Leslie Makes a Cameo in Luke Bryan’s Documentary
My job in radio has provided me with some incredible experiences. I have taken rides in Monster Trucks, sat in the middle of a rodeo ring, fed a rhino with my bare hands, and met country artists that most people only dream of actually meeting. I've met and hugged, because I'm a hugger, Billy Currington, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore, Reba, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley and more, but one of my most memorable moments came when I first met Luke Bryan.
Luke was one of the artists in the WKDQ Cheap Seats Concert Series at the old, and now burned down, Woody's Bar, in Evansville. He was not very well known then. I think All My Friends Say was his only single at that time. But, before I saw him perform on stage, what struck me was that many of the people who attended the concert had traveled from other states to see him on stage at Woody's. They were obsessed with him. I couldn't wait to see what all the hype was about.
I realized before the concert started that he was a very down-to-earth and fun guy. I had to go on his tour bus to facilitate a meet and greet with his fans. While on the bus, he convinced me to go get the band Italian food from Angelo's (his treat), try wasabi peanuts on ice cream, drink some Crown Royal with pickle juice, and help him prank one of the members of his band. Let's just say it was a full night before the concert ever began. During the concert, he blew me away. I knew then he was destined to be a star.
After that meeting, Luke only grew more popular among country music fans. It has been so awesome to watch him become the superstar that he is all while staying incredibly humble. His career and life have been made into a documentary for IMDBtv and its streaming on Prime. Some of my friends alerted me that I'm actually IN one of the episodes. What?!?!?!
Before I explain that, take a look at the trailer for the documentary.
Ok, how do I fit into this? Well, it involves the second time I met Luke. It was right before, I mean literally a few hours before, he opened up his first headlining tour in Evansville, at the Ford Center.
Before the concert, Luke came by the WKDQ studios to do an interview. Why me and not Jon Prell or Eric Cornish, well other than the obvious superior talent ;-) LOL, I was the only one there. Both of my beloved co-workers were out of town. That left little ole me.
I found out that Luke had had laryngitis for two weeks before opening night and was on total voice rest for those weeks leading up to the opening night. Because of that, he needed at least one interview before he took off on his very first headline tour. I had the privilege of being his only interview leading up to his very first opening night, as a headliner, ever. That is where I come in.
Take a look at the LBT episode that featured the Ford Center, the WKDQ studio, and my voice.
Yep, my voice made it into the documentary and a shot of the studio. It's the same as in the LBTV video. I guess the video of my face ended up on the cutting room floor for both projects. I have been told I DO have a face for radio, not so much for video though. LOL, It's still very cool that my voice can be heard in Episode 4 of Luke's documentary.
Here is a funny story that didn't get caught on camera, but it would have made a great addition to the documentary. What you can’t tell from the video is that Luke didn’t smell very good. I know It’s hard to believe, but he didn’t. He ever thought he smelled bad. He first said to me when he came into the WKDQ studio: Do I smell bad? Well, I hadn’t really had time to tell at that point, so I leaned in and took a big whiff.
Yes, he was right, he DID smell bad. It wasn’t disgusting like my son’s gym bag. It was a sweat mixed with God awful body spray smell. So, I told him the truth, Yes, you smell bad. He then turned around to his tour manager, a tiny little woman with a sugar glider, and told her she should have let him take a shower.
He had been rehearsing all day and had really worked up a sweat. While he was rushing over to talk to me (then we were only a block away from the Ford Center), she had chased after him and doused him in generic body spray.
We all laughed, it broke the ice a little and he gave me a big squeeze. It wasn’t our first squeeze. Look in the right-hand, top corner, right above my head in the pic below, you can see our first squeeze when he performed at Woody’s during our Cheap Seats Concert Series.