Latest / ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes / Trump Rips Justin Pearson, Says He’s a Radical

Transcript

Trump Rips Justin Pearson, Says He’s a Radical · ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: From the principal Toyota studios, it's Morning in Memphis with
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Todd Starnes.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: And it is a very busy morning in Memphis. Hello, everybody.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I am Todd Starnes. Great to have you with us today.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: A lot of big news stories happening, a lot of
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: politics to talk about. And coming up in just a
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: few moments, we're going to be talking to Columbia Mayor
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Chas Mulder in Memphis today. He'll drop by. And then, well,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: we're going to be talking to one of the cast
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: members from the theater Memphis show, Million Dollar Quartet. The
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: young man playing Elvis will be in studio and might
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: even get him to play the guitar a little bit.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: A lot of news happening, a lot of breaking news
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: around the Mid-South. We're going to get to that in
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: just a few moments. Sort of a war zone out there,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the wild, wild west over the weekend. And we'll get
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: to all of those stories here in just a moment.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: But I want to play something that happened over the weekend.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: President Trump in Clarksville and a huge contingent of Shelby
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: County Republicans there, many of them right there on the
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: stage with the president. Let's play cut number four, please.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: And Brent Taylor in the 9th District.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Come on up, fellas.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And Brent is running against one of the most radical
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: candidates in the country. His name is Justin Pearson, a
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: communist endorsed by AOC, Ilhan Omar. How about Ilhan Omar?
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: She comes from Somalia.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: She comes from Somalia.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: They don't have a government. They don't have police.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: All they have is crime and squalor. And she comes
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: into our country and she says, my constitution allows me.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: She's talking about our constitution. What they've done to Minnesota,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: these people from Somalia, what they've done to Minnesota should
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: never be allowed.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: And let's see what happens.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: J.D. Vance and our people are looking at it very strongly.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: So....
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Justin opposes deporting even one illegal alien, even murderers. They
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: should stay here. This guy that he's running against is
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: the worst. We're not going to let communists. We are
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: not going to allow communists to take over Tennessee or
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: this country in any way, shape or form.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: There you have it, the president. And the guy he
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: was talking about is sitting right across from me this morning,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: State Senator Brent Taylor, the Republican nominee for the 9th
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Congressional District. Senator, first, good to have you with us.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: What was that like being up on the stage with
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: the president?
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: Well, thank you for having me, and Todd, I don't
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: know how you do this, but it is incredibly early
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: to have to get up and come in the studio,
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: but there's no other person I'd rather do it for
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: than my friend Todd Storms.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for that, or maybe Donald Trump.
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: Or Donald Trump, yeah. So, yeah, look, we went to
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: the rally. The president, I think he perfectly described my
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: Democrat socialist opponent, who has accomplished nothing in his time
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: in the General Assembly, but yet wants to go to Congress, and...
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: And he demonstrated, the president did, that everywhere my opponent goes,
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: chaos ensues. And, Ty, let's just think about it. Go
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: through this. My opponent, Democrat Socialist Justin Pearson, got expelled
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: from the House because of a demonstration he carried out
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: on the House floor. Then he got reinstated to the
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: General Assembly. Then he had to be physically restrained in
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: a committee to keep from attacking Representative Andrew Farmer. And
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: then he gets into a shouting match with a state
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: trooper in the House chamber where he called him a
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: stupid MF-er.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: And a boy.
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: And then most recently, he got banned from the city
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: council for the next couple of meetings because of a
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: demonstration he led there. And the message I have to
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: the other counties in the 9th Congressional District is, is
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: if this guy is elected to Congress, you can bet
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: he will show up at your county commission meeting, he
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: will show up at your city council meeting, he will
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: show up at your board of aldermen meeting, and he
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: will lead demonstrations because chaos follows this guy. He cannot have,
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: he does not have any accomplishments. He only has his
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: activism with a bullhorn.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: I'm wondering if you're hearing from Democrats in the district,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: because again, the Memphis City Council, nonpartisan, But they're all Democrats.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: So he literally got banned from the council chambers by
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: his fellow Democrats. And I'm wondering if you're hearing privately
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: from Democrats who say, you know what, we can't support
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: this guy.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: Interesting, Todd. I have had multiple phone calls since the
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: city council incident, multiple phone calls from longtime Democrats in
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Memphis who have told me you're going to win this race.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: and that Democrats are disillusioned with how he's conducting himself,
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: that this is not their brand of Democrat politics. And
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: it's interesting. If you remember, Todd, back in, I don't
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: know what year it was, but when Bob Corker and
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: Harold Ford Jr. were running against one another, and Ford
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: was making a real race of it, and there was
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: one incident that occurred, and that was when Harold Ford Jr.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: confronted Bob Corker going into a meeting in a parking
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: lot with cameras in tow and challenging him to a debate.
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: And Corker said, look, I'm going in to speak to
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: a group of Republicans. You're welcome to go in. Pundits
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: have said that that was the singular incident where the
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: wheels came off the wagon for Harold Ford Jr. I
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: think the city council ban is where the wheels came
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: off the bus for Justin Pearson. And that was the
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: beginning of the end of his campaign.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: State Senator Brent Taylor joining us today. And the Democrats
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: are making this race one of their key national races,
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: pouring in millions of dollars. And it looks like local
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: media has fallen in line here. I know the Commercial
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Appeal especially. putting out a fake news story that you
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: yanked all of your support from President Trump off of
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: your website. You did not do that. And it's my
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: understanding they didn't even bother to cover the fact that you,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: a local guy, was on stage with the leader of
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: the free world over the weekend.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it turns out the only people yanking Taylor's support
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: from Trump was the media because they did not even
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: cover the fact that I was at the event, nor
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: that I even spoke at the rally. Look, Channel 5
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: had someone there, and they covered a minute-by-minute explanation of
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: who was on stage, who was coming up next, what
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: their remarks were. And they covered every single speaker except
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: for me. And they skipped right over my time. And
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: that was Channel 5. And then the Commercial Appeal, they
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: did the same thing. They had this long article. about
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: all the speakers and what they said, and they even
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: had subtitles for each candidate that spoke, skipped right over
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: my race. Make no mistake, the media is anti-conservative. They're anti-Tennessean,
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: and they will do anything they can to prevent me
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: from winning this race. They want Democrat Socialist Justin Pearson
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: and all his chaos because it'll give them plenty of
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: fodder for the next two years should the Democrat Socialist
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: actually win this race.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Senator, we're coming into the homestretch here real quick, and
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: we're going to get you back on between now and
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Election Day. What are you hearing from your constituents? What
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: are you hearing from the 9th District of Voters? What's
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: the big issue on their minds?
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: No, believe it or not, obviously, a couple of things. Obviously,
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: the high prices, inflation, gas prices being you know, $ 5,
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: nearly $ 5, $ 4, $ 5 a gallon, diesel being $ 5, $ 6
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: a gallon. Those are the things. And look, we're going
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: to go to D.C. and we're going to do everything
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: that is needed to lower those prices. We're going to
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: unleash American energy. We're going to cut regulation on family
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: businesses and farms. And we're going to cut wasteful Washington spending.
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: But I tell you something else that people are concerned about.
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: They're concerned about the possible election of a Democrat socialist
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: from Tennessee who who has a long history of chaos.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: The choice is clear in this election. Voters are going
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: to be able to choose between competence and chaos.
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Senator Taylor, good to see you this morning. And where
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: can people go if they want to get more information
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: about the campaign?
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: They can go to brenttaylorforcongress.com, brenttaylorforcongress.com. They can follow our
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: campaign there if they would like to contribute. They're welcome
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: to do so at the donate page. But it's critically important.
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: I need people in the West and Middle Tennessee to
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: pray for us first. Tell your friends to get out
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: and vote. Early voting starts in two days, and election
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: day is November 3rd.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: It's Wednesday. Early voting starts. State Senator Brent Taylor on
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: your number one news talk radio station in the Mid-South, KWAM.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Got to take a break. Commander Chuck standing by with
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: a look at traffic. And coming up, Columbia Mayor Chaz
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Mulder right here on the Mighty 990.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Welcome back everybody. I'm Todd Starnes. It is going to
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: be a warm day. Our chief meteorologist, Laura Huckabee along
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: in just a little while with your forecast. Good news
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: is the cool down is coming and, uh, looking forward
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: to some much cooler football weather this weekend, by the way,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: congratulations to the Memphis tigers, big victory over UAB and
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: the battle of the bones on Saturday. Well, as promised, uh,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: we are fair and balanced here on the Mighty 990.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: And we're honored to have Mayor of Columbia, Tennessee with us,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Chaz Mulder.
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: Mr.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Mayor, good to have you with us. And possibly, ladies
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: and gentlemen, if you're believing all the stories out there,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: the frontrunner in the 5th Congressional District Race.
• 10:17
  Speaker 7: Mr.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Mayor, welcome back to Memphis. Todd, great to be back
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: with you. All right, first of all, how is the
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: campaign going? You have been spending a lot of time
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: here in the Memphis area.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Well, the campaign's going great. And you're right, we're spending
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: a lot of time in Memphis, not because of any
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: reason other than we want to be in Memphis. We
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: know that Memphis deserves a voice in Congress that will
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: represent them, that will lead and bring constituent services to
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: Memphis in ways that it's needed. And so things feel
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: really good. We've been here all weekend. We have a
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: big day in Memphis today. And we want Memphis to
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: know that we're going to show up for them today.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: You know, this gerrymandering really threw things off, Todd. When
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: they came and carved Memphis into three separate districts, it
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: was an unfortunate thing. But we're looking forward, not backward,
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: and we're looking forward to representing the city of Memphis
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: in the United States Congress.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: I'm hearing from a lot of Republicans and a lot
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: of independents who listen to this radio station, and they
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: like you. They like your message. They like the campaign.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: They like everything about you. But they always come back
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: to this one. There's always a but there. And they say,
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: but how do we know that this guy... is going
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: to be the same guy that's out there campaigning. How
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: do we know he's not going to be an AOC
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: if he gets elected?
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: Well, I think the beauty of that is that I
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: have a track record. I've been the mayor of a
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: community for eight years, two terms, in a heavily Republican
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: district that has balanced budgets without property tax increases, that's
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: focused on the issues that matter. I think the reason
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: we have so much support right now from Republicans, Independents,
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: and Democrats is because we're focused on the issues, Todd.
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: We don't support the tariffs. We know that the tariffs
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: are bringing prices up. We don't support the war in
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Iran because we know that that's causing diesel and gas
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: to go up. We don't support entering into deals with
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Russia for fuel and oil that's going to now provide
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: resources to Russia at a time when we're helping support
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: Ukraine in a war against Russia. These are bad deals.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: I have a lot of folks, Todd, that tell me,
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: I voted for President Trump, but I didn't vote for this.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: And when they say this, they mean the tariffs with
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: their trading allies like Canada. They mean the war of
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: choice with Iran. And so That's why we feel so
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: much support, and again, our track record of bringing people together,
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: of being a responsible, pragmatic mayor, I think positions me
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: very well for this race, to win this race in November,
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: and more importantly, to be a good member of Congress
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: that will bring people together and be a representative of
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: all people.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: If nothing else, I think the congressional races do portray
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: the extremes to some extent. Big, big national news story
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: happening right here in Memphis in the 9th Congressional District.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: You have Justin Pearson. and the city council going at it.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: First of all, do you condone what Mr. Pearson has
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: done disrupting the council proceedings like he did last week?
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: Well, look, I think the data center issue is one
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: that is a very important topic right now. I think, frankly, Todd,
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: it's the topic of our time with AI and the
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: new technology and the data centers that are required. I
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: think the data centers can be a very emotional issue.
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: I certainly In Columbia, we just approved on second reading
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: last week a moratorium, a temporary pause on data centers.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: I'm a big believer that local control is what is
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: most important on these data centers and these developments. And
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: I think the city council and the city of Memphis
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: have dealt with how that needs to be approached going forward,
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: and I have confidence that the city will be able
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: to do that accordingly.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: But that sort of behavior, though, I mean, if that
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: had happened at your city council meeting, somebody comes in
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: with a bullhorn and starts shouting down, is that appropriate?
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: Well, I think, you know, everybody has their own approach. And,
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: you know, what our approach is, is one that, frankly,
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: some pundits have called boring.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: And you know what?
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: I take that as a badge of honor that people
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: call me boring, because actually what it means is, is
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: that we're pragmatic and we focus on issues that matter
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: and we do it in a way that is our
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: own way. And so we're focused on our approach. We
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: think our approach is resonating with the voters in this
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: congressional district. And that's where our focus is going to.
• 14:03
  Speaker 7: Fair enough.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: And just to be clear, though, but no condemnation.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: Again, again, my approach is different from from others approaches. And,
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: you know, folks can be their own judge as to
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: whether or not they think it's appropriate or not.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Your opponent has has been offering some interesting comments, first
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: of all, about beef prices. This has let him eat turkey.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: And then he said something about making chocolate milk. and
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: that gives him qualifications to be a member of Congress.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: What's going on there? You know, you tell me, Todd.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: I mean, we were first of all wondering if Charlie
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Hatcher would even show up to the Trump rally in
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: Clarksville on Saturday because he has now removed his pro-Trump
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: stance from his own website. In fact, just last night
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: on his social media page, he further removed himself from
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: the president, saying he might not agree with the president
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: on everything, despite two weeks ago, Todd, when asked what
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: he disagreed with the president on, he couldn't name one thing.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: So now He couldn't name one thing, but now he's
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: distancing himself. He gets on the stage on Saturday and
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: says that he should be elected to Congress because he
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: can make good milk. And frankly, I just don't think
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: that that's what the voters are wanting in their congressmen
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: at this point. This is a serious time. They want
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: serious candidates. And this is not about who can be
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the best milkman. It's about who can be the best congressman.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I'm wondering about President Trump and his influence. That arena
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: seats 6,000 people. 4,500 people showed up, and I know
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: the weather was bad, and it's college football. There is
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: a Politico story out quoting unnamed Republican sources in Tennessee
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: saying that there are concerns about Republican turnout. You're out
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: on the trail. What do you see up?
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: Well, I think a lot of folks are paying attention
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: to these races. And I don't know that what I'm
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: hearing is that folks are concerned. I think folks are
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: happy about the fact that we represent an opportunity to
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: win this race because we're focused on issues that matter.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: We want to bring prices down. We're against the tariffs.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: We're against the war. And we're for supporting the working class.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: We're for promoting rural hospitals. And we want to find
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: solutions to problems that matter. I think I represent, Todd,
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: a new generation of leadership in this country that's tired
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: of the same chaos and corruption that they're seeing in Washington, D.C.,
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: And they want to send someone to Congress who's going
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: to be reasonable in their approach, pragmatic in their thought,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: and independent in their thinking. And that's what we're doing.
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: That's what we're talking about. And I think, you know,
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: you look at folks from all across the spectrum that
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: are paying attention, and they know that this is a
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: race that we can win because of the approach that
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: we're taking here.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: You know, again, as far as these are huge districts
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: and covering a lot of ground, and we just had
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: State Senator Brent Taylor. I know you guys had a
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: chance to say hello. Everybody, they were very cordial, ladies
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: and gentlemen. No fist were thrown. Um, but you guys
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: have families and it has to, I'm just wondering how are,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: how are your families doing through, through all of this?
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Because it's a lot. Well, you're right.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: I mean, and, and the challenge is that, uh, you know,
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: being away from home is, is difficult. I have three
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: kids at home. My wife and I are raising our
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: three kids, 16, 13, and 10. I had a chance
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: to FaceTime with them last night at the hotel here
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: in Memphis. And, you know, I do miss them. They
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: miss me, but we all know how important this race
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: is and how important this is, not just for our community,
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: our state, but our country. The gerrymandering through a logistical
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: challenge in that, you know, forcing us to be three
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: hours away from home on a lot of times. But
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: on the other hand, Todd, it's worth it. Public service
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: is a sacrifice. It's a sacrifice worth taking here. And
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: we know that we're running for the right reasons and
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: that we're focused on the right issues. And I certainly
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: miss my kids. I'm going to look forward to vacation
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: when this is over. But right now we're full steam
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: ahead and we're in it to win it.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Real quick, I've noticed that we had about 30 seconds.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: You have some bracelets and things around here. Tell me
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: about those.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: Well, you know, one is my son gave to me
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: so that I would think about him whenever I'm away.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: Of course, I do bleed orange, and you pointed out
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: that the Tigers were successful on Saturday, as were the Vols.
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: Very happy for that. We have a big game this
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: weekend against Alabama. Go Vols. And then, of course, my
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: USA band that I like to wear, just because at
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: the end of the day, I think it's important to
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: remember that Republican, Democrat aside, we're all Americans, and that's
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: what we should remember first and foremost.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Well said. Well, it's always a pleasure to have you
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: here in the studio, and we're going to try to
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: get you back in before Election Day. We're in the
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: home stretch.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: That's right. Sounds good, Todd. I will come back if
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: you'll have me, and remember, early voting starts Wednesday.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Yes, it does. And folks, get out there. You will
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: see me in Germantown. That's a big tradition in our
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: family is to vote on early voting, the first day
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: of early voting. So get out there and vote. You
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: never know what's going to happen on Election Day. Do
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: you want to get out there and do that? All right, folks,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: we're going to take a quick break. Theater Memphis has
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: a huge show coming up, and we're going to be
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: interviewing Elvis.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Now, more of Morning in Memphis from the Principal Toyota
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Studios with Todd Starnes.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: And welcome back, everybody. It has been a very busy
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: news day here across the Mid-South. And we're going to
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: take a little bit of a pivot here in just
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: a few moments and talk about an incredible musical performance
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: coming up. By the way, I got some messages over
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: the weekend about where to find The Golden Age, my
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: brand new book. You're going to be able to get
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: a copy. We have plenty of copies at Novel Memphis. Also,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: all three Barnes & Noble locations, that would be Wolfchase, Germantown,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: and Carriage Crossing, you can get signed copies of The
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Golden Age, How Trump Saved America. And by the way,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: they make terrific Christmas presents. So if you're already doing
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: some early Christmas shopping, head on over and get yourself
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: a copy, a signed copy of The Golden Age, How
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Trump Saved America You can download our app and you
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: can listen to our radio station wherever you are, not
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: just in the Mid-South, but really all around the world.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Thousands of you have already downloaded the app and we
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: want thousands more as well. So be sure to head
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: over to kwamradio.com. You can read all of our great
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: news and all of our great content. You can check
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: out our exclusive weather radar app. And you can also
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: download the Mighty 990 app. It is free of charge.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: We don't charge you a single penny for that. Just
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: something we do to make sure that you can hear
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: our great radio station crystal clear no matter where you
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: are across the Mid-South. Well, I think just about everybody
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: in Memphis has been waiting for this huge production, Theater
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Memphis Million Dollar Quartet. And the show launches opening night,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: October the 16th. And it is really going to be
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: a fantastic musical performance and celebration. And there's also a
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: KWAM tie-in because this radio station is the very first
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: radio station in the Mid-South that aired Elvis Presley playing
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: at our annual jamboree back in the.
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: 1940s and 50s.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: So a great musical heritage here on the Mighty 990.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: And we are just so excited. to welcome the actor
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: who is portraying Elvis in Million Dollar Quartet. Russell Lindeman
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: joins us. Russell, congratulations and welcome to the show.
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: So, you know, and I don't want to be like
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: stereotypical here, but has anybody told you you kind of
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: bear a resemblance to the king of rock and roll?
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: Oh, absolutely.
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: You know, when Our makeup artist came in for the
• 21:23
  Speaker 8: first time and was talking about stage makeup and like
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: what she was planning to give us. She was like,
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: you already have the face structure. I just need to
• 21:30
  Speaker 8: give you some contour. And I think that's definitely something
• 21:32
  Speaker 8: else they took into consideration when casting the show.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Hey, look, when you when you've got the face structure,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, what else do you need, you know, in life, really?
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: So.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Hey, look, let's talk about the show. And you're also
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: going to be performing some music from the show in
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: just a little while. What was it like to jump
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: into the role of Elvis Presley?
• 21:55
  Speaker 7: Oh, I mean, it was such a deep dive early on.
• 21:57
  Speaker 8: I did a lot of research about Elvis, but I
• 22:01
  Speaker 8: tell a lot of people this. I grew up surrounded
• 22:04
  Speaker 8: by Elvis lovers in my family. I remember when I
• 22:06
  Speaker 8: was growing up, my mom would take me to school,
• 22:08
  Speaker 8: and it was either the jazz lover on the radio
• 22:10
  Speaker 8: or Elvis radio. And I love to listen to Elvis
• 22:12
  Speaker 8: radio and I was wearing the Elvis Halloween costumes at
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: an early age. So it's been not too hard of
• 22:18
  Speaker 8: a transition to become Elvis, but familiarizing myself with the
• 22:21
  Speaker 8: story has been more of a challenge just because, you know,
• 22:24
  Speaker 8: you know, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny
• 22:26
  Speaker 8: Cash were people who I didn't really know as well
• 22:28
  Speaker 8: as Elvis. So that's been really cool to familiarize myself
• 22:31
  Speaker 8: with those people.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: You know, it's, it's amazing because we have so much,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: you know, Elvis history here in Memphis, the Peabody hotel
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: where he signed the contract on the back of the napkin.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Of course, And you actually got to meet Mr. Lansky
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: himself not too long ago.
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir.
• 22:47
  Speaker 8: We got to go be on the Earl Farrell show
• 22:48
  Speaker 8: over at Lansky's Clothier to the King in the Peabody Hotel.
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: And Mr.
• 22:52
  Speaker 8: Hal Lansky, who was the clothier for Elvis during his career,
• 22:56
  Speaker 8: was there. And it was really cool to meet him
• 22:58
  Speaker 8: and just kind of see the kind of things that
• 23:01
  Speaker 8: he was wearing, but also the connection that he had
• 23:03
  Speaker 8: with these people who he never really left them even
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: after he was famous. And he always loved to come
• 23:08
  Speaker 8: back to Memphis and enjoy those people.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: So you're preparing for the role. What is that experience like?
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Because you're a young guy. Elvis passed away many, many
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: years ago, back when I was a little kid. What
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: was that like for you connecting with someone that you
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: actually did not know?
• 23:27
  Speaker 8: Well, I mean, you know, I've talked a lot about this,
• 23:32
  Speaker 8: but playing Elvis in Memphis especially is quite the challenge
• 23:37
  Speaker 8: just because of how near and dear people hold Elvis
• 23:39
  Speaker 8: to themselves. And there's a fine line when it comes
• 23:42
  Speaker 8: to acting between being an impersonator and, you know, making
• 23:45
  Speaker 8: the role your own. And so I've been talking a
• 23:48
  Speaker 8: lot about that with the directors and the creative team about,
• 23:50
  Speaker 8: you know, how can we find that fine line in
• 23:52
  Speaker 8: between being Elvis and, you know, being Russell's version of Elvis.
• 23:56
  Speaker 8: But I think in terms of how I've prepared myself.
• 24:00
  Speaker 8: I've watched a lot of YouTube videos, lots of interviews,
• 24:02
  Speaker 8: the Baz Luhrmann films like the Austin Butler biopic and
• 24:06
  Speaker 8: the recent film that they put out where it's just
• 24:08
  Speaker 8: Elvis Presley playing concerts for an hour and a half.
• 24:10
  Speaker 8: Those things are great. It's just been a really cool
• 24:13
  Speaker 8: process to kind of immerse myself in the world of
• 24:15
  Speaker 8: Elvis and his performances.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: And what's interesting is nobody's going to be backstage. You're
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: not going to be mimicking this or just moving your mouth.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: You're actually singing. You're actually performing. So you're a musician yourself.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir.
• 24:29
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that's something really cool about this show
• 24:32
  Speaker 8: is because not only is it more of a concert,
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: especially towards the end than most other musicals, but also,
• 24:39
  Speaker 8: you know, like every single one of the cast members,
• 24:43
  Speaker 8: we are the orchestra. Like there's no orchestra pit. There's
• 24:45
  Speaker 8: nobody offstage playing the instruments. We are playing the instruments.
• 24:48
  Speaker 8: We are singing and, you know, I've had to kind
• 24:50
  Speaker 8: of teach myself how to do the speaking voice and
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: the singing voice and some of, you know, Elvis's mannerisms
• 24:55
  Speaker 8: along the way. So that's been a really cool process
• 24:57
  Speaker 8: to do.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: You know, it is interesting that you mentioned the Austin
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Butler and what a fascinating film that was. And I'm wondering,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: do you think that movie really introduced your generation to
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: who Elvis was?
• 25:08
  Speaker 7: I think certainly.
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: I think the way they portrayed Elvis and the way
• 25:11
  Speaker 8: they portrayed Colonel Parker, especially, you know, Tom Hanks's performance
• 25:14
  Speaker 8: was wonderful. But I think that really put him into
• 25:17
  Speaker 8: a new light rather than just, you know, a rock
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: star from 50 years ago, it really humanized him and
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: kind of introduced him and put him in context with
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: the younger generation, especially with someone like Austin Butler.
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: For somebody who doesn't know anything about the million dollar quartet,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: give us a, give us a little glimpse of what
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: the show is about.
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: Absolutely.
• 25:36
  Speaker 8: So on December 4th, 1956, um, at sun studio on union, Mr.
• 25:41
  Speaker 8: Sam Phillips, who was in charge of sun recording, um,
• 25:45
  Speaker 8: was having a recording session for Mr. Carl Perkins, who
• 25:48
  Speaker 8: was a famous performer at the time. And Jerry Lee
• 25:51
  Speaker 8: Lewis was the hired pianist on the session. And then
• 25:54
  Speaker 8: it just so happens that Elvis and Johnny Cash, who
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: are former Sun Recording artists, were also in town, and
• 25:59
  Speaker 8: they came together. And there was a magical night of
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: just rock and roll, and they made history, and they
• 26:04
  Speaker 8: became known as the Million Dollar Quartet.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to imagine who that would be today. If
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: there was like a Million Dollar Quartet of modern-day musicians.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: I wonder who that would be.
• 26:15
  Speaker 8: I mean, you know, I think the music scene, especially
• 26:19
  Speaker 8: in Tennessee, is so diverse because, you know, you have
• 26:21
  Speaker 8: the Memphis sort of like blues and rock and roll history,
• 26:24
  Speaker 8: but also the emerging rap scene. And then in Nashville, obviously,
• 26:27
  Speaker 8: you have Music Row and country. So I think, you know,
• 26:31
  Speaker 8: there's so many options to choose from now. I think
• 26:33
  Speaker 8: it would be way more difficult in this day and
• 26:35
  Speaker 8: age to choose a million dollar quartet, maybe a million
• 26:38
  Speaker 8: dollar hundred people, you know.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Russell Lindeman is joining us this morning talking about the
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: great new musical that's going to be launched October 16th
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: at Theater Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet. If you'd like to
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: get information on tickets, you can go to TheaterMemphis.org. That's TheaterMemphis.org.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: And we'll give out the box office number here in
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: just a moment. But that's probably the easiest way to
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: get tickets. I'm wondering, was there something in all of
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: your research, something about Elvis that maybe you didn't know
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: or something that really impressed you about Elvis?
• 27:14
  Speaker 8: I mean, I think the biggest thing to me is,
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: I guess, how kind Elvis came across. You know, we
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: think of Elvis as like the king of rock and
• 27:21
  Speaker 8: roll and, you know, really, I guess, kind of above everything.
• 27:26
  Speaker 8: But when you kind of dig in and like we said,
• 27:28
  Speaker 8: the Elvis movie directed by Baz Luhrmann with Austin Butler
• 27:31
  Speaker 8: did a really, really good job. I guess, kind of
• 27:33
  Speaker 8: humanizing him in a sense. You watch any kind of
• 27:36
  Speaker 8: press conference with Elvis and any intimate conversation with him,
• 27:40
  Speaker 8: and he was very quick to kind of make the
• 27:42
  Speaker 8: conversation not as much about him and just kind of
• 27:44
  Speaker 8: appreciate the music. And Elvis was a really kind guy.
• 27:47
  Speaker 8: And I think he struggled a lot with, like you
• 27:50
  Speaker 8: were saying earlier, like the stereotypical, I guess, reactions to
• 27:53
  Speaker 8: his music. So I think that's something that really surprised
• 27:56
  Speaker 8: me was how you know, I guess human he was,
• 27:58
  Speaker 8: because that's a struggle with how famous he was.
• 28:00
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: So now that you're a world famous, you know, actor
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: and musician, but you're also a student. And what I
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: think I'm more impressed with is you're the editor of
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: the student newspaper.
• 28:13
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes, sir.
• 28:14
  Speaker 8: Actually, I go to Memphis University School over on Park
• 28:16
  Speaker 8: and our school newspaper, The Owl's Hoot, is an award-winning newspaper.
• 28:21
  Speaker 8: We have a website, actually, if you go to theowlshoot.org,
• 28:24
  Speaker 8: you can read some of our stuff and look at
• 28:26
  Speaker 8: our staff. But That's been a really cool step I've
• 28:28
  Speaker 8: done recently, just kind of immersing myself in the world
• 28:32
  Speaker 8: of journalism and having the privilege of becoming editor this
• 28:35
  Speaker 8: year has been really, really cool.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Hopefully going to break some hard-hitting stories.
• 28:39
  Speaker 7: I hope so.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: Expose, grift. No, we're just kidding. Well, look, that's a
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: big deal because, again, I think journalism is just another
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: form of storytelling. I mean you're telling a story on stage,
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: and you also get to tell a story in print,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: and I think that is a great art form.
• 28:56
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir.
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: I agree.
• 28:57
  Speaker 8: I think, like you were saying, it's just another form
• 29:00
  Speaker 8: of telling a story. And especially with a school newspaper,
• 29:03
  Speaker 8: you know, you can really, I guess, inform the student
• 29:06
  Speaker 8: body about things about their school that they really didn't know.
• 29:09
  Speaker 8: And I think it provides a good opportunity for students
• 29:11
  Speaker 8: to fully appreciate the culture of their school since they're
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: only there for four years.
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: We've got to take a break. Can you stick around?
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Because I noticed you brought a guitar.
• 29:18
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes, sir.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: So, all right. So I think we're going to play
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: that guitar when we come back. But first, we've got
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: to take a quick break. Hang tight, everybody. We have
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: more with Russell Lindeman, who is starring as Elvis Presley
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: in the Theatre of Memphis production of Million Dollar Quartet.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Let's check in with Commander Chuck standing by with a
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: look at your morning commute. And welcome back to the
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Principal Toyota Memphis Studios. I'm Todd Starnes, and we are
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: so excited to have Russell Lindeman with us. He is
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: starring as Elvis Presley in Theater Memphis's production of Million
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Dollar Quartet. And, you know, it's interesting, Russell, when you
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: think about how great Elvis Presley is, and people think
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: of him really as the king of rock and roll,
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: but all of the Grammys he won were actually for
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: his his gospel songs that he, that he used to sing. And, uh,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: I just, I always find that fascinating that it was,
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: it was the religious music that really earned him, you know, accolades.
• 30:20
  Speaker 7: Yeah, certainly.
• 30:21
  Speaker 8: I think it was really cool to see, especially later
• 30:24
  Speaker 8: in his career when he was playing at the international
• 30:25
  Speaker 8: hotel in Vegas, a lot of the times during his shows,
• 30:28
  Speaker 8: he would pause and say.
• 30:29
  Speaker 7: All right, now we're going to play a gospel song.
• 30:31
  Speaker 8: And he and his band would literally break and they
• 30:33
  Speaker 8: would play, you know, how great thou art or another
• 30:35
  Speaker 8: of his favorite gospel songs. And I think That's a
• 30:38
  Speaker 8: really cool testament to his upbringing and how religious his
• 30:41
  Speaker 8: family was and just how close he was with God.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: I'm a Baptist, so our denomination, we're not known for
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: having much rhythm, but the Pentecostals, you know, and that's,
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: you know, Elvis went to a Pentecostal church, a black
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Pentecostal church, and that's really where he learned a lot
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: of those moves that he did. Did that come easy
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: for you, learning the Elvis hip swivel?
• 31:04
  Speaker 8: So I, you know, having been in theater my whole life,
• 31:08
  Speaker 8: I have been introduced to a lot of dancing, but
• 31:10
  Speaker 8: that kind of just freedom to, I guess, move that
• 31:12
  Speaker 8: Elvis really embodied was something that didn't come as naturally
• 31:16
  Speaker 8: as I thought.
• 31:16
  Speaker 7: It would, surprisingly.
• 31:18
  Speaker 8: But I think, like you said, the fact that he
• 31:20
  Speaker 8: was growing up in the black Pentecostal church and like
• 31:23
  Speaker 8: he was introduced to a lot of things that, you know,
• 31:25
  Speaker 8: he never would have been had he not been there.
• 31:27
  Speaker 7: I think he did a.
• 31:28
  Speaker 8: Really good job of, I guess, popularizing music that was
• 31:31
  Speaker 8: largely played by black artists at the time, like in
• 31:34
  Speaker 8: the show.
• 31:35
  Speaker 7: Well, actually I.
• 31:35
  Speaker 8: Won't spoil it, but he was very, he did a
• 31:38
  Speaker 8: very good job of, you know, I guess, introducing a
• 31:41
  Speaker 8: form of music that would become incredibly popular through, his
• 31:45
  Speaker 8: time at Sun Records.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: All right, you've got your guitar.
• 31:48
  Speaker 7: I do.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: And we're about to hear some music. Tell us what
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: we're going to hear.
• 31:52
  Speaker 8: So I'm going to perform his song, That's All Right,
• 31:55
  Speaker 8: which was his, you know, largely his first big hit. And,
• 31:58
  Speaker 8: you know, it kind of served to introduce him to
• 32:01
  Speaker 8: Sam Phillips as not just another, you know, white boy
• 32:04
  Speaker 8: coming in and singing a song, a country song with
• 32:06
  Speaker 8: a guitar. And so I think it serves really well
• 32:09
  Speaker 8: to just kind of provide an example of what he
• 32:12
  Speaker 8: was doing in his music career and kind of, I
• 32:14
  Speaker 8: guess it was very groundbreaking.
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: So I'm excited to perform it.
• 32:25
  Speaker 6: Well, that's all right, mama. That's all right for you.
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: That's all right, mama. Just any way you do. Now
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: that's all right. Well, that's all right. That's all right now, mama,
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: any way you do.
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: Well, mama, she done told me. Papa done told me too. Son,
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: that gal, you fool, and I wish she ain't no
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: good for you. But that's all right. Well, that's all right.
• 32:58
  Speaker 6: That's all right now, mama, any way you do.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: Well, one and one is two, two and two is four.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: I love that woman, but I got to let her go.
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: Now that's all right. Well, that's all right.
• 33:19
  Speaker 6: That's all right now, mama, any way you do. Well,
• 33:26
  Speaker 6: I'm leaving town, baby, and I'm leaving town for sure.
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: Then you won't be bothered with Well, that's all right.
• 33:39
  Speaker 6: That's all right now, mama, any way you do. <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL>.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> Well, that's all right.
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: That's all right now, mama, just.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: Any way you.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. That is remarkable.
• 34:13
  Speaker 7: Thank you so much.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: And again, it sounds like Elvis, but you're not impersonating Elvis.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like your own twist.
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 34:19
  Speaker 8: It's been something I've been working on a lot because
• 34:21
  Speaker 8: he has such a recognizable voice, and especially that song.
• 34:24
  Speaker 8: So it's got to be recognizable, especially for our audience.
• 34:27
  Speaker 8: But as an actor, I also like to make it
• 34:29
  Speaker 8: as make it my own as much as I can.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, you can't like go out there with like
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: a country voice or an opera voice, but at the
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: same time, how did you do that?
• 34:38
  Speaker 8: I mean, you know, that's something I've always been able
• 34:40
  Speaker 8: to do pretty naturally is just kind of mimic the
• 34:42
  Speaker 8: way other people sound. And like, you can ask my
• 34:45
  Speaker 8: mom from an early age, I was impersonating Billy Joel
• 34:48
  Speaker 8: in the car. And, you know, we used to listen
• 34:50
  Speaker 8: to Michael Jackson all the time. And especially when I
• 34:52
  Speaker 8: was younger, that was something that I liked to do.
• 34:54
  Speaker 8: So you know, just making my voice sound like people
• 34:57
  Speaker 8: who I really, you know, idolize is something I've always done.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: What was it like working with, because you're not the
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: only musician here, I had some incredibly talented folks. Tell
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: us about the rest of the cast and what it
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: was like working with them.
• 35:08
  Speaker 8: I mean, it's been such a gift to work with
• 35:11
  Speaker 8: these incredible people over at Theater Memphis, especially because, like
• 35:14
  Speaker 8: you said, I'm younger. So, you know, kind of stepping
• 35:16
  Speaker 8: into the world of a more like professional level of
• 35:18
  Speaker 8: theater rather than high school theater has been such a gift.
• 35:21
  Speaker 8: And You know, we have our incredible music director, Nathan McHenry,
• 35:24
  Speaker 8: who's also portraying the role of Jerry Lee Lewis, you know,
• 35:27
  Speaker 8: plays the guitar, or not the guitar, plays the piano.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Piano.
• 35:29
  Speaker 7: Piano, actually, beautifully every night.
• 35:31
  Speaker 8: And we have Dylan Wheeler playing Carl Perkins, which is
• 35:34
  Speaker 8: our lead guitarist, and he plays some amazing solos. And
• 35:37
  Speaker 8: then we have Aaron Bloodworth portraying Johnny Cash, and he
• 35:41
  Speaker 8: plays some of the iconic Johnny Cash songs. And we
• 35:43
  Speaker 8: have Miss Chastity Alliston, who is playing Diane, which is
• 35:47
  Speaker 8: the girlfriend of Elvis, who sings two incredible... incredibly difficult
• 35:50
  Speaker 8: songs amazingly every night. So just being able to step
• 35:54
  Speaker 8: into these world of like older actors, it's really cool
• 35:57
  Speaker 8: to see how, you know, they kind of just accept
• 36:00
  Speaker 8: me into the art form and really ignore the fact
• 36:03
  Speaker 8: that I'm younger than they are.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: Well, you've done a tremendous job. Congratulations. And this is
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: going to be so much fun. Folks, this is a
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: great production. Get your family, go to see the great
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: theater Memphis production of Million Dollar Quartet. And you can
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: get tickets at theatermemphis.org. We also have the box office, 901.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: This is the number, 901-682-8323. I have to take my
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: glasses off to read. This makes no sense at all.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: 901-682-8323 if you'd like to get tickets to see Russell
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: and the great team, Million Dollar Quartet at Theatre Memphis.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: All right. You know what? I want to hear that
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: again as we go out. You know, we're about to
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: wrap up the show. We've only got about 60 seconds.
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: But why don't you lead us out, Russell, and serenade
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Memphis in their morning commute.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 36:55
  Speaker 7: I'll give us a little outro. Here we go.
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: Here we go. Well, that's all right, Mama. That's all
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: right for you.
• 37:07
  Speaker 6: That's all right, Mama, just any way you do.
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: Now, that's all right. Well, that's all right.
• 37:15
  Speaker 6: That's all right now, Mama, just any way you do.