
  air as well.
• 11:55
  And it just, it always...
• 11:59
  it always hits me so hard i just
• 12:01
  and and i'm in awe of how people
• 12:03
  can come up with the things that they
• 12:04
  do how do you draw your inspiration for
• 12:06
  those well what's interesting to me too is
• 12:09
  that i i gather all this inspiration i
• 12:11
  have little notes in my phone and
• 12:14
  screenshots and quotation books with
• 12:17
  sticky notes in them but i never know
• 12:20
  week to week i just have a giant
• 12:21
  list that i put up and somebody in
• 12:23
  the office will go out and
• 12:25
  pull the letters and put up the sign.
• 12:27
  And it's amazing how often that's the one
• 12:30
  I needed that week too.
• 12:32
  And it's just funny how it resonates with
• 12:34
  so many people.
• 12:35
  It really is the most widely shared post
• 12:38
  that we do and obviously has nothing but
• 12:41
  yet everything to do with barbecue.
• 12:43
  And I always say that we're really in
• 12:46
  the business of selling community,
• 12:48
  but our conduit is barbecue.
• 12:50
  And that Sunday sermon really says it all.
• 12:54
  We're not saying come in and have a
• 12:55
  barbecue or come have a rack of ribs.
• 12:57
  It's just that inspirational message that
• 13:00
  is shining a light for somebody.
• 13:02
  And I love when people come and visit
• 13:04
  our restaurant and they'll post a picture
• 13:06
  and they'll say Sunday sermon in the wild
• 13:08
  or they'll take their picture underneath.
• 13:10
  I see people from town stopping in the
• 13:12
  middle of the road to take a picture
• 13:14
  of the sign.
• 13:15
  I started doing it,
• 13:16
  I really cannot remember how many years
• 13:18
  ago, and it really just took off.
• 13:22
  I used to do them in color,
• 13:24
  then I decided to make them black and
• 13:26
  white,
• 13:26
  so they just stood out on the grid,
• 13:28
  and it kind of signaled to you that
• 13:30
  that was what was coming that week.
• 13:33
  And as far as the inspiration, you know,
• 13:36
  some of those things are things that my
• 13:38
  dad told me growing up.
• 13:40
  Some of them are things I've come up
• 13:41
  with.
• 13:42
  Many of them I have found on the
• 13:44
  internet or sometimes I'll say,
• 13:46
  I'll just look in my book of quotes
• 13:48
  or I'll Google, you know,
• 13:49
  I need a quote about hope or I
• 13:52
  need a quote about Christmas or whatever,
• 13:54
  whatever I'm trying to post about that
• 13:56
  week.
• 13:57
  I think one of the things that's unique
• 14:00
  about y'all's Sunday sermon and just
• 14:03
  anybody that is touched by those kinds of
• 14:06
  posts,
• 14:06
  oftentimes we're looking not necessarily
• 14:09
  for the post,
• 14:10
  but for ways where we can be improved
• 14:12
  upon.
• 14:12
  I got a friend of mine who is
• 14:16
  really good about just kind of saying the
• 14:19
  right word to me at the right time.
• 14:22
  And there are sometimes like,
• 14:25
  how do you know what I'm going through?
• 14:26
  But at the same time,
• 14:27
  I think that we just are in those
• 14:30
  seasons of life.
• 14:32
  Those words, those quotes, those whatever,
• 14:35
  they really help us out.
• 14:36
  Because I've done similar to what you
• 14:37
  said.
• 14:38
  I've posted my Friday feel good or I'll
• 14:40
  be looking up.
• 14:41
  I've had one stored in my phone for
• 14:42
  a while.
• 14:43
  We'll dig this one up.
• 14:44
  And it hits me just as much as
• 14:45
  it hits anybody else.
• 14:47
  Selfishly,
• 14:49
  i started out doing the friday feel goods
• 14:51
  for self and because i needed i was
• 14:54
  like if it's helping me it'll help
• 14:55
  somebody else um but i'm glad to know
• 14:58
  that other people that post positive
• 14:59
  messages um are also searching because
• 15:02
  sometimes it gets difficult to find just
• 15:04
  the right one or i'll sit on it
• 15:06
  for a while like you said i didn't
• 15:08
  know there's a quote book i need to
• 15:09
  go get one of those so bartlett's book
• 15:11
  of quotations
• 15:14
  Man, I'm buying it this afternoon.
• 15:15
  I'm going to take notes right now.
• 15:16
  Yes.
• 15:17
  I can't do anything else with my phone,
• 15:18
  so I may as well do that.
• 15:23
  Look, every Sunday morning when I get up,
• 15:26
  it's one of the first things that I
• 15:27
  look for.
• 15:30
  It brightens my day in so many ways.
• 15:34
  I just couldn't tell you how much it
• 15:37
  means to me.
• 15:38
  Well, that feels great to hear.
• 15:40
  well it's look i'm i'm nobody i just
• 15:43
  cook i just cook barbecue down here in
• 15:45
  murfreesboro so we uh and and and love
• 15:49
  doing it but those quotes are some of
• 15:51
  them some of them are man you want
• 15:57
  to talk about pulling on some strings it's
• 16:00
  uh it'll get a punch in the face
• 16:01
  right yeah we're knocking right back on
• 16:04
  track absolutely which is wonderful i uh
• 16:07
  I've been known to push people off cliffs
• 16:10
  from some comments that I've made before,
• 16:14
  and those helped me get right back where
• 16:15
  I need to be too.
• 16:16
  So, Amy, let's take a quick break,
• 16:20
  get a word from Dead Meat Society,
• 16:23
  and then we'll be right back.
• 16:29
  All right.
• 16:29
  Welcome back, guys.
• 16:30
  I'm your man, Charlie Eblen.
• 16:32
  As always,
• 16:32
  we have our illustrious co-host, Mr.
• 16:34
  Derry Wells, with us today.
• 16:36
  We are talking with Amy Mills from
• 16:39
  Seventeenth Street Barbecue in
• 16:42
  Murfreesboro.
• 16:44
  I just love throwing that out there to
• 16:45
  put a play on the words.
• 16:46
  I know.
• 16:47
  All right.
• 16:48
  It's hard for me not to say it.
• 16:49
  I can't help it.
• 16:53
  Amy, when the South and a redneck,
• 16:54
  what do you want me to do?
• 16:57
  All the chat marks right there.
• 16:59
  Go through the list.
• 17:00
  Amy,
• 17:01
  when you've got folks coming in the
• 17:04
  restaurant there,
• 17:05
  How many of them are looking at you
• 17:08
  guys as destination place?
• 17:10
  Hey, it's the historical side.
• 17:11
  Hey, I remember your dad or, you know,
• 17:15
  something from a long lost point.
• 17:17
  Or how many of them are just new
• 17:19
  people in town wanting to try it?
• 17:21
  And do you try to cater to one
• 17:23
  or the other or ultimately are you guys
• 17:24
  just trying to run y'all's business and
• 17:27
  let whoever walks in, walk in?
• 17:30
  That is a great question.
• 17:31
  Half of our business every day is out
• 17:33
  of town, out of state, out of country.
• 17:36
  And literally every day there will be
• 17:38
  someone from another country in our
• 17:40
  restaurant.
• 17:41
  And we know that because we ask them
• 17:43
  where they're from and we write it down
• 17:44
  on a chalkboard.
• 17:46
  And it's fascinating to me, you know,
• 17:49
  where they come from and what they're
• 17:51
  doing.
• 17:51
  Sometimes they're on a barbecue quest.
• 17:54
  Often they're on a barbecue quest or
• 17:56
  they're here passing through.
• 17:58
  They've detoured to visit us.
• 18:00
  Some people will come with our peace,
• 18:01
  love and barbecue book or whatever.
• 18:04
  Thrillist once did a list of thirty-three
• 18:07
  top barbecue restaurants,
• 18:08
  and I can't tell you how many people
• 18:10
  came in with a printout of that and
• 18:11
  said, will you sign this for me?
• 18:13
  I'm going to all of these barbecue places.
• 18:15
  So lots of barbecue tourism,
• 18:17
  lots of barbecue
• 18:19
  owners or enthusiasts um you know just
• 18:22
  people who love barbecue or they're on a
• 18:24
  trip and they've googled where where am i
• 18:27
  going to eat in southern illinois and they
• 18:29
  make their way here it could really be
• 18:31
  anything it'd be a variety of things but
• 18:34
  Then the other half is obviously very
• 18:36
  local and by local, I mean,
• 18:38
  not only Murfreesboro, but our region,
• 18:40
  our town is only seven thousand people.
• 18:43
  So it's a very small universe here.
• 18:45
  And if we didn't have that influx of
• 18:48
  out of town,
• 18:49
  we would definitely not be as big as
• 18:52
  we are.
• 18:53
  And I say big,
• 18:54
  but yet we're just a tiny little
• 18:56
  restaurant on the corner.
• 18:58
  It's a hundred-year-old building.
• 19:00
  It's a joint.
• 19:01
  It's not brand spanking new.
• 19:04
  Just the best ones.
• 19:04
  You can never replicate it.
• 19:06
  But our local people are equally as
• 19:10
  important to us because that's the culture
• 19:12
  and the fabric.
• 19:13
  And they make the place feel alive.
• 19:16
  The people from out of town are coming
• 19:18
  in.
• 19:18
  to have a seat at our table because
• 19:20
  they want that feeling.
• 19:21
  They want to feel like a local.
• 19:23
  They want to feel part of our community
• 19:26
  and part of our congregation.
• 19:28
  And so the two of those really mix
• 19:30
  and mingle.
• 19:30
  And my favorite thing is watching people
• 19:33
  sitting at the bar.
• 19:34
  We have this
• 19:36
  antique bar that may or may not have
• 19:37
  come from one of Al Capone's speakeasies
• 19:40
  in Chicago.
• 19:41
  But to see people,
• 19:42
  new people and local people sitting there
• 19:45
  and having conversations and just talking,
• 19:48
  talking about the region,
• 19:49
  talking about barbecue,
• 19:50
  talking about anything and just watching
• 19:53
  people make connections over barbecue is
• 19:55
  really special.
• 19:58
  i had a um i was once in
• 20:00
  a a class and the teacher of this
• 20:03
  class and it was opened up to a
• 20:05
  general public kind of thing he had a
• 20:08
  list of barbecue restaurants that
• 20:11
  everybody had mentioned that that was
• 20:12
  their favorite restaurant collectively
• 20:16
  over all the years he'd been doing this
• 20:18
  class
• 20:20
  texas north carolina missouri probably the
• 20:23
  biggest places for listing this out what
• 20:27
  shocked me was the amount of international
• 20:30
  barbecue places and he has said that a
• 20:33
  lot of them are trying to mimic things
• 20:35
  that we do here in america so when
• 20:37
  you said that you've got literally
• 20:38
  somebody from another country something is
• 20:40
  just about every day can you hear me
• 20:43
  we can hear you great
• 20:47
  we good you back with us we're good
• 20:50
  can you hear us amy i don't think
• 20:57
  she can hear us can you hear me
• 21:01
  yes ma'am yeah we can hear you i
• 21:04
  don't know
• 21:14
  bring in the backups.
• 21:16
  Here's the backup.
• 21:18
  Can you hear us now?
• 21:21
  I can very loudly.
• 21:23
  Hang on.
• 21:24
  I got to go down a little bit.
• 21:27
  These have plenty of charge.
• 21:28
  They just started cutting in and out.
• 21:30
  And so I missed the whole thing that
• 21:31
  you said about
• 21:34
  I heard the word international barbecue
• 21:36
  and that's about it.
• 21:37
  Yeah.
• 21:37
  He just threw out that entire list.
• 21:40
  I was shocked to see the number of
• 21:41
  international barbecue places.
• 21:44
  And so then for you to say that
• 21:47
  just about on a daily basis, you have,
• 21:49
  you guys have somebody cause they're
• 21:50
  always trying to emulate what we do from
• 21:52
  American barbecue, if you will,
• 21:54
  that y'all have somebody come in from out
• 21:55
  of country.
• 21:57
  looking just to hit y'all's destination.
• 21:59
  And I always,
• 21:59
  I'm just always surprised that when the,
• 22:02
  I think the word barbecue community or the
• 22:05
  phrase almost gets overplayed,
• 22:08
  but it's really a real thing.
• 22:11
  I mean,
• 22:11
  because you can walk into Charlie's
• 22:14
  restaurant or any other local places.
• 22:16
  And let's just be honest,
• 22:17
  the local places always have a better feel
• 22:19
  than the chains.
• 22:20
  I mean, like it's, I'm sorry.
• 22:21
  They,
• 22:21
  the chain doesn't know how to replicate
• 22:23
  that aspect of it, but yeah,
• 22:25
  well it's it's it's simple i can promise
• 22:27
  you that amy loves her barbecue joint more
• 22:29
  than anybody else does okay and you love
• 22:31
  yours anybody else does and you get you
• 22:34
  get twelve fifteen thirty fifty locations
• 22:38
  and and the person that that owns them
• 22:41
  is the president of a hedge fund right
• 22:44
  right there there it's not the blood sweat
• 22:46
  and tears that have been put in from
• 22:48
  forty years of making barbecue
• 22:52
  Well, I mean,
• 22:52
  that's the ones I'm looking for.
• 22:53
  I want that little hole in the wall
• 22:54
  joint because that is what makes it.
• 22:56
  But it's just unique to me about how
• 22:59
  many people can try to copy that,
• 23:01
  how many people can try to be.
• 23:03
  That's their goal.
• 23:04
  And like you said,
• 23:05
  until you put in the heart and the
• 23:07
  soul of it,
• 23:07
  it's just not going to happen.
• 23:08
  So I'm always impressed.
• 23:10
  But that you have that many international
• 23:12
  visitors just really kind of makes me just
• 23:16
  be impressed.
• 23:17
  Well, to be clear, to be clear,
• 23:20
  some of those visitors aren't they're not
• 23:22
  necessarily barbecue people.
• 23:24
  They're they're here visiting Southern
• 23:26
  Illinois University or they're here on
• 23:28
  vacation or passing through for some
• 23:30
  reason.
• 23:30
  They're not some of them.
• 23:32
  Many of them are enthusiasts.
• 23:33
  Obviously,
• 23:33
  some of them are in that world or
• 23:35
  their competitors,
• 23:36
  lots of competitors from abroad.
• 23:38
  We have an a set of seminars called
• 23:42
  On Cue.
• 23:43
  And we have three different seminars that
• 23:45
  we hold a business of barbecue,
• 23:48
  a catering masterclass and a whole hog
• 23:50
  extravaganza.
• 23:51
  And since two thousand nine,
• 23:53
  we've had over fifteen hundred people from
• 23:55
  sixteen countries and forty five states
• 23:58
  come to Murfreesboro to learn about
• 24:00
  barbecue.
• 24:01
  And so we've helped incubate barbecue
• 24:03
  businesses all over the world.
• 24:04
  And that is really pretty amazing.
• 24:06
  Incredible.
• 24:07
  Do you know the five states that haven't
• 24:08
  shown up yet?
• 24:09
  I do.
• 24:10
  All right, we need to get them on.
• 24:12
  They need to be happening.
• 24:13
  What are they?
• 24:14
  Well, Rhode Island, strangely,
• 24:17
  is one of the states.
• 24:18
  Their proximity means somebody should have
• 24:21
  been there.
• 24:22
  I know,
• 24:22
  and I think about Rhode Island since I
• 24:24
  lived in Massachusetts for so long.
• 24:30
  Now I'm going to blank,
• 24:31
  but I know for sure it's Rhode Island.
• 24:33
  I'm not sure that I've had someone from
• 24:34
  Hawaii.
• 24:37
  I would give you that one.
• 24:39
  I'll give you Hawaii.
• 24:41
  My Alaska guy has come back so many
• 24:44
  times.
• 24:45
  He comes back and brings his managers.
• 24:47
  He probably gets the prize for attending
• 24:50
  again and again and again the most times.
• 24:53
  All the classes,
• 24:54
  bringing other people back.
• 24:56
  And his place is called Turn Again Armpit
• 25:00
  Barbecue.
• 25:02
  which maybe not armpit so if you google
• 25:05
  this that is a region in in alaska
• 25:09
  and it is a like a bay area
• 25:12
  and it probably looks like an armpit sure
• 25:14
  yeah why it's called that but yes it's
• 25:17
  quite a funny name and i the locals
• 25:18
  love it that you sold that recently i
• 25:20
  think what's really funny is we've it's
• 25:23
  been long enough now that people who
• 25:24
  started these restaurants several of them
• 25:27
  have now sold or retired they they ran
• 25:29
  it for ten
• 25:31
  years or fifteen years and now they're
• 25:35
  exiting.
• 25:37
  So when you and there's a sense then
• 25:39
  that you're almost the the grandparent of
• 25:42
  some of these restaurants.
• 25:43
  And when you see what you've been able
• 25:46
  to foster from just a historical
• 25:48
  perspective,
• 25:48
  you said you guys have been at it
• 25:49
  for years.
• 25:50
  Some of these guys are selling off after
• 25:52
  ten or twelve years.
• 25:53
  Where is that sense?
• 25:55
  I'm going to assume it's a sense of
• 25:57
  pride,
• 25:57
  but that sense of pride has got to
• 25:59
  be a balance with not letting your ego
• 26:01
  get big because ultimately you can look
• 26:03
  around like you literally have the names.
• 26:05
  You have the states of where these people
• 26:07
  have started their barbecue joints that
• 26:09
  you kind of feel like, yeah.
• 26:11
  We're the grandparent of you guys because
• 26:13
  y'all learned it from us.
• 26:14
  And where does that does that keep the
• 26:17
  assignment going?
• 26:18
  Does it just kind of another notch in
• 26:20
  the belt or is it like, yeah,
• 26:21
  we helped and keep right on going and
• 26:23
  don't give it much airtime?
• 26:24
  Well,
• 26:25
  I know it feels great and it feels
• 26:26
  especially great when, you know,
• 26:28
  the fifty best,
• 26:30
  best restaurant in every state comes out
• 26:32
  and you can go through that list and
• 26:33
  five of those people leave.
• 26:35
  came through the class the thing about the
• 26:37
  class is that all what we're telling in
• 26:40
  that class is what we do and obviously
• 26:43
  everyone is going to leave here and put
• 26:45
  their own spin on it but the goal
• 26:47
  is to give somebody a leg up and
• 26:50
  to tell you we these are all the
• 26:51
  mistakes we made so you're going to go
• 26:53
  off and make some different mistakes but
• 26:54
  don't make the same mistake that we did
• 26:57
  some of the people are very seasoned i've
• 26:59
  had
• 27:00
  you know Texas barbecue families who've
• 27:02
  been in business fifty or more years come
• 27:05
  and I I'm a class Junkie myself so
• 27:08
  I know if I go to a seminar
• 27:10
  and I come home with three things that
• 27:11
  I've learned I've totally paid for that
• 27:13
  seminar so it's not that it's they're all
• 27:16
  brand new people they've really they're
• 27:17
  really at every stage of their barbecue
• 27:21
  career because you know one new idea or
• 27:23
  one new way of doing things could make
• 27:25
  you lots of money or save you lots
• 27:27
  of time and heartache
• 27:29
  Yeah.
• 27:30
  Yeah.
• 27:31
  It's, um, uh, we, we've had, uh,
• 27:34
  we had, uh, Mr.
• 27:35
  Kerry bring along the show from a peg
• 27:38
  leg and he's, he's one of my,
• 27:42
  one of my favorite people in the barbecue
• 27:44
  world because he is,
• 27:46
  he is who he is and unapologetically about
• 27:48
  it.
• 27:49
  And, uh, I, well,
• 27:51
  What was the quote he said, Daria?
• 27:54
  You don't have to hate everybody else's
• 27:57
  barbecue to love mine.
• 27:58
  Right.
• 27:59
  Exactly.
• 28:01
  We all do things differently.
• 28:03
  It's all, you know,
• 28:04
  my barbecue is different than the guys
• 28:06
  next to me and so forth.
• 28:08
  And, you know,
• 28:09
  it's just not better or not worse.
• 28:12
  It's just different.
• 28:13
  And you can learn something from
• 28:14
  everybody.
• 28:15
  So I love that.
• 28:15
  That's incredible.
• 28:16
  And, you know, Carrie is an on-cue alum.
• 28:19
  He is.
• 28:20
  Oh, there you go.
• 28:21
  Man.
• 28:22
  He's the reason that I know you did
• 28:24
  those classes.
• 28:24
  Okay.
• 28:25
  And a great friend.
• 28:26
  So, yeah.
• 28:28
  He's a good fellow.
• 28:29
  We love Carrie to death.
• 28:30
  He was one of our early kind of
• 28:32
  cutting our teeth guys that we had in
• 28:35
  the studio.
• 28:36
  And I remember just feeling like...
• 28:39
  I was almost overwhelmed that day,
• 28:41
  but he puts you so at ease.
• 28:42
  And then all of a sudden you're just
• 28:43
  talking and it was no different than being
• 28:46
  in a restaurant or knowing somebody for a
• 28:47
  good long time.
• 28:49
  And I think that's one of those things
• 28:50
  where you can get starstruck occasionally,
• 28:53
  but when you see somebody just being
• 28:55
  genuine about who they are,
• 28:57
  and ultimately that's what I'm gonna bring
• 28:58
  back to the barbecue community.
• 29:00
  Everybody seems to be just so genuine.
• 29:03
  So ready to be themselves.
• 29:05
  And just here I am.
• 29:07
  Take it or leave it.
• 29:08
  Love you.
• 29:09
  I'm not going.
• 29:10
  But then I always think, like,
• 29:11
  we just had Kevin Bledsoe on.
• 29:13
  And here's the ultimate thing for me.
• 29:14
  Just don't make bad barbecue.
• 29:16
  It doesn't have to be the best.
• 29:17
  Just don't make bad barbecue.
• 29:19
  And we all going to get along fine.
• 29:20
  Like, it works out so well.
• 29:22
  What did he say?
• 29:24
  He said the ribs were so dry you
• 29:26
  had to eat them in the rain.
• 29:27
  I had to eat them in the rain.
• 29:28
  I wrote that quote down.
• 29:29
  That's fantastic.
• 29:33
  Yeah, very funny.
• 29:34
  Oh, man.
• 29:35
  Now, Amy,
• 29:36
  you guys do a big competition as well,
• 29:39
  correct?
• 29:40
  We do.
• 29:40
  We do.
• 29:42
  This past year was our thirty eighth
• 29:44
  annual Praise the Lord Murfreesboro
• 29:46
  barbecue cook off.
• 29:46
  So we're coming up on year thirty nine
• 29:49
  this year, which is pretty exciting.
• 29:51
  And I'm announcing it here first,
• 29:53
  although it might be out in the public
• 29:55
  before this airs.
• 29:56
  But we're going to be one of the
• 29:58
  qualifiers for the.
• 30:01
  million dollar purse barbecue contest
• 30:04
  that's happening.
• 30:07
  My gosh.
• 30:09
  Totally blanking on the name of it,
• 30:10
  but I'm sure you may have seen this
• 30:12
  being publicized,
• 30:13
  but there's going to be a contest.
• 30:15
  You have to qualify to get into the
• 30:16
  contest.
• 30:17
  It's an invitational and the prize purse
• 30:19
  is a million dollars.
• 30:21
  So we will get qualifier for that.
• 30:24
  For the past few years,
• 30:25
  we have been selling out very quickly of
• 30:28
  our contest and we've had a lot of
• 30:30
  very unhappy people.
• 30:32
  I have seen some fits,
• 30:34
  some tantrums thrown by some barbecue
• 30:36
  people that are surprising to me.
• 30:38
  But if you want to come to our
• 30:40
  contest,
• 30:40
  as soon as I get those applications up,
• 30:42
  people need to get in early.
• 30:44
  But that contest,
• 30:45
  my dad and a group of his friends
• 30:47
  started that contest as an economic
• 30:50
  driver.
• 30:51
  Our little town was drying up.
• 30:53
  A Walmart came to town.
• 30:55
  A mall came to a neighboring town.
• 30:57
  So all of the little mom and pop
• 30:58
  shops on our main street closed up.
• 31:02
  And they knew, again,
• 31:03
  that this is going to bring other people
• 31:05
  and their money to town.
• 31:06
  They'll stay in the hotel.
• 31:08
  They'll buy a tank of gas.
• 31:09
  They'll shop in our grocery stores.
• 31:12
  And it's grown and grown and grown.
• 31:15
  And so now we're a tri-sanctioned event.
• 31:17
  We do MBN, KCBS, and a stake event.
• 31:20
  contest all simultaneously,
• 31:23
  which is kind of crazy.
• 31:24
  The timetables are off a little bit,
• 31:26
  so you have to be good.
• 31:27
  You can't come in and just think you're
• 31:28
  going to coast on that timetable that
• 31:30
  you've usually set up for yourself because
• 31:32
  they're staggered a little bit differently
• 31:34
  because there'll be people who cook in
• 31:36
  both contests.
• 31:37
  So if you're going to cook ribs for
• 31:38
  KCBS,
• 31:39
  you might as well throw them in the
• 31:41
  MBN on that table too.
• 31:44
  But it's super exciting.
• 31:46
  People come from about twenty states.
• 31:53
  Is it a typical like KCBS pro and
• 31:56
  backyard?
• 31:58
  No backyard.
• 31:58
  So you cook all four meats?
• 32:01
  And then if you're in the end,
• 32:04
  you're cooking, you can cook ribs,
• 32:06
  pork or whole hog.
• 32:08
  So we might only have nine hogs,
• 32:11
  nine or ten people who cook whole hog.
• 32:14
  many more people who will cook ribs and
• 32:17
  butts.
• 32:18
  That's awesome.
• 32:19
  Yeah.
• 32:20
  So how many teams do you accept into
• 32:23
  the competition?
• 32:30
  We had fifty eight KCBS teams,
• 32:34
  twenty four MBN teams,
• 32:37
  and I think nine of those were dual.
• 32:40
  And then we had a stake double header.
• 32:42
  So we had like thirty eight stake teams
• 32:45
  on one day and maybe twenty nine or
• 32:48
  thirty the next day.
• 32:49
  And then we had ancillary.
• 32:51
  So we had fish, wings,
• 32:54
  deviled eggs and eggs.
• 32:57
  I have forgotten the fourth ancillary.
• 32:58
  We switch up those two ancillaries every
• 33:01
  year.
• 33:01
  So the fish and wings are on Thursday
• 33:04
  night and the other ancillaries go along
• 33:07
  with the steak contest.
• 33:09
  So I can't remember.
• 33:11
  It was several hundred turn-ins that
• 33:14
  happened.
• 33:14
  I was quickly doing that math.
• 33:15
  It's a lot.
• 33:16
  It's a lot.
• 33:19
  So, and your comp is in,
• 33:21
  it ended in May.
• 33:22
  No, it's in September.
• 33:24
  It's always the third weekend after labor
• 33:26
  day, Memphis.
• 33:28
  That's what it was.
• 33:29
  Well, Memphis, but we got, well,
• 33:31
  smoke slams taken a year off.
• 33:33
  So, but yeah.
• 33:35
  Okay.
• 33:35
  September, the third week in September.
• 33:37
  Well,
• 33:37
  it's always the third weekend after Labor
• 33:39
  Day,
• 33:40
  so it sort of moves with the calendar.
• 33:43
  And of course,
• 33:44
  one of the things that's special about our
• 33:45
  contest is that we have these amazing
• 33:47
  trophies.
• 33:48
  They are
• 33:49
  blown glass apples from a local glass
• 33:51
  blower.
• 33:52
  I was going to bring that up because
• 33:55
  I saw that on your Instagram page.
• 33:57
  There are not many trophies that look
• 33:59
  that.
• 34:00
  I was going to absolutely compliment you
• 34:02
  on that because that is well done.
• 34:04
  Whoever knocked that one out of the park,
• 34:06
  great idea.
• 34:07
  Love it.
• 34:08
  Well, I have to say,
• 34:10
  a good barbecue friend,
• 34:12
  Tommy Houston from Martinsville, Virginia.
• 34:15
  He has Pigs R Us barbecue restaurant.
• 34:18
  He
• 34:20
  competes mostly in the Southeast area.
• 34:24
  But he said to me once,
• 34:25
  you guys have this amazing contest and you
• 34:27
  give those crappy trophies.
• 34:28
  You should have a better trophy.
• 34:31
  And I said, you are right.
• 34:32
  And he showed me a... Galax,
• 34:35
  Virginia has those fiddles that they give.
• 34:38
  Have you ever seen that?
• 34:39
  They have a fiddle.
• 34:40
  And then there's someone in his area that
• 34:43
  does a blown glass flame.
• 34:46
  Just like a...
• 34:47
  a flame.
• 34:48
  And when I saw that flame, I thought,
• 34:50
  I know some,
• 34:52
  we have a great blown glass artist right
• 34:55
  here.
• 34:55
  And why don't we make apples?
• 34:57
  And what's funny is that guy had never
• 34:59
  made a blown glass apple of all the
• 35:01
  different things he's made.
• 35:02
  And he makes all these pumpkins and other
• 35:04
  vegetables.
• 35:05
  But when he made the apple, I said,
• 35:07
  now I want this to be proprietary.
• 35:09
  I don't want, you know,
• 35:11
  any more apples out there.
• 35:12
  You have to earn apple at our contest.
• 35:15
  And then I started seeing him at different
• 35:16
  art festivals,
• 35:17
  and I would see an apple on his
• 35:19
  table.
• 35:19
  And I said, hey, remember,
• 35:21
  this is supposed to be proprietary.
• 35:23
  And he said, well, you know,
• 35:24
  that word proprietary has a couple
• 35:26
  different meanings.
• 35:27
  And I was like, hmm.
• 35:30
  No, I don't think so, but it's okay.
• 35:34
  You have to win the apple is the
• 35:36
  point.
• 35:36
  Yeah, I love it.
• 35:38
  And we wanted it to be something people
• 35:39
  would put in their home.
• 35:40
  You know, you get the beer can trophy,
• 35:42
  it probably goes to your garage.
• 35:43
  But if you have a beautiful trophy,
• 35:45
  you're more likely to display that.
• 35:48
  Now,
• 35:48
  where is the contest in relation to the
• 35:50
  restaurant?
• 35:52
  So all of our businesses are within two
• 35:54
  blocks of one another in our little town.
• 35:57
  And across the street,
• 35:59
  we own a giant lot.
• 36:01
  I don't know how large it is,
• 36:02
  but it's very large.
• 36:04
  And the railroad ran right through our
• 36:06
  town and right in front of our building.
• 36:07
  And the railroad ran right through the
• 36:09
  middle of that lot.
• 36:10
  And so that is where the contest is.
• 36:12
  And a few years ago,
• 36:14
  that whole area had to be remediated.
• 36:16
  And, you know, it was a little janky.
• 36:18
  It had some homemade...
• 36:22
  probably not up to code,
• 36:24
  electricity going on that may or may not
• 36:26
  have been put in by, I don't know.
• 36:29
  And all of that got dug up and
• 36:32
  redone.
• 36:33
  So we have beautiful light poles.
• 36:34
  We have buried electricity.
• 36:36
  We have new trees that have been planted.
• 36:39
  It's really nice.
• 36:40
  And then all around our building are
• 36:44
  our cook-off slot.
• 36:45
  So we have maybe thirty people in the
• 36:47
  back of our big warehouse.
• 36:48
  Right now I'm sitting in our warehouse
• 36:50
  facility.
• 36:50
  It's a thirty thousand square foot
• 36:53
  building.
• 36:53
  We have two event rooms.
• 36:55
  We do our mail order operation out of
• 36:57
  this building.
• 36:58
  We have our catering kitchen.
• 36:59
  We run all of our concessions out of
• 37:01
  here and we have offices.
• 37:02
  plus these event rooms.
• 37:04
  So the rooms are great because all the
• 37:06
  judging happens in the rooms.
• 37:07
  Nobody's sitting out in a tent out in
• 37:09
  the field.
• 37:09
  It's air conditioned because it's still
• 37:12
  hot in September.
• 37:13
  But we have several events that are open
• 37:15
  to the public and we're able to utilize
• 37:17
  the space for people to come in and
• 37:20
  enjoy some of our public events.
• 37:22
  So the
• 37:24
  There is a drone photo on our page.
• 37:26
  I'll have to put that out again.
• 37:28
  That really just shows the scope of this
• 37:30
  contest and how people are just all over
• 37:32
  our property.
• 37:33
  It's really imagine.
• 37:35
  Yeah.
• 37:36
  I, um,
• 37:37
  I I've done barbecue most of my life.
• 37:39
  Um, once I opened my own restaurant,
• 37:44
  people kept telling me I needed to go
• 37:47
  do competitions.
• 37:50
  i had never cooked in a barbecue
• 37:53
  competition up until five years ago and i
• 37:58
  did my first one five years ago and
• 38:00
  i thought i was a pretty good cook
• 38:05
  you are a good cook people told me
• 38:06
  all the time they love my brisket it's
• 38:08
  great your ribs are amazing that's right
• 38:12
  we we is that what you turned in
• 38:14
  in that contest
• 38:16
  And that's what I turned in.
• 38:18
  It's what I knew how to cook.
• 38:19
  It's what I turned in.
• 38:20
  You were disappointed, weren't you?
• 38:23
  I was a smidge disappointed in how I
• 38:26
  turned out.
• 38:29
  And I have gotten better in my competition
• 38:32
  cooking,
• 38:34
  but I still have a lot to learn
• 38:36
  when it comes to competition barbecue
• 38:39
  because it is not the same as cooking
• 38:44
  in my restaurant.
• 38:45
  Every time I pull a rack of ribs
• 38:47
  off my smoker and I'm like,
• 38:50
  there's too much bone showing.
• 38:51
  That wouldn't work in a competition.
• 38:53
  It is.
• 38:53
  It's perfect in my kitchen,
• 38:55
  but it would not be competition level.
• 38:57
  That's crazy.
• 38:58
  I find just it's so unique that the
• 39:01
  competition side is so wildly varying
• 39:04
  compared to the restaurant side or even
• 39:07
  the backyard side.
• 39:07
  And that some of those judges,
• 39:10
  in their judge training,
• 39:11
  in their coursework or a classification
• 39:14
  you go through,
• 39:16
  I'm just impressed by what goes into it.
• 39:18
  Yeah.
• 39:19
  Well,
• 39:20
  it didn't always used to be this way.
• 39:22
  And I will say the ribs we serve
• 39:23
  at Seventeen Street are probably eighty
• 39:26
  percent the ribs that won Memphis in May
• 39:29
  and shattered all those records all of
• 39:32
  those times.
• 39:32
  They're very savory.
• 39:33
  They're sweet.
• 39:34
  You know,
• 39:36
  they're they're a totally different rib.
• 39:37
  And when my dad went back to Memphis
• 39:40
  in May after taking an eighteen year
• 39:43
  hiatus,
• 39:44
  he
• 39:46
  We cooked in the ribs category and we
• 39:48
  got twenty seventh.
• 39:51
  And he was devastated, devastated.
• 39:54
  We went back the next year and I
• 39:56
  said, got to make him sweeter.
• 39:58
  You know, it's more sugar, more sugar,
• 39:59
  more sugar.
• 40:01
  And we got sixteenth.
• 40:03
  And then we switched to the whole hog
• 40:05
  category and started getting top ten,
• 40:07
  top ten, top ten, because he said,
• 40:09
  I cannot do to a rack of ribs
• 40:11
  what is required to win.
• 40:13
  I just can't do it.
• 40:14
  So the flavor profile has changed so much
• 40:18
  and that's just what is required to win.
• 40:21
  And those judging classes,
• 40:22
  they're not telling you what to look for,
• 40:25
  but America loves sugar.
• 40:27
  And you're taking that one bite and it's
• 40:30
  sweet and they think, oh wow,
• 40:31
  this tastes so good.
• 40:33
  you know it's funny because i've really
• 40:35
  started especially like what i do at home
• 40:38
  i've backed way off on the sugar um
• 40:41
  well look you were you were dairy's coming
• 40:43
  to his first competition with me in march
• 40:46
  march we are going to do smoke on
• 40:48
  the shores here in nashville it's one of
• 40:50
  the one of the largest comps in the
• 40:53
  country we'll have we'll have a hundred
• 40:55
  and some odd pro teams just kcbs
• 40:59
  And it's tough.
• 41:00
  There's some good competition.
• 41:01
  There's some really good cooks that are
• 41:02
  there.
• 41:02
  And he will be – he's eaten a
• 41:06
  lot at my restaurant,
• 41:07
  so he knows what I cook like at
• 41:09
  work.
• 41:10
  But he'll be blown away at what we
• 41:13
  do at this comp because it is –
• 41:15
  it's a total different world for sure.
• 41:17
  So –
• 41:17
  Well, then if you're in Nashville,
• 41:19
  you should be coming up to Murfreesboro.
• 41:21
  You're three hours away from us.
• 41:23
  So you should put that contest on your
• 41:25
  calendar for September.
• 41:26
  It's funny you say that.
• 41:29
  I have done one comp every year for
• 41:31
  the last five years.
• 41:33
  A goal of mine was to try to
• 41:35
  get into yours this year.
• 41:38
  Um, I, uh, uh,
• 41:40
  I I've already signed up for, we're,
• 41:42
  we're good to go on the shores,
• 41:44
  but I,
• 41:46
  I wanted to do another one this year
• 41:48
  and last,
• 41:49
  or I was going to do another one
• 41:50
  last year.
• 41:52
  And, uh,
• 41:53
  and I wanted to come to yours,
• 41:54
  but it was,
• 41:55
  it was too late by the time that
• 41:56
  I had made that decision.
• 41:57
  So,
• 41:58
  but September is always a wonderful time
• 42:00
  to sit outside and cook barbecue all
• 42:02
  night.
• 42:04
  And you know,
• 42:04
  one thing we're really proud of at our
• 42:05
  contest is it is the top of the
• 42:09
  top cooks.
• 42:09
  People leave our contest and they go win
• 42:12
  the Royal the next weekend.
• 42:14
  Darren Worth, who's won the Royal,
• 42:17
  the Rodeo, the Jack,
• 42:20
  Brian Dwyer left here a couple of years
• 42:22
  ago.
• 42:22
  The barbecue bus went right up and won
• 42:25
  Triple H, Reserve Grand, Janky Leg.
• 42:29
  Like we have the top of the top
• 42:32
  cookers are right here in Murfreesboro.
• 42:33
  So it's pretty it's a it's a tough
• 42:35
  field.
• 42:36
  it's it's uh i had a guy when
• 42:39
  i was when we were at uh smoke
• 42:41
  on the shores last year um he looked
• 42:43
  at me and and asked me if i
• 42:46
  was coming to your comp last year and
• 42:48
  i said i want to but i hadn't
• 42:49
  made my decision yet and he said yeah
• 42:55
  i don't know if i'm good enough to
• 42:56
  go compete with those guys i'm like you
• 43:01
  you're a good cook man let you go
• 43:02
  up there and you know you you
• 43:04
  You're not going to get better unless you
• 43:08
  compete against the best.
• 43:09
  Exactly.
• 43:10
  You've got to compete against the guys
• 43:12
  that are doing it better than everybody
• 43:13
  else, and you'll continue to win.
• 43:16
  All right,
• 43:17
  we have a segment in our show, Amy,
• 43:19
  that we call Mac and Beans.
• 43:22
  It's a this or that segment.
• 43:24
  So as a barbecue enthusiast and owner and
• 43:30
  industry leader,
• 43:32
  when you go to another barbecue joint and
• 43:37
  you get your food,
• 43:39
  do you get the Mac and beans or
• 43:41
  do you get the Mac and cheese or
• 43:44
  the beans to go with it?
• 43:45
  The beans.
• 43:48
  The beans.
• 43:51
  That's not on the trend.
• 43:54
  I'm telling you,
• 43:55
  I'm about this close to going back over
• 43:57
  two years.
• 43:57
  We got to do it.
• 44:00
  So our beans are really special.
• 44:02
  They have five different kinds of beans
• 44:04
  and lots of spices and other things in
• 44:07
  them.
• 44:07
  And so if the beans are homemade,
• 44:09
  I always want the beans.
• 44:10
  If they're right out of the can,
• 44:12
  I don't love that.
• 44:13
  But if they're just, you know,
• 44:14
  I just like the beans.
• 44:16
  Now, when you say homemade,
• 44:17
  do you mean raw beans and the bean
• 44:21
  is actually cooked or out of the can
• 44:24
  and doctored is homemade?
• 44:25
  Well, out of the can and doctored.
• 44:27
  I mean, ours, we use canned beans.
• 44:30
  There's no shame in canned beans.
• 44:33
  Oh no, I, I use canned beans.
• 44:34
  I love it.
• 44:35
  But we have,
• 44:35
  we add a lot of things to the
• 44:37
  beans.
• 44:37
  Yes.
• 44:39
  So it's not just the canned bean.
• 44:41
  That that's what we're being clear about.
• 44:43
  But there,
• 44:43
  there are people who just get a can
• 44:44
  of pork and beans and that's their bean.
• 44:47
  And that's what I don't like.
• 44:48
  You start with a base.
• 44:49
  This is true.
• 44:49
  Everything's gotta have a base.
• 44:50
  Yeah.
• 44:51
  And you build.
• 44:51
  Yeah.
• 44:52
  Exactly.
• 44:52
  That's what, that's what it's about.
• 44:53
  Yeah.
• 44:54
  I like mac and cheese just fine,
• 44:55
  but I'm gonna go,
• 44:56
  I'm gonna go more traditional.
• 44:58
  I like it.
• 44:59
  I like it.
• 44:59
  Look, I'm a bean guy, too.
• 45:01
  I love my beans.
• 45:02
  You've got to have a good bean.
• 45:04
  Y'all's beans are phenomenal.
• 45:07
  You've seen me rave over your beans.
• 45:09
  If if you were going to choose if
• 45:14
  you were going to choose restaurant
• 45:16
  barbecue or competition barbecue,
• 45:20
  as someone that's grown up in this
• 45:22
  business,
• 45:24
  what would you prefer to go cook?
• 45:27
  And then what would you prefer to go
• 45:28
  eat?
• 45:30
  Well,
• 45:31
  I would prefer to eat restaurant barbecue.
• 45:34
  I would prefer to cook restaurant barbecue
• 45:36
  in a competition if it would win,
• 45:38
  but we all know that it's not going
• 45:39
  to.
• 45:42
  I find sometimes it's,
• 45:44
  like you said earlier,
• 45:46
  the ribs are too sweet.
• 45:48
  It has too much of a punch or
• 45:51
  it's too savory.
• 45:52
  It just has that one bite is just
• 45:54
  a little extra.
• 45:55
  Yeah.
• 45:57
  Well,
• 45:59
  my theory is that I'm going to put
• 46:03
  a lot of this on Rod Gray,
• 46:04
  who is a friend and I admire him
• 46:06
  tremendously.
• 46:07
  He's the head of or the president of
• 46:09
  KCBS right now.
• 46:10
  But he was the hottest team on the
• 46:13
  circuit for a long time.
• 46:15
  And he started teaching classes.
• 46:17
  And he told everybody how he did those
• 46:19
  ribs.
• 46:19
  And he told them the sauce, the rub.
• 46:23
  the method and everyone started doing
• 46:26
  that.
• 46:27
  And the people who went to his classes
• 46:28
  started winning.
• 46:29
  And so you'll see now that even
• 46:32
  regionally,
• 46:33
  I don't find that there's a whole lot
• 46:34
  of regional difference in barbecue.
• 46:37
  You know,
• 46:37
  I've eaten a lot of barbecue in New
• 46:38
  England.
• 46:39
  I've been to a lot of contests and
• 46:40
  have a lot of competition friends in the
• 46:43
  Boston area.
• 46:44
  Their barbecue tastes to me the same as
• 46:46
  it does.
• 46:47
  There might be a slight somebody uses a
• 46:49
  little bit of a different rub,
• 46:50
  but barbecue contest cooking has become
• 46:54
  pretty homogeneous.
• 46:55
  And there's going to be that person,
• 46:57
  especially people who are trained chefs
• 46:59
  who are going to come and say,
• 47:01
  I'm going to really show them what this
• 47:02
  is supposed to taste like.
• 47:04
  And they are always very disappointed
• 47:06
  because that's just not what's going to
• 47:07
  win.
• 47:08
  It's a,
• 47:08
  it's a sport and it's a game and
• 47:10
  you just have to,
• 47:10
  if you want to win,
• 47:11
  you have to play the game and play
• 47:13
  by those rules.
• 47:14
  Yeah.
• 47:15
  As somebody that has, uh, won some,
• 47:19
  some very high level competitions, um,
• 47:23
  in your family, what w what's the,
• 47:25
  what's the secret to, to winning the big,
• 47:30
  the big competition?
• 47:31
  What's what's your, if you got one.
• 47:36
  One word of advice.
• 47:37
  What is it?
• 47:39
  Well, I'm not the one who won those.
• 47:41
  Let's be very clear.
• 47:42
  That was definitely not me.
• 47:44
  I was part of the later years.
• 47:47
  But my dad would tell you it's right
• 47:50
  here.
• 47:50
  It's your heart.
• 47:51
  And you can really taste food that has
• 47:54
  some love in it.
• 47:56
  There's technical food,
• 47:58
  and then there's food that's cooked with
• 47:59
  love.
• 48:00
  So I think you have to be lucky,
• 48:02
  and you have to be good.
• 48:05
  Hmm.
• 48:07
  Yeah, that's about as good as it gets.
• 48:09
  I'm out.
• 48:09
  I'm not very lucky.
• 48:12
  You know, you're cooking.
• 48:13
  You're really on a table.
• 48:14
  You're competing against six people or
• 48:17
  five other people on your table, right?
• 48:18
  Yeah.
• 48:21
  Only six people are tasting your food.
• 48:23
  So that's who you're cooking for.
• 48:26
  And you don't know if you're going to
• 48:27
  end up on a table that has a...
• 48:30
  bad judge a cranky judge or somebody who
• 48:32
  scores low you know there's just so many
• 48:34
  wild cards so it really is a game
• 48:36
  and that's where the luck comes in yeah
• 48:38
  is there a group of people that show
• 48:40
  up at these things they're like hey i'm
• 48:42
  just going to do something wild and throw
• 48:43
  it out there because that's what i like
• 48:45
  knowing that or are they willing to kind
• 48:47
  of step outside the the norm a little
• 48:50
  bit and put their own thing out there
• 48:53
  or are we truly
• 48:55
  competition aim for the stop i aim for
• 48:57
  the top no holds barred this is going
• 48:59
  to do because like i'd go up there
• 49:01
  and like try to wild out a little
• 49:03
  bit and just here's mine loved her hate
• 49:05
  it you come right on up and do
• 49:08
  that yeah i every every year hey that
• 49:11
  was code for come spend your money with
• 49:12
  us we'll have a good time i'll be
• 49:18
  sharing this so i don't know
• 49:21
  if I'm going to say the right or
• 49:22
  wrong thing.
• 49:22
  Some of my friends who I'm going to
• 49:24
  talk about here are going to listen to
• 49:25
  this, but I'll give you two examples.
• 49:27
  One of them is my personal trainer here.
• 49:29
  And he started cooking in his first year.
• 49:32
  He made his food and he's not doing
• 49:35
  that anymore.
• 49:37
  All right.
• 49:38
  You didn't do very well.
• 49:38
  Question answered.
• 49:40
  I have a group of friends who are
• 49:44
  the highest of high level New York City
• 49:46
  chefs who, you know, I mean, the best,
• 49:50
  the very best restaurants,
• 49:51
  the very best chefs I've ever dealt with
• 49:54
  in my life.
• 49:54
  And they have cooked for years at Memphis
• 49:58
  in May and didn't do very well.
• 50:03
  But when they played the game a couple
• 50:04
  of years ago,
• 50:07
  they did really well, so.
• 50:10
  Yeah,
• 50:11
  I typically have found in the comps that
• 50:13
  I've done,
• 50:14
  and I'm not a very experienced competition
• 50:15
  cook by any means,
• 50:16
  but the ones that I've done,
• 50:18
  I have found the guys that
• 50:22
  They have – they just had the best
• 50:24
  cook.
• 50:26
  Whether they got lucky and, you know,
• 50:29
  thought they overcooked it and it just –
• 50:31
  the wind blew the right way for them
• 50:33
  or whatever it was,
• 50:36
  they just landed on the right table and
• 50:38
  they got the right stuff.
• 50:40
  You know, I mean –
• 50:42
  it it is what it is sometimes and
• 50:44
  sometimes you get lucky sometimes you you
• 50:46
  don't and you know look i've been i've
• 50:49
  i've had judges doing their master class
• 50:51
  training with me in two of my cooks
• 50:54
  and told me that they one particular
• 50:57
  protein was the best they've ever eaten
• 50:59
  and we scored worse in that category than
• 51:01
  we did any other so you know it's
• 51:04
  is what are you gonna do you know
• 51:05
  we just we hit the wrong table at
• 51:06
  the right time so it is what it
• 51:08
  is right
• 51:09
  It's often the accidents and the cooks
• 51:12
  that you think are the worst almost always
• 51:14
  score the best.
• 51:15
  Always.
• 51:16
  Yeah.
• 51:18
  I love it.
• 51:18
  If you overthink it sometimes,
• 51:20
  that's the bad thing when you're
• 51:23
  overthinking it.
• 51:24
  For sure.
• 51:26
  For sure.
• 51:27
  Well, let's shift gears real quick.
• 51:28
  Amy, we've...
• 51:31
  really kind of driven home the competition
• 51:33
  side of of barbecue i've enjoyed that
• 51:36
  though because i don't often get to hear
• 51:37
  that everything i always hear is the
• 51:39
  restaurant side yeah and that's fun not
• 51:41
  only from a competitor standpoint but as a
• 51:44
  host of an event like she she's really
• 51:46
  that's been a fun conversation i could
• 51:48
  only imagine the team that you put
• 51:50
  together for for that competition weekend
• 51:53
  has got to be the logistics of that
• 51:56
  are are fun i would love to
• 51:59
  Well,
• 51:59
  we need to drink a beer and talk
• 52:01
  about that one day.
• 52:02
  Are over the top.
• 52:02
  And I will tell you,
• 52:03
  the reason we're still at it,
• 52:05
  thirty nine years later,
• 52:07
  is because we took it over as a
• 52:08
  company.
• 52:09
  So when most of these contests are run
• 52:11
  by committees and it might be the
• 52:13
  you know,
• 52:13
  the JC's are gonna have a barbecue cook
• 52:16
  off and then the leadership changes and
• 52:18
  the people age out or, you know,
• 52:20
  they're just not interested in that
• 52:22
  anymore because it's a tremendous amount
• 52:23
  of work.
• 52:24
  And so that you'll see a contest build
• 52:26
  up and then all of a sudden it
• 52:28
  goes away.
• 52:29
  But that's kind of what happened here.
• 52:31
  And we took it over as a company
• 52:33
  because we didn't want this to die.
• 52:36
  And the original committee didn't wanna do
• 52:37
  it anymore.
• 52:39
  And so, I mean,
• 52:40
  it's only gotten bigger and better.
• 52:41
  We've added, we just keep adding more,
• 52:44
  but the downside is that all the people
• 52:46
  who run this are on our payroll.
• 52:48
  So it becomes a very expensive week.
• 52:52
  September does not look great on our P&L
• 52:54
  with all of the hours that people put
• 52:56
  in.
• 52:56
  And we also do have a ton of
• 52:58
  local volunteers who come and help,
• 53:01
  but you know,
• 53:02
  we're starting to work on it right now
• 53:03
  and we work on it all year and
• 53:05
  they're just not
• 53:06
  a lot of organizations who have the
• 53:08
  bandwidth for that no no i i couldn't
• 53:12
  i couldn't i couldn't imagine the amount
• 53:14
  of people i would have to turn around
• 53:16
  and hire today to have a competition next
• 53:19
  year let alone sometime this year i mean
• 53:23
  it would be that would be incredible for
• 53:25
  especially it's a labor of love for sure
• 53:27
  and it's it's definitely not it's not ever
• 53:29
  a money maker because all the money is
• 53:31
  going back out
• 53:32
  and expenses and prices.
• 53:34
  So it's very much for the community.
• 53:36
  I love it.
• 53:37
  I love it.
• 53:38
  We'll, we'll put it on a,
• 53:39
  we'll put it on the calendar and pay
• 53:40
  attention to when the,
• 53:41
  when the registration opens and maybe I
• 53:44
  can coerce my, my,
• 53:46
  my buddy over here to come with me.
• 53:47
  We'll have a good time.
• 53:49
  We'll have a good time.
• 53:50
  I think we should too.
• 53:52
  Amy,
• 53:53
  one of the things that I've been talking
• 53:54
  to a lot of my barbecue friends about
• 53:57
  recently that are semi-celebrities of
• 54:04
  sorts.
• 54:05
  Obviously,
• 54:06
  you're a very well-known person.
• 54:07
  Your father was a very well-known person
• 54:09
  in the barbecue community and just in the
• 54:11
  restaurant industry in general.
• 54:15
  What is something you would like the world
• 54:19
  to know about Seventeenth Street barbecue
• 54:23
  that just gets overlooked because of the
• 54:28
  glitz and the glam of owning a restaurant
• 54:31
  per se, right?
• 54:32
  Everybody thinks we're going to have
• 54:34
  yachts and Lamborghinis and Ferraris and
• 54:37
  Rolls Royces and chauffeurs every day,
• 54:40
  but it's not quite like that.
• 54:41
  What would you want the world to know
• 54:43
  about Seventeen Street and yourself as it
• 54:49
  doesn't get told all the time?
• 54:53
  Well,
• 54:53
  that's a good question because I feel like
• 54:55
  we're pretty much an open book and so
• 54:57
  much has been written about Seventeen
• 54:59
  Street or featured on television.
• 55:02
  But I think...
• 55:03
  you know,
• 55:04
  nobody will really know the amount of
• 55:06
  work,
• 55:06
  the amount of work it all takes and
• 55:08
  the amount of work it takes to cultivate
• 55:10
  a team and get that team to drink
• 55:12
  your Kool-Aid every day and to roll with
• 55:15
  the punches of the team.
• 55:17
  You know,
• 55:17
  it really is all about the people and
• 55:20
  the team is only as good as the
• 55:21
  weakest link and that,
• 55:24
  It can be scary sometimes, as you know.
• 55:27
  So it's for the people,
• 55:29
  it's about the people,
• 55:31
  and the people are the hardest part,
• 55:34
  I think, about the whole thing.
• 55:36
  Yeah, very much so.
• 55:44
  Well, Amy,
• 55:44
  we very much appreciate you being with us
• 55:46
  this week and just imparting some wisdom
• 55:50
  for us on what it's like to run
• 55:52
  a forty year old restaurant,
• 55:55
  but also the competitions and just the
• 55:56
  labor of love that does go into that.
• 55:58
  We appreciate it.
• 55:59
  And each week we do a segment called
• 56:01
  Friday.
• 56:01
  Feel good.
• 56:03
  And I was wise enough to go steal
• 56:06
  one of your former Sunday sermons.
• 56:09
  Don't let the good stuff go unsaid.
• 56:12
  Make sure you're cheering those on around
• 56:14
  you.
• 56:14
  And when you've got good in your life,
• 56:16
  share that with those around you.
• 56:17
  You know what to do.
• 56:17
  Find somebody you know.
• 56:18
  Tell them you love them.
• 56:20
  amy we appreciate you very much for taking
• 56:24
  some time to come hang out with us
• 56:25
  today it has been an absolute pleasure to
• 56:28
  get to know a little bit about you
• 56:30
  and the back story with seventeenth street
• 56:33
  um your father was an absolute legend in
• 56:35
  the barbecue community um please never
• 56:38
  forget that know that he impacted the
• 56:40
  world in in everything that he did and
• 56:43
  is still doing so today
• 56:44
  um we appreciate you coming on the show
• 56:48
  how can people find uh seventeenth street
• 56:51
  get a hold of seventeenth street for
• 56:53
  catering social medias all the things well
• 56:56
  we are on all the platforms at seventeenth
• 56:59
  street bbq and our website is one seven
• 57:03
  bbq.com so we're very easy to find
• 57:07
  Absolutely love that.
• 57:07
  Praise the Lord.
• 57:09
  Praise the Lord.
• 57:10
  Look, my wife is not a barbecue person.
• 57:15
  I told her that.
• 57:16
  She loved it.
• 57:18
  That was the one that hooked her in.
• 57:18
  It's amazing.
• 57:20
  Well, thank you so much.
• 57:21
  It's really a pleasure.
• 57:22
  It's always fun to meet people behind
• 57:24
  their...
• 57:26
  instagram handle and um i've never i
• 57:29
  haven't been disappointed yet the world
• 57:31
  the barbecue world especially is filled
• 57:34
  with the most you know unique special
• 57:36
  caring people and i love that you are
• 57:39
  educating people through your podcast and
• 57:42
  spreading the love
• 57:44
  We're trying real hard.
• 57:46
  Amy, thank you again for joining us.
• 57:48
  Guys, you know what to do.
• 57:49
  If you want to get involved with the
• 57:50
  show,
• 57:50
  please feel free to reach out to me
• 57:52
  at charlie at singletreebbq.com.
• 57:55
  You can call me at six one five
• 57:57
  three zero seven zero one two zero.
• 58:00
  Please make sure that you like and share
• 58:02
  the channel on YouTube.
• 58:04
  We air every Saturday and Sunday morning
• 58:06
  on ninety four point nine ESPN radio.
• 58:10
  And until next time, guys,
• 58:11
  we'll see you then.
• 58:12
  Y'all be good.