Latest / The Alabama Show On Demand / Interview with Shane Quick of Rock the South

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Interview with Shane Quick of Rock the South · The Alabama Show On Demand

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So everybody's talking about Rock the South and it's coming
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: up in October and I'm really excited. So we have
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Shane Quick. What do you want me to call you?
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Are you the creator of Rock the South? Are you
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the CEO, the founder?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we call it the founder.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Okay. Are you excited? Are you excited it's going to
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: be in the fall this year?
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: I'm excited. You know, after over 15 years of doing this,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: to do it in a time of year that's actually
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: cooler weather and the fall, you know, I think it's
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: something different.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: You know? And we have elements we're bringing in like
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: a fair and things that kind of just go along
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: with it in a, you know, an area for watching
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: football games, you know. That was smart. On the Saturday. So, yeah,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: I think it's exciting to do something different. It kind
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: of happened on accident. Obviously, we didn't plan for the
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: rain to happen. Seven inches of rain, you know, the
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: week of the festival this summer, which, you know, made
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: it to where we had to push it. to the fall,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: but we were really blessed to be able to get
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: these artists to come play in the fall and have
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: them all available.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it worked out great because you get
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the same artist, and didn't you add Jessie Murph because
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: it was moved? Wasn't there somebody that was added?
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: A day was added, but what happened was Jessie Murph,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and Jessie Murph was already playing the festival. We just
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: gave her her own day to headline now. Oh, that's awesome.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Took it from a three-day festival to a four-day festival.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: So what are you excited about? Because it's in Decatur
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: this year, and I know everybody, like that's been making
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: headlines as soon as the decision was made to move
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: it to Decatur. What is your favorite part about moving
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to Decatur?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: You know, I think it's on a major state highway.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: We own the property, which, you know, we've done a
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: significant amount of work to, you know— It wasn't like
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: the property in Coleman where we had years and years
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: and years to work on. And so when the rain came,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: we weren't ready. You know, at the end of the day,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the seven inches of rain kind of kept us from
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: being able to do it. But at the end of
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: the day, all the work we're doing to the property
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: is going to be a benefit for years to come.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: It's easier to get to, isn't it?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Way easier to get to. Major state highway, four lanes
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: of traffic all the way to the front door. which
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: is a real blessing, you know, right off of I-65
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: and 565. Um, so yeah, I mean, it's, there's a
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: lot of pros for sure for moving it, um, you know,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: from Coleman to Decatur. We had a blast in Coleman,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: you know, for, for well over a decade. Um, it's
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: my hometown, you know, so it was very personal to me. Um,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: but I've said it many times, I'll say it again,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: you know, festivals, you know, sometimes they, they have a season,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: they have a season in a, in a city and,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I feel like Rock the South 100 percent left Coleman
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: better than we found it. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. To the
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: tune of over 200 million dollars of economic impact.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Marketing, you know, the worldwide. I mean, when people from
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: all over the world come to Coleman and discover that
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: city and eventually move to that city. And then the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: city really, you know, takes on the whole idea and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: identity of events because of Rock the South.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it's cool when people go to festivals,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: especially Rock the South. Like you'll have people that meet
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: at Rock the South and become friends. And that becomes
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: their yearly thing of like, these are my Rock the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: South friends.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Totally. Yeah. And, you know, it's lifelong friends, people who
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: met each other and are now married because of Rock
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the South. And I've heard countless stories of people that,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: you know, they met each other there and then... I
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: don't know. It's just a million wins, really. It's very
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: personal to us. It was really the first big, you know,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: country music festival we built. Now we own more than
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: anyone in the country. Yeah. And we do these things
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: all over the nation. And it was really inspired by,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: you know, the story and what we learned about music
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: and festivals right there in Coleman with Rock the South.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Do you get to enjoy it when you're there or
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: are you running around working all weekend like a madman?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's my job. Yeah. You know, I try to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: enjoy it. I'll invite some friends back and we'll have
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: a cigar. I love what I do. So, yeah, I
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: do enjoy it. But it is my job and I
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: am there working. And, you know, with with festivals, you're
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: always concerned about people's safety and storms and all the
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: different things you have to be thinking about, which makes
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: it a real stressful thing. But, you know, you do
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: have to go out there, see the people having a
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: good time. See all the little small. Yeah, I would
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: say a festival is not one event. It's a thousand.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: It's thousands of little small events of people coming together
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: in little circles of people. And those little circles will
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: talk to the circle next to them. Next thing you know,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: it's a bigger circle. And it's like. It's a thousand
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: little parties is really what a festival is. But you
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: have to go out there and see it. Have to
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: drive through the campgrounds, see the people playing cornhole, see
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: the people, you know, grilling and cooking eggs that morning.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: And those are just things that are special to me.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I've always tried to get out there and enjoy that
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: at some point during the show every time.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like a big summer camp for grownups
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: that love country music.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: It is. Yeah, it really is. The best people watching
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: you'll ever have. Oh, yeah. In your life.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Do you have a moment from any of the past
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Rock the South events that was like your favorite moment
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: or just something that sticks out more than anything that
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: you always think of when you.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Think of it? I mean, watching Morgan Wallen grow up
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: at the festival, playing at 2 p.m., playing at 4 p.m.,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: playing at 6 p.m., headlining the festival and then closing
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: out the festival. I mean, he just kind of grew up.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: You could see his career kind of grow up there.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: And you could say that about Raleigh Green and several
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: other artists. Um, but yeah, I would say, you know,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: growing up in Alabama, um, with a dad that, you know,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: raised me on Southern rock, hearing Leonard Skinner sing sweet home,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Alabama in my hometown at my festival that you did,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: that I was able to do with a lot of
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: people's help. But my dream, you know, uh, my vision
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: was a really big moment. Now, while they were singing
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: sweet home, Alabama, I was pushing a car out of
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: the mud.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: And you missed it?
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't. Or you could hear it in the distance? No,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: I didn't miss it. I heard it. I heard it,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: and I saw the people in my peripheral vision, but
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: I was working. But I remember stopping for a minute
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and wiping the mud off my face because the car
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: was spinning mud all over me.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Were there some tears in the mud, too, because it
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: was just a moment for you?
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: It was a moment, you know, but that really is
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: a great picture of what a concert promoter is. You're sitting...
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: you know, in a field and you're pushing a car
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: out of mud and you're hearing them sing the song
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: that you grew up hearing, you know, one of the
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: most recognizable southern rock songs anywhere in the world. You
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: can be in Malaysia and play Sweet Home Alabama and
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: they will know who you are.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Literally, I was driving through Germany and I Stole gas
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: on accident one time. In Germany, they still have you
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: pump your gas and then go inside and pay for
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: it after you pump your gas.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And he forgot to pay for it.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: I went in and bought a sandwich and a Coke
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: and forgot to pay for my gas. And about an
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: hour later, I get chased down on the Autobahn.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: What?
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: And thought I was about to be locked up abroad.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: You know, I was freaking out. I thought, why are
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: they doing this? And... They look at my passport and
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: the German police officer says, sweet home Alabama. And that's great.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: And I knew I was OK then. But, you know,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: sweet home Alabama was a big moment for me. Rock
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: the South.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: You know, just seeing my, over the years, seeing my hometown.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: There's still tickets, so if people want to come, like
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: if somebody who's never been to Rock the South, if
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: you were to describe what it's like to them, I
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: know you've given us a good visual picture, but if
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: you could describe it, and I'll give you a choice,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: one or three words.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: One or three, okay. Wow, one word to describe Rock
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: the South. I would say it's family. Yeah. I think
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: family's a word, I think, yeah. You know, these are
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: just you talked about earlier. What are some misconceptions? You know,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: it is the most peaceful crowd I've ever seen. You know, yeah,
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: there's been a fight that went viral. There were. But overall,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: ninety nine point nine percent. You're talking about good people. Oh, yeah.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: You know, and it's it's the friendships that are made
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: in the family. It's just a big family. You know,
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: it's it's unity. That is what I love about what
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I do. I get to see people come together. who
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: in their life, they might be a Bama fan, an
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Auburn fan, the division of who's their football team. And
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: there's Tennessee fans. There's Alabama fans there. There's Florida fans.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: And God forbid, there's LSU fans there. And then there's
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Republicans and there's Democrats. And then there's Catholics and there's Baptists.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: And there's people that don't even believe. But for a
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: moment in time, they are unified. Oh, yeah. And that
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: is special. And you can feel it.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think people realize how much country fans look
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: out for each other. Like my grandmother's neighbor's kid. This
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: was a story from probably five Rock the Souths ago.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: And he was at that point just a police officer
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: in training. And now he's a police officer at, I think,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Shelby County. But it was one year that it was
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: raining and there were puddles. He was picking up girls
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and carrying them over the mud puddles so they didn't.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: Have to get their boots muddy. And I love that.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Like that's what happens. That's what happens at rock the South. Exactly. Well,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: you know, it is. And we just, we do see
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: that we see people looking out for each other. Um,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: that's why I'd call it a big family. You know, it's, uh, it,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: it is definitely a million memories that, you know, these
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: people work hard. I always say it's like, there's a
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: lot of people that they, you know, they, they, they
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: go to 30 a in the summer, you know, they
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: go to the beach or they, they go skiing in
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: the winter time. Well, not everybody can afford to do that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: You know, For nine years, I ran a forklift in
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: a factory, and I just know that there's a lot
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: of people that, you know, there's a lot of people
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: that work at Walmart distribution and out in the farms,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: and this is their vacation. And there are people that
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: are wealthy that this is their vacation. But it's all
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: different types of people coming together. They look forward to
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: this thing. It's incredible music. Obviously, there's a lot of
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: great bands I feel like this year are It's one
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: of our biggest years ever. Jason Aldean has never played
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the festival. Zach Topp is on top of the world.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Riley Green, Alabama guy. Jesse Murph from Alabama as well.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just a very diverse group, too. Brantley Gilbert,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: big X to plug. Stella Lefty, who's, you know, exploding
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: young female artist. You know, just a little bit of
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: everything this year. Very deep lineup. There'll be a million
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: songs that you know by heart. The weather will be cooler.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: We have a fair out there, you know, just kind
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: of bringing that fall fair vibes to it. And, you know,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of great elements. So we're very excited
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: about Rock the South, very excited about a new partnership
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: with the city of Decatur, the mayor and the council.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: And there's been a lot of great people helping us
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: do something here and move this festival there. We appreciate
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: the belief that the city's had in us coming there.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: We hate that we had to postpone. But we're very
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: thankful that we're able to do it. I think there's
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: a lot of promoters. There's a lot of people that
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: would have just said, hey, see you next year.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: And honestly, you know, whether people believe it or not,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: it cost us money to do this, to postpone it.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: It really did. But we just didn't want to go
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: and not have a festival that year or this year.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: And then we've hired some big-time local contractors to come
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: in and do– In just a few months, what we
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: were hoping to do over a group of, you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: over a few years. Right. You know.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: That's huge.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Just in a perfect business world, we could have done
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: this work over a few years to spread the cost out. Yeah.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: But we're doing it in about six weeks.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: So you're not stressed at all.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Always stressed.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Always.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: That's why I run so much. You know, I've become
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: a long distance runner and it helps with the stress
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: of it all.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: But.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: You know, it's what I love. It's what I do.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I chose this profession, so I'm not going to gripe
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: about it. This is what I love. And so it
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: is what it is. Yeah, but it is stressful. And,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: you know, we're putting the work in. And it's a
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: lot of people that does it. I'm just kind of
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: the dreamer and the idea guy. And, you know, I'll
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: get them fired up and excited and, you know, believing
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: in a big mission. But there's hundreds of people that
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: you don't know and that we're rarely most people will
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: never meet that. you know, that really are the people
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: that make this thing happen.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: If you want to get your tickets, where do you go?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Rocktosouth.com. You know, you got to go to rocktosouth.com. It's,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: it's check us out on any, you know, social media stream,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: but tickets are available. They're, they're very affordable as well.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: It's the most affordable rock, you know, country, country and
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: rock music festival in the nation. It's brand new property.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: It's exciting. If you've been before, you've never seen it
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: this way. And it's, and it's the fall, you know, so.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: We're excited to, you know, to bring a lot of
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: new elements, best lineup probably we've ever had. And, you know,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: it'll be worth it.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Shane, thank you.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.