**** Producer's Note: The following is a general transcript of LCC Connect's weekly radio program. Contents include but may not be limited to podcasts, program imaging, announcements, and PSAs. More detailed and accurate transcripts of the podcast episodes featured in this broadcast can be found at LCCconnect.com or by following the links provided in the show notes of this episode. ****

Hello, friends, and welcome to Coach Cut's Corner.

Streaming bright from Michigan's capital city. This podcast is dedicated to helping you better understand the who, the what and the why of mental performance, personal growth, and Lansing Stars baseball down on the fixing line. Coach Cuts Corner, brought to you by.

Eyewash in collaboration with Lansing Community College.

And now, here's your host, Stephen Khadder.

Welcome to Coach Cut's Corner. This is a place where we challenge limits, push for greatness, and develop athletes who thrive on and off the field. I built a program centered on discipline, self belief, and relentless preparation. Each week I bring you insights from my coaching journey, conversations with high performers, and lessons that drive winning habits. If you're serious about growth, whether as a player, coach or leader, you're in the right place. Let's get after it. This one's for the quiet ones, the deep thinkers, the people who leave the room and feel drained, not because they don't care, but because they were faking small talk all night. Let's talk about being more of a natural introvert and what that means when you coach, lead, speak and serve. And let's be clear right away, being introverted is not a weakness. Neither is being extroverted. They're just different energy systems. Introvert versus extrovert. What's the real difference? Well, here's how it works. Introverts recharge in solitude. They think before they speak. They feel drained by too much external stimulation. Extroverts, on the other hand, they gain energy from being around others. They speak to process, and they feel drained by too much quiet. This isn't about loud or shy. It's about where your internal battery charges. It's not a strength or a flaw. It's just wiring. But the reality. Most people don't live at the edges. And that reality is the ambivert reality. I read an article in Psychology Today that said something surprising. It said most people aren't fully introverted or extroverted. They're ambiverts, which means somewhere in between. And I think we can all relate to that. Ambiverts can adjust. They speak when the room needs a voice. They listen when silence serves more. They recharge in both spaces. And studies show they often make the best leaders. Not because they dominate or hide, but because they flex. They read the moment and respond the right way. Now, let's bring in something I talk about a lot, which is emotional intelligence. If there's one skill that makes or breaks leaders, I believe it's this one. Emotional intelligence is your ability to Recognize, understand and manage your own emotions and to recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others. And here's what's wild about that. Introverts often score high in self awareness and self regulation. They reflect deeply and they think before reacting. Extroverts often score high in social awareness and relationship building. They connect easily, read the room well. But being emotionally intelligent doesn't depend on your personality. It depends on intention. You can train it, you can build it, and most importantly, you can own it. When I coach, emotional intelligence is everything. When to speak, when to stay quiet, when to push, when to listen. That's leadership. That's awareness. That's control. I've been told at times you're too quiet to coach. I've heard that. Not always directly, but I've certainly felt it. After college, I started reflecting. You know, that point where you start really asking yourself, where do I feel most comfortable? What gives me energy? What wears me out? That's kind of when I realized I'm not shy. I'm just wired differently. I don't chase attention. I don't enjoy surface level chatter. I'm not loud, but I'm real. And I believe real leads. The hardest part was speaking for me. No question about it. Public speaking, and I think this applies to a lot of people, is the hardest thing. I'd rather coach in the shadows than speaking to this mic. But I kept getting asked to share. So I showed up. I didn't love my voice. I know it's monotone at times, it's not flashy, but I had something real to say of all those lessons that I've learned along the way. And that's what matters most. That it's real, that it's yours. I know that Carol Dweck has influenced me in a lot of different ways. And reading about the growth mindset changed how I saw myself. The fixed mindset says things like, this is just who I am. The growth mindset says, this is just where I'm starting. So I worked on it. I studied tone, pacing, pauses. I practiced presence. I leaned in even when it felt uncomfortable. And slowly I started to find some rhythm. It's still not great. My voice didn't change, but my confidence did. And I believe what people get wrong about introverts is they assume introverts can't lead, can't motivate, can't command a room. I think that's wrong. I've led in the business world and college World Series teams. I've stood in locker rooms with everything on the line and spoken the Truth. And I've done it all as me. Quiet, steady, and most importantly, intentional. You don't need volume to lead. You need vision. You need presence. And you need to care. And what helped me get there? I think the simple answer. People I leaned on. Mentors, high performers, authors, and of course, our players. But most of all, I watched my mom. She wasn't loud. She wasn't trying to be seen. But she showed up every day with love and consistency. And that's where I learned the real model of leadership. If you've ever felt like you've had to fake energy to fit in, if you've ever held back because you weren't the loud one, if you've ever wondered if people would take you seriously, this is for you. You don't need to be loud to lead. You don't need to be dominant in the room to earn respect. You don't need to change your voice. You just need to own it. I used to think my introversion was a limitation. Now I think I see it as an edge. It made me reflect deeper. It made me lead from conviction. It made me different. And different wins. So be aware. Be intentional. Know when to speak and when to listen. Use your emotional intelligence and build your presence. Lead from the inside out and let the world hear you exactly as you are. As I sit in this podcast studio today, I couldn't ever imagined producing podcasts and sitting here and talking about our program or myself or what I feel is most important in life. I always felt that was for other people. But as we're nearing a hundred episodes and a lot of listeners that we're all super thankful for because we get to share some insight and what's going on in our program. I want everybody to be aware that no matter who you are, you can get better. It just has to be followed with your passion and a little bit of conviction and a lot of belief. Make winning in life your habit, not your goal. Excellence doesn't show up by accident. It shows up through the daily reps and deep self awareness. You don't need to become someone else to be great. You just need to grow from where you are. Lead with purpose. Speak the truth. Own your identity. Until next time, thank you for listening. Stay uncommon, stack your bricks and of course, go stars. Coach Cuts Corner is recorded live in the WLNZ studios with the Dalian Lowry providing engineering and production assistance. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please share it and follow us on all forms of social media. Our program has been built and maintained with the help of many great people. If you want to be part of our mission, you can donate using the link in the show notes below. You can learn more@coachcutter.com and more about our team@lccstars.com see you next time down.

On the Victory Line.

Keep connected with LCC Connect at lccconnect.org.

LCC Connect voices vibes, Vision Lansing Community College Performing Arts presents the HAP and Dance professional company performing live with the LCC Jazz Band. This special concert features the 20 plus member jazz band playing classic big band standards while dancers perform original choreography set to the live music. Now in its third year, the concert takes place February 20th and 21st at 7pm in the Dart Auditorium. Admission is free. For more information, visit LCC.edushowinfo.

My mother was very familiar with her neighborhood, but one day she stopped at the stop sign and she wasn't even really sure where she was at.

Something feels different. It could be Alzheimer's. Now is the time to talk A message from the Alzheimer's association and the.

Ad Council.

The LCC Arts and Sciences Division will welcome seventh and eighth graders to the Downtown Campus for the first ever Big STEAM event on Saturday, February 21st. The event is an opportunity for middle and high school students to explore STEAM programs and career fields with exciting hands on activities and experiences. Those interested in the Big steam event on February 21 can learn more at LCC.edu bigsteam, LCC Connect Voices, Vibes, Vision. You are listening to Written in the.

Stars Books and Beyond where hosts from.

The LCC Library sit down with writers, publishers, entrepreneurs and literary enthusiasts of all types of.

Join your hosts, Amy Ewald, Robin Moore, John Celaje and Abby Tebow as we.

Explore the very heart of the written word.

Welcome to Written in the Stars Books and Beyond. I'm Robyn Moore, joined by my co host John Solaji. Hello Hello. Today we're thrilled to welcome a very special guest, Sariya Strode, Program Manager with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and a leader shaping better outcomes for our youth. She's also a Lansing Board of Education member, author and entrepreneur, using her voice to champion equity, wellness and community change. Sarea, welcome. It is such a joy to finally have you here with us today.

Thank you so much for having me. I am so thankful to be here. This is awesome.

Wonderful. So we're glad to talk to you about all the things that are happening. So let's talk about this book that you have going on right now. It's all around the community. What sparked the idea For Willow B. Big feelings, big wins. And for those who haven't read it yet, could you give us a quick overview of what Willow B. Big Feelings and Big Wins is about? Yes.

So it is exactly the name Big Feelings, Big Wins. It's really geared for our children, our youth from ages 4 to 8 years old, who experience different types of emotions. So Willow B. Is the main character, and it's her first day of school, and she goes through all of the emotions of your first day. From being nervous to meet friends, initiating play, feeling those feelings of scared or sad, thinking, you know, it's hard to be a kid. And so Willow Bee is processing all those emotions for the readers. I actually came up with the name Willow B. In honor of my husband's grandmother. Her name was Willie B. And she was a huge person in my personal growth, even as a teenager, about, you know, expressing your emotions and being in tune with who you are and what you need. And so Willow B. Is going through her first day of school with Sunny the Spark, which is the Sunny the Spark on the COVID with her. And he kind of helps her process through those emotions. It's kind of like your intuition or that self talk. And Sunny the Spark is talking her through the emotions of her first day. It's really cool.

I love that.

I love that in the book, you use colors to go with different feelings. What made you want to use colors to represent feelings?

I know for me, a shout out to Michigan State University. Go green, Go White. I studied an undergrad for the Human Developmental Family Studies Program with Child Development Education. And so a big thing that we used to do when you're working with children and processing emotions is to get them to relate to something they can understand. And so when you're doing feelings work or self or parts work, really easy to have the children pick a color that makes them feel like the feeling that they have.

I love that. It's wonderful how you're utilizing what you've learned at Go Green, Go White. So I love that colors. So you work with the Juvenile Justice Division of the State of Michigan Human and Health Service Department. Now, how does that work relate to your book?

You know, I feel like even though I work with our juvenile children sometimes, I hate to say it, but they're often the forgotten population, right? They're the population that may have done something wrong or may have landed them in a certain space, but they're all children at heart. Some of our kids are really young at heart, and so processing emotions, sometimes that helps lessen that criminogenic risk for youth. And I think that also plays a shape. The thing for me is I try to do things that I'm passionate about, but also that has meaning behind it. And so everything that I do kind of stays within that purpose for me. Writing a children's book, I have little children. I have always been an advocate for young people, and then also working with the state. I started off as a social worker, and so I've kind of made my way through and even to now being on the board of education. And so education is, like, really a pillar for me. And I think if you start having conversations with children while they're young, it helps them process better when they're older.

So true.

You mentioned you have young kids at home, and that was part of your inspiration for writing this book. How did you find it? Was writing a book for children as opposed to writing for adults? Was it challenging, or what was that process like?

Well, when you're writing a children's book, you have to really think about the kid, kind of bring yourself back to a child. What are some of the things you might have felt? Or even in the book, I have activity pages in the back where parents can utilize these tools to get more information out of their children. Kind of like Sunny the spark is helping her throughout her day. So what will your Sunny say? Right. Who's your Sonny the Spark? What words do you need to hear? And I think for me, you know, we have a lot of big feelings in my house, and so even reflecting on my own personal experiences with my children, you kind of got to take a lot of your life lessons and turn it into something to share, you.

Know, that leads me to ask, what did you learn about yourself through the writing process?

You know, patience, patience, patience, patience. I feel like some people rush their process. When you're writing, you don't give yourself. You want to hurry up and get it out. And I felt like that. I felt like I was, like, beating the clock. Nobody knew that I was writing a book. That's another thing. I'm very secretive about my passion if it's something I'm not, like, newly exploring. And so nobody knew that I was writing a book. And so for me, it was like, I need to hurry up and get this out, because I'm so excited about it. But then I had that fear of, like, hey, this is new. I've never written a children's book before. And I think anytime you're writing, I think there was spaces where I kept rechanging pages and like, wait a minute. I'm not sure if that part connects and you want it to be perfect. And so I think the patience part for me was definitely a learning curve, especially when you're dealing with having to get like different mock ups and you want your character to look a certain way and I want her skin tone to be a certain color and so she can be relatable and all those things. So we, we had a lot of back and forth. It was a process.

Did you know, like, from way back you wanted to write a book? Or is this a fairly new passion? Or have you always kind of been wanting to be a writer?

Always, always wanted to be a writer. Back in high school, I would enter competitions, poets and poems, and I knew that I was going to write something, I just didn't know when. And so I pushed myself a little bit. And you kind of get out of your comfort zone when you're writing. I think at one point I was like, if it only goes to my house and my kids read it, you know, I made a difference in the world. Right. And then now it's like, you know, in Barnes and Noble and Walmart and Amazon and, you know, in the capital area, district libraries in town. And so it really has picked up really great traction. And I remember saying, if it's not that good, at least my kids will have it. Like, it'll be in my house.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wonderful.

Yeah. So is Willow B. Big feelings, big wins, the start of a series or a part of a larger vision for children's emotional and wellness books for you?

Absolutely. We are actually working on two. We are working on book number two. I really feel confident about this one. It's gonna definitely be bestseller. I think it's going to go along the lines of grief and emotion for children, I think, myself included. I recently lost my dad, May of this year, and me and my daughter have been going to Ellie's place, another place that also partnered with me when I released my book. But now being able to go and enjoy that space to help with grief share has been very instrumental. So this process with the Willowby book two is going to focus more about the grief of a child. She's not going to explicitly say that anybody passed in the family, but she's going to walk down the hallway, for example, and say, you know, the house feels quieter today. And she'll be at school and she'll be like, you know, I broke my crayon. Why does everything keep breaking? Or why does everything keep leaving from me? Right. And just kind of processing all those emotions And Sunny Spark will be right there, of course. And then she'll remember the kiss on her wrist. And that's kind of gonna be like something of maybe a parent that used to do with their kid, like, kiss on the wrist and make them remember all the memories. And so it kind of goes through this journey of that with grief in young children. And she goes through all the emotions of grief, from sad, from anger, from excitement, from nervousness. It goes through all those emotions.

Wow. Thanks for sharing that with us. So the book title pairs big feelings and big wins. What message do you hope children and families take away from that phrase?

Yeah, I feel like no matter what you're going through or whatever your feeling is, you can always process that and turn it into something positive. I have a toddler, so tantrums. Right. They always say terrible, too, but I don't say terrible too. I think it's just the learning curve of 2. And for me, kids have really strong emotion because they're in that part of their development where they're really trying to focus and figure out how does these parts work. And, you know, mine and me. And they're so, you know, tested on what they feel, but that's a part of their development. And so really just shaping that into, like, our future leaders. Like, you can have big feelings, but we gotta process this. And you can take that energy and be amazing when you're 21. But right now, we can't have cookies for breakfast.

I was. I was kind of thinking more about the activities that you put in the book. There's a nice kind of selection of them in the back. I could see parents using them. I could see teachers using them, kind of. How do you want your readers and parents to use these? And how can they be helpful for folks out there who might be working with kids, whether they're their own or some classroom?

I think for me, that was the big thing. I put the activity pages in the back because I feel like it's something that you can process more with. It can be something to have, like, activities. I think family time is very important, no matter what your family looks like. And so just encouraging that time together. And then there's a lot of people who are parenting for the first time. Like, I'm an educator. You know, I have the background in the education, but sometimes even my kid I have to question. Right. Because everybody's different, and you don't know what the books will say until you are actually in that experience. And so I really wanted to create something that gives parents a Space that maybe don't have the words or, you know, it's their first time parenting and what does this look like? And why is this kid crying all the time? Or, you know, what's happening? What can I do to help get some more information out of my kid? You know, I think I talked recently about it's a difference when your kid's coming home from school and you say, hey, what'd you do today? And they're like, nothing. How was your day?

Good.

No, it's a difference when you say, who did you sit by at lunch today?

Yes.

Right. Who was very excited in your class today? Was somebody overly talking? Tell me about your friends. What did they have on? Did you like their clothes? What are you feeling like? There's different ways that you can ask a question that never puts you in a space to just get a one short answer. And so that's really what I try to do.

That's great.

That's great advice. I'm excited because I'm looking at my co host because. Can I share?

You can.

He's a new parent to other three months.

Yeah, he's three months old.

Yes, three months old.

So we're all excited here for John because John is amazing and we've worked together for a long time.

We have, we have. And so we will be, you know, utilizing this book and these kinds of things, I'm sure a lot over the coming years, which kind of something that's a ways down the road for us still. But you set the book in Willow's first day of School. And so kind of, why did you choose that setting and that day for this book?

I feel like for me it was an introduction of something and an introduction that every kid has the first day of school, whether you're gonna be online and you're homeschooling, you still have that first day of school. And then education is very important to me and my family and so empowering those to be excited to go to school. Cause three and four year olds are reading this book and they're not there yet. Right. They may or may not be in preschool or not. And so that excitement of what do I have to look forward to when I go to school to get my education? Who can I connect with? Who can I make friends with? And so I really was very thoughtful with getting the background. Like, I was very supportive of making sure that I had different types of children in the book. If you go to one of the pages when the kids are playing outside, there's even a kid in A wheelchair. And I did that on purpose because I want people that don't look like me to connect or your friends can look different. We could have different abilities and all those things. So I wanted to really include that into that space. And, you know, first day of school, we all go through that first day of school and it has a nice space where you can have all these different types of emotions.

I want to give that to my 19 year old who just went off to school and she was feeling some emotions there and she was dealing with them. And I think even at 19.

Right.

Because it's the first day of something new. Read that book.

Yeah. Well, I think that's one of the strengths of this book. Right. Is like, although it is a kid's book and it's set like on the first day of school, we all have, you know, big feelings and that kind of thing. And so it's a really good read for everybody. And I think that goes back to reading this with a kid. Right. And so that importance of reading to your child in. Have you been able to do that with your kids and then be able to share this as well?

Absolutely. So my daughter is 6. We've been reading for about over a year, and so we try to incorporate reading in different spaces. I have the belief that if you teach a child to read, they could do anything. They just got to learn how to read. If they can read, they can do anything. And so I have had my daughter read the book. She gets excited about it, but she's at the point now where she's probably like, okay, mom, you know, she wants to read her new book. I think it's Pinkalicious. That's her favorite book. And so at night at our house, reading is very important. Education is very important to me. I think I've said that. And so I have her read a book to my son.

Oh, wonderful.

He's two. And then I will read a book to her. And so putting words in front of her, even having her sound them out and just her practicing reading to my son and then I'm reading to her, it just kind of gives them something to look forward to. But also she doesn't realize it. I'm sharpening those skills, I think too, for her to have to read to an audience, even if she's just reading to her brother, that's going to build confidence in the child. She also gets a little bit nervous when there's bigger words. And I'll have to encourage her like, it's okay, Mommy, sound it out. Let's sound it out together. And so that's like our time. You know, you have to find something that you can connect with your kids, and it can be your time. And that's why I love everything about books. My mom was an avid reader growing up. I was an avid reader growing up. I think it's hilarious because I'm showing my age. But I think I was a part of, like, the Dolly Parton library, too, growing up and getting free books every month. And, you know, it's just amazing that they have those type of programs. And I remember reading all the Dr. Seuss books.

Oh, yes.

Every single one I had. I'm like, where are my books at now? Because send them to my kids. But, you know, reading is just a big part of our lives. Like, it's a big part of how we see the world, how we view things. And when you start that desire out in your children young, it'll grow. And even with ourselves, like, as adults, you know, I'm always trying to ask people, what are you reading right now? Like, what? What's your interest? You know what? Because it sharpens your mind.

It does, it does.

So if Willoughby herself could give advice to children about handling big feelings, what do you think she would say?

I think Willow would say, say, it's okay to have a bad day. My favorite line in the book, I think, is at the very end, and it says, every day is a canvas and I'm the artist. And so you can process and you can feel however you want to feel, but it's up to you what you do with that. It's up to you where you go from this space. Even as adults, I think we experience a lot of different emotions, and we can get stuck there, and we have to remind ourselves of how to overcome and get out of that space, or what do you want it to look like the next time you experience this emotion? And so I think Willow would really say, I'm the artist, right? I'm the artist of my day. I'm the artist of my feelings. And it's hard, even as adults, to manage our emotions.

Yes, it is.

It is, it is.

So where can folks get the book or connect with you online or just learn more about it?

Oh, absolutely. It's on Amazon, it is on Walmart, it's on Barnes and Noble. So it's been around in the marketplace. And so I'm excited to share. I cannot wait to Willoughby, book two is going to come out soon. But, yes, I'm on social media. Saria Strode, you can always find me. But if you google the book, it'll definitely come up. Oh, and then families out there that may say, I can't buy it right now. And we understand that all of the Capital Area District libraries in this area house at least two copies of this book, so you can go and rent it and check out our libraries. My kids love our libraries, particularly the south side library. They love that one.

That's a nice one.

That is a nice one. Yeah. Well, yeah, I'm sure we're kind of biased, but yes, libraries are a great thing. So thank you for that plug for libraries.

I really do.

I really do. Sarea, thank you for sharing this space with us today to our listeners. You can find Sareya's contact information and additional links in our show Notes thank you for listening to Written in the Stars on LCC Connect.

You have been listening to Written in the Stars books and Beyond. Visit LCC.edu to find the titles discussed in this episode.

You can find previous episodes of Written.

In the Stars and other LCC connect.

Shows@Lccconnect.Com and in the words of Miguel.

D', Unamuno, I hope, reader, we shall meet again and we shall recognize each other.

This is LCC Connect.

Voices, Vibes, Vision Lansing Community College Performing Arts presents the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zelaitis. The fairytales of the Brothers Grimm are turned on their heads in this fast paced, rollicking ride as two narrators and several actors attempt to combine all 209 stories, ranging from classics like Snow White and Cinderella to more obscure stories. A wild freeform comedy with lots of audience participation and madcap fun. Featured at LCC's Black Box Theater February 20th through the 22nd and February 27th and 28th. Recommended for ages 11 and up. All performances are free to attend. Visit LCC.edushowinfo for showtime information.

Lansing Community College welcomes transfer students. Transfer students may apply prior credits toward.

Their LCC degree certificate or transfer program. Learn more at lcc.

Edu youbelong LCC Connect Voices, Vibes Vision.

This is Time Signatures with Jim Irvin, a podcast and radio program presented by the Capital Area Blue Blues Society in Lansing, Michigan. Most any contemporary musical style can trace its roots back to the blues. Time Signatures explores the blues and its musical connections with captivating interviews, lively discussions and news from the world of the blues. And now, here he is, your host, Jim Irvin.

Well, thank you so much, Parker, and welcome to Time Signatures. I'm your host, Jim Irvin, and we are Moving into the 2025 Blues Festival season across the United States and Europe. Putting these events on takes time, considerable financial support, but most importantly, it takes you coming out to support these festivals. Since the 2020 COVID pandemic festival, attendance has been down as people remain reserved about getting together in many cases. But despite that trend, one promoter is working hard to repeat the results he enjoyed in 2016 when he saw a 50% increase in attendance at the North Atlantic Blues Festival held in Rockland, Maine. Our guest has been involved with this annual blues festival for, by my account, some 16 years now, but he works with other events as well. Now, there's a lot to talk about here, but I'd like to welcome our guest, Paul, Mr. Blues Benjamin. Paul, welcome to Time Signatures. How are you, sir?

I'm doing great. I appreciate giving me a chance to speak with you.

Well, it's an honor to have you on. And as I told you before we started, a good friend of ours referred me to you, and he also referred me to Mick Colossa, Mississippi Mick, if you will. But I'd like to get things going with you. One of my favorite warmup questions is what are your earliest memories of music, Paul? Do you have any favorite artists or songs that you had to listen to over and over again?

I like to say as, as a child, I was dragged. My parents a huge jazz and blues fan, and my dad was from. From Rhode island, so Newport Folk Festival, the jazz festival was a yearly event for my parents. And so as a child at a young age, I would rather go play on the beach. But there was people, they were there more for the jazz part of it. But there was, you know, you know, Muddy Waters and Wolf and people like that were on that stage and I, I could care less who they were. I wanted to go play in the sand and on the beach, but that, that was in my. My dad was like, say, a huge jazz fan and so listening to music at our home, it was a lot of jazz on there. And he would cross over and had some blues as well. But that's my earliest memories, you know, of being inducted to kind of that. That style of music.

Sure. Now, as you mentioned, the blues in with the jazz. When did you find your baptism, if you will, into the genre? When did you really get involved in the blues?

Kind of when the Stones were out. I was, I mean, you know, Beatles were a phenomenal group, but I was a stone stand. The world of Stones just played that gritty kind of music, bluesy type. And so I was kind of hooked on them at that Point and just started researching a little bit more blues through the Stones. And then just continued to move along. And then 1990, because I've been North Atlantica be 32 years old this year. And North Atlantic started in the parking lot of a trade one. So it was. Wow. Actually would call the trade one blue batch in 1990. The first band I brought into Maine and as a promoter is Eddie Shaw and the wolfgang back in 1978. So I've been doing this a long time, and trial and error, I. I kind of wiggled my way through learning all the stuff and being a promoter and other pots and putting on shows and that. And, you know, I. I kind of use Eddie Shaw as kind of my mentor. He was the first guy brought in. And through Eddie, he invited me out to Chicago. Introduced me to a lot of people at the Chicago Blues. That's what I went up to a number of times. And. And so it kind of started from there.

Very cool. Now, I've been told that you're a very busy man when it comes to blues festivals, so I'd like to get this on the record. How many blues festivals do you currently work with and help promote? I mean, I've heard a little bit of everything that you've. You dabble in a bunch of different ones.

I do six.

Okay.

Obviously, North Atlantic, My Baby. It was the first that I started. And I do want to go off to Massachusetts. I do three in Florida. And then I get hired to go out and do one in Denmark. Blues have it, which is owned by Peter Astrup. Buddy. Six years ago, he invited me to come out and help him. He's got so many things to do behind the scenes. So I run the festival as far as getting the bands on and off the stage, Introduce them, show them where they got to be, where they get, you know, where they're getting fed, what. Where their dressing rooms are and what stage they're on. And I introduce them on and off the stage, all three stages. So it's a. It's a busy one out there. But I. I, you know, love what I do. And so it's. Sure.

Now, which. Which events in Florida are you involved with?

I got Camping with the Blues, which is in. In October. I got one in March, which is called the Blues Batch at the Ranch. And then I had done the Bradenton blue circle for 12 years. And out the Bradenton, they had hired me to do that festival. And after 12 years, the city of Braden decided to go in a different direction. And so once I found out that Festival was going to be gone away 12 years. It established itself pretty well. It had a good attendance. So I decided to create a brand new festival and that's what we did. Lakewood Ranch Blue Festival. And the first one. And that went over really well. So that third one would be in Lakewood Ranch for Florida.

Now, Paul, in addition to all of your work as a promoter of some incredible blues festivals, you're also a record label owner, a music producer. You also have served on the board of directors of the Blues Foundation. I mean you. You're busy guy.

Yeah, busy.

But I love.

Actually I'm back on the board of the Blues foundation as you know, as we speak. You know, I got reelected for the. I guess I go back all the way back to the Blues foundation with Jay Silman. I went on the board back then and. And then I served for six years, three years and you can get reelected for a second three year term and okay, wanted honored to say that I was the first person ever elected president of the Blues foundation board that did not reside in 19 Tennessee. So I served four years as President of the board under Jay Silman. Rolled off the board and then I went back on the board. That's when the Duluth foundation decided to raise the funds to do the get a new home and build the hall of Fame. So I helped them raise funds for that. And then Jay called me, said Paul, don't you think you want to come back on the board? You know, we used to be on the board and we opened the door to the Blues Foundation. I said I did my six years of hard but good time and I just not. He said, well, you really should be. I said, all right, let me think about it. So I said all right, put my name in. I got reelected and then shortly after Jay that we opened the door to the hall of Fame. Jay had decided he was going to retire. He didn't tell me that when he invited me back to the ball, of course. So I was on the search committee when we looking for a new CEO of the company for the foundation. That's when we hired Barbara Newman. And so I was kind of working Barbara Newman for a couple years and actually got reelected. He's Both a mix McKalasser. Nick was up was the vice president of the board at that time under vice chair because they changed it to chair of the board at that point he was the vice chair. And when it came up time for election, Nick nominated me to be chair of the board. And he said, you have a lot more knowledge and do this you can do this better than I can. He said, so I'm nominated you and immediately got seconded. And I was elected for chair of the board for two years under Barbara Newman. And so I told Barbara that, you know, she had you for two years. And so she created a new position called immediate past year to keep me on two more years with Barbara Newman. And so I did, you know, another six years. And plus the two with with Barbara, I got off the board again. And then the current CEO of the company, Kimberly Horton, she made that same call to me. She said, paul, you know, she was on the board when I was on the board as chair board on the Barber. And she said she got elect, she took the foundation, made a couple of hires that weren't good for the foundation, and we'll leave it at that. And then Kimberly got hired and she called me, said that I'd love to have you back on on the board. And I said, I'm a phone call away. I'll be happy to deal with you anytime on the phone, Kimberly, but I really don't need to go back on the board. And so I hung up the phone and my wife said, you know, they're just going to keep calling me, so you might as well just go back on the board. And so I gave him my name and put my name to go back on the board. And immediately I got elected to the executive committee. And so I'm back on the board now. And if I can help the foundation with some of my past knowledge, it's a good thing I was there when she was ready to close the doors and, you know, almost file bankruptcy. And Jay, Jay took us out of the. Out of the depths and did a phenomenal job. But Barbara continued to make it growing. And so if I have that knowledge that can help the foundation, how can we say no?

Well, having some good folks on the board like yourself and Mick Colossa and so many others that have worked hard to help keep the blues alive and help keep the foundation alive is very important. Paul, I want to turn the page here for a moment. I'd like you to Talk about the 25th and 26th Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where you served as music producer. Now, we already know that you have a lot of this on your resume, but take us into that process if you can, because I'd really like to discuss that. That's got to be a really weighty event for you.

Yeah, it's kind of a funny story. It was my first meeting with the foundation when I got elected to the board, and I'm not sure how it works. So we're sitting at a meeting and they're talking about the Blue Music Awards and how it was costing him money every year. So I reluctantly raised my hand. I asked the question, why are we paying people to put on our Blues Music Awards when there's people at this table who are now on this board, including Michael Clorin, who put on the Pocono Blues Festival, which is very successful festival for years and years. And I said, I put on the natural anti blue stuff. So I said, we got two people sitting at this table that put on shows for a living. And Jay Silman said, are you volunteering to be on a committee to be on the show? You know, help us with the VMAs? And I said, absolutely. Actually, that meeting was in Mississippi. I went back to Maine. A couple days after I got home, my phone rings and it's Jay Silman. He said, paul, guess what? The 25th Blues Music Award show is yours. You want to make some changes? Let's make them. So I went back to Memphis, you know, my own dime. And I just said at that point, we used to be at the Orpheum in the Orphan. We had to use their people, their sound crew, with all their establishment. And they really were not the best group to mix the show at that point. They had just opened up a new convention center in Memphis. And so Jay and I went down to the convention center. We worked out a deal that we could move the music award show there. So I just said, let's change the whole format. We're going to do business doing something different. And in the past, you know, was the same two or three people that MC the show, but none of the artists who won awards probably ever made it to the show. Wow. So we need to fix that. So we decided, I guess I decided, we ran it to the by the board, that we were going to change the venue to the convention center. And if you were nominated for a Blues Music Award, you were going to be on the show. If you were not nominated, you were not going to be on the show. In the past, it was the same three or four people that were on the show. So when I changed that format and I said, we're going to have a sit down dinner, we even put a dance floor in the first year.

Nice.

So all of a sudden I'm getting calls from Alligator Records of booking agencies and saying, you're telling me that my guy that we've been nominated is going to actually be on the show. And be seen. I said, absolutely. So all of a sudden everybody's now calling me and wants to be on the show. And so we decided to go in that route. And then the show was a huge, huge success. Of course, sound check started at 7 o' clock in the morning and my wife at 6pm when the doors open, had to bring my clothing to change because it was a new format. We have never had that many people on the show before and the show worked well. You know, the show went from losing a lot of money to making a very good sum of money. It's always a big turnaround the following year. I, I was the music producer for the, the second year. And what was cool, 23 out of the 25 awards, the people showed up that first year, received their awards. And so it was a huge turnaround. And all of a sudden people, I say record labels and booking ages and management started really excited about getting on the show because it showcased their artist. And so that was the same one we use this day and age. And then this is 26. I was responsible for the same thing. That's when I got elected president of the board back then. So then I had a different role and I trained Joe Whitmore who's now, you know, been. Worked with the foundation for years and done a great job. And so Joe kind of took over running the show and I just kind of always seen it and, and so that's kind of how that took place. And, and they're still, we're still using that format for that show as we speak.

That's very cool and it, and it's nice because when you do an award show like that, I mean, one would think that the people that are, you know, being honored are going to be performing there, but clearly that was a change that you needed to make and it's, it's made a big improvement over for sure. I want to go back to the festivals for just a minute. I, I have to say looking at the North Atlantic Blues Festival, you got some really good talent that have come looking over the past few years. Post Pandemic, I saw Joanna Connor, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Shamika Copeland, DK Harrell, great young blues band there, and also Danielle Nicole, just to name a few. That's quite a booze. Who of the blues is it not?

Yeah. I mean over when I had my 25th year of North Atlantic, I decided to do a book. I put a book for the first 25 years of the, of the festival. It opened up a lot of memories for me because I Had kind of a two months period of the lady that lived up the street from my wife and I and I were, she was at our house talking, she was an author. And we're Talking about the 25th anniversary of the North Atlantic. And she was, you know, you ought to do a book. And I said, you know, never done one, so you let me, you know. I said. She goes, what do you have? I said, well, I got photographs from every year. I have the poster from every year. I have the T shirt from every year. Wow. I got the pins when we started doing those. He said, well, you got half of what you need. So I started laying it out year by year by year and putting it together. And then, then I decided it was more of a pictorial book. And I wrote a paragraph on each year of something that happened that was funny, that something that was absolutely amazing. And so then I was still missing a little bit. So at that point I, I contacted about 50 or 60 artists who had performed at the festival and asked them to give a quote. And 52 of them responded with a quote. So I put those quotes in the book on the years that they played. Put it together in two months and we had it at the 25th anniversary. And then the 26th anniversary, we put a three disc DVD, four hours long and 80% music and 20 interviews of over of the 25 year history. So, wow. It went out and it was well received. And so when doing the book, it's eye opening because when I looked at the headlines, the bigger name, the Coco Tail was. But you know, the, you know, Eddie Shaws, the Sun Seals and you know, people got Lonnie Brooks and people like that. I realized that there was, you know, over 50 artists in that 25 years had passed away. And that's not counting how many side people that I did not know their names. But it was very eye opening but very rewarding to have that documented. So it was pretty cool together.

Well. And in the North Atlantic Blues Festival was also voted the best in the nation by the blues foundation in 2002. So you've definitely, you know, you've definitely put in the work in 2016, when most of the blues festivals across the nation were showing lower turnouts, you actually showed a 50% increase at the gate. I'd like to talk about that for a minute with you and kind of get your take on why you think that might be the case. But then also post pandemic Paul, how are things looking as you go forward into 2025? So it's two part question for you.

Well, I think, you know, a lot of it has to do with the lineup. I mean, you know, and of course, the little, the five point south of the North Atlantic, I said, it's main, it's July, it's on the ocean, it's great blues, and we serve lobster.

Making me hungry, man.

And you know, so we saw, you know, we saw an increase from first did it North Atlantic, you know, you know, we went, we lost a little bit of money year one. And then we, you know, we, we kind of were breaking even after year two. And then we could, we could start getting some sponsorship and creating the festival. We went from a one day to a two day. And then we added a club 12, you know, downtown. So we saw an increase pretty much yearly actually up to 2020. We had an increase every year. And then 2020, when we had this close it down for Covid. And then when we came back in 21 the following year after Covid, that was the biggest boom we ever had. I think people are actually anxious to get back outside and do things. And we had that festival which was, that was probably the biggest increase from 2019. We missed, obviously missed 2020, but 2021, after Covid, that was a big, big, big surge in people going out. And then it's leveled off since then. I agree with your earlier comment that vessel numbers have been down throughout the country because of COVID And you know, and we took it hit after 21. Not a big hit, but we went down, you know, 10 or 15. But we had such a big increase for 21, it was kind of hard to figure out.

So.

But in the last couple, a few years, it's, you know, it's gone down a little bit, and I think vessels have gone down a little bit everywhere. But on the other hand, there's a lot more festivals out there. There's a lot more to choose from. You know, when, when we first started doing North Atlantic in Maine, we were the only show of that nature in Maine. And then, you know, now Live Nation does shows all over Maine, you know, and there's a lot of competition throughout the summer months. And, and so that does affect, you know, people only have so much money to spend, and if there's some big shows coming in your area, you're competing with those bigger shows. And the live nations that, you know, they just, they just got so much revenue to spend and advertise. That hurts the little guy that's putting on the small festivals. And so some of the festivals do struggle competing with the Big, big companies that do other events. And. And so that. That kind of hurts them. But. But, you know, the blues is alive and well and, you know, and. And it was kind of showcasing. And I, you know, decided to do this brand new festival in Lakewood, Florida. I had basically three weeks to put it together while I was in Florida. Once I found out that the Braden canceled and we had a great crop for the first year, and we thought, you know, so, you know, that one I, I believe will be successful festival. So it's trial and error. You know, you've got to give the audience what they want. You got to give the artist.

Sure.

What they want. You want to make a combination that the artists are having fun on the stage. If the artists are having fun, that means the audience is having a great time. If the audience is showing a great time, the audit's even having a better time. So it's kind of a mix. And putting shows together is, I think, key. Do I put my favorite bands on the shows? Absolutely not. Now a lot of them are because I've been doing this, you know, for over 40 years. But you got to look at who's up and coming. Like you mentioned, DK Help. Who's up and coming, you know, and, you know, and who's out there that's going to give you the crowd, that's going to be that name that people recognize are going to want to see. You might be a guitar fan, I might be a piano fan or a horn fan, and someone else might be a female vocalist fan. You bring in a little bit of all the different genres of the music, which will you have a better chance to bring in more people? Because, you know, I always get asked by the. By the press, who's your headliner? We use North Atlantic, for instance. Who's your headliner for North Atlantic? And my answer to that is, I have 12 headliners. Whoever you bought a ticket for is your headline.

There you go.

Did you buy a ticket? So. And I said, somebody has to open the show and somebody has to close the show. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're the headliner because they're closing the show. We mentioned Shamika Copeland. I know I booked her at 17 years old. She opened the show on a Sunday morning, you know, so, you know, and I had people like that who opened shows for me. That's all over the world now. But, you know, but she was. She opened the show. You know, we. You mentioned, you know, Vanessa Collier. She opened the show for me a few years back when she Was, you know, up and coming and new. And to this day, she still holds record for the most CD sold out of that. She sold over 400 CDs at that festival. Wow. And so whoever made you buy a ticket is your headline. And that's how I look at that.

Yeah, I. I'll tell you, I've. I've had some good fortune over the last two years. I'm also a professional photographer and I do a lot of the blues concert stuff in the the Michigan area and whatnot. And I was hoping to see Joanne Shaw Taylor, but they just closed the Kalamazoo State Theater, unfortunately, back in December, so that show's gone. I was going to celebrate my birthday down there with that.

That would have been a great show to do it with.

Well, I'll tell you what, buddy, I'm. I'm watching her calendar because I'm hoping that we'll get something in Michigan again. I missed an opportunity last, I think it was last summer to see her, but I did go get to see Danielle Nicole down in southwestern Lower Michigan. Matthias Latine, another guy that, that I don't. I'm sure he's on your radar. Ben Levin out of Cincinnati. He's amazing musician. A lot of really good young folks coming in, into the, into the fold here. And it's, you know, I mean, Everybody loves kingfish, etc. But it's, it's good time for sure. One of the things that I do on my podcast, Paul, is I don't have any sponsors. I do what I call a reverse sponsorship. And since you're on today, I'd like to put a special word out for people who are not members yet of the Blues Foundation. I would like to encourage everybody out there, if you don't want to become a member, make a donation. And if they want to do that, since you're a part of that, that board. Where can people go to make a donation to the Blues foundation, sir?

Blues.org It'll bring you right to the Blues foundation. And it's $25 a year to join the Blues Foundation. There's other levels of paying you can do, but the $25, you get a chance to vote for your favorite artists for the winter bma, which is very helpful when honestly gets nominated for a dma. And the foundation is a great organization as doing their part of keeping the blues alive around the world. It's a great organization to join. I've been a member for many, many, many years. And you get, you get a chance to get rooms for the IBC ahead of time before they go on out to the general public. But the membership gets notified first when these events are going to happen and they get a chance to buy their tickets and get their rooms before they run out. So, you know, and it's like say the Heart Fund. They help so many artists with, you know, that are sick and need, need help. Generation Blues, they send kids to blues camps. And so there's a lot that the Blues foundation does and it's a great organization for, you know, $25 a year. It's a pretty cheap group to be part of.

Yes, it is. And I'm late to the game. I have, I have not been involved with the blues organization is as early as I should have in life. But I can tell you I believe in what they do. I love what they do. Matter of fact, being down there at Beale street is on my, it's on my, my bucket list. I was going to go this year and unfortunately I couldn't make it. But we are looking forward to going down there as soon as we can. Paul Benjamin, my extreme. Thanks for joining me today on Time Signatures. I wish you much success, success and I would love to help promote your events. Anytime you need a microphone, consider yourself welcome, sir.

I appreciate that and like to say this was fun. I hope we can do this more often.

You are welcome anytime and you know, I do a lot of promotional content. So if you have an event, if you want to do something in advance of the North Atlantic Blues Festival or one of the other events that you work with, it'd be my honor to welcome you back anytime.

My pleasure and thank you for your time. It was a great chatting with you today.

Very good. Well, that wraps up this edition of Time Signatures. Once again, my thanks to Paul Benjamin but also to you for without you, none of this would be possible. Jim Irvin reminding you that keeping the blues alive is everyone's responsibility. But preserving the history of the blues, one story at a time, that's my mission. Until next time. So long everyone.

This has been Time Signatures with Jim Irvin presented by the Capital Area Blues Society in Lansing, Michigan. For more information on cabs, visit capitalareablues.org you can find this episode and past episodes@lccconnect.org the time signature theme song Michigan Roads is used by permission and was written by Root Doctor featuring Freddie Cunningham. Until next time, keep on keeping the blues alive. This has been a presentation of LCC Connect, a weekly program that features the voices, vibes and vision of Lansing Community College. All shows feature featured on LCC Connect are recorded at the WLNZ studio located on LCC's downtown campus. Each program is podcast based and can be heard anytime@lccconnect.org if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on one of our shows, connect with us by emailing LCC ConnectCC.edu.