**** 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. ****

It's time for Stars on Sport, a.

Podcast radio show dedicated to sharing stories about our athletic program at lcc. Past and present.

Lansing Community College athletics has a strong tradition. 25 national championships, over 190, all Americans.

19 MCCAA all sports trophies.

Stars on Sports will introduce you to individuals that have contributed to our program success and give you the backstory on what it takes to develop it.

We'll also dive into and break down the topics and issues facing athletic departments across the nation. Right here at lcc.

This is Starz on Sports. Hello and welcome to another episode of Stars on Sports. I'm joined today by our assistant athletic director, Stephen Cutter, and our producer, Dadalion Lowry. And gentlemen, over the Last Bubble podcast, we've, you know, might as well get the ERO right out of the way of talking about that, but we've talked about failure a lot in the last podcast and how prevalent it is in life and sports. And I'm reading a great book right now by about Bill Walsh, who the coach of the San Francisco 49ers and kind of developed the dynasty. And I'm only right in the beginning. I mean, really the first chapter, and I already took so much from it, but I love the title, and I thought you would love the title, too. It's called the Score Takes Care of Itself. But it also just picks up where we've left off on failure in the past, too. And one of the key sentences in the chapter was one minute at a time. And I know you've done a lot of stuff on staying focused, staying in the present, but this particular instance was about, you know, early in his career with the 49ers, he came from the college setting. He was trying to prove himself and things weren't going well. I mean, 16 months in and they were struggling and just had a bad loss. And he was doubting himself and wondering, you know, am I cut for this level? I want to prove that I am. And, you know, on a way home from a flight after a bad loss and, you know, this hit him like low is low. And again, we've talked about that before and how to respond and how to, you know, our podcast was responding intentionally, but this was more just present. I mean, I gotta forget what I had learned from it, build from it, but I can't let it impact me. I got another game in a week I gotta get ready for, and I have to win that game now. So real interesting. And there's a lot of different things to go from because, you know, we'll get into Our other favorite thing on this podcast, Ted Lasso. So again, about regaining composure, and we did talk about that a little bit on previous podcasts about intentional response in the ero. It was very interesting, just about the regaining composure and interesting in sports is when you have a big win, how long do you celebrate for? And if you have a big loss or a loss, how long do you dwell on it for? And each coach, I think, has different rules or different guidelines. And the time of the season also, I think impact that too, because if, you know, just we're taping this after the super bowl, that their win can last a little longer because they're getting ready in the off season. Although, you know, I've shared before, even with the same 49er team that, you know, Jerry Rice was in the gym right after the super bowl, working out and getting better for that next season. So, you know, but getting back up and some things we didn't dive into on our last podcast. But, you know, one of my, you know, favorite things is you get knocked down seven, get up eight times, and it's hard to beat anybody that doesn't quit. And it's true, if they don't quit, how do you beat them? I mean, maybe time will run out. That's your best option. We've seen games where the other team would with coming on, they just ran out of time. So, you know, quick thoughts from both of you and then we'll decide which direction we head in on this.

Well, as you're talking, I'm, I'm thinking about the word resiliency. You know, whether you get knocked down seven times, you get back up eight, you're going to need some resiliency the more failure you have. I believe that once you have failure again, it lasts longer than what winning does. If you're failing a lot, the wins, when you get them, they're not very enjoyable for very long, but when the loss comes back, it's much longer and you hang on to those. And so being present is one of those things that is really easy to say, but in life it's a lot harder to do. And so you've got to have some processes in place when things are happening and have the ability to stand back from the brick wall that you build or anything else and just have some moments where you're really thinking about what have I done? You know, and taking some reflection to be thankful for what you have done or what you have, because the losses really stack up for people. And my loss, you might not think it's as big as it should be for me. But it's one of those things that being present is super challenging, but it's always going to be possible for everybody if you can bring it back to 1 minute wins or anything like what you're talking about, of just being in where your feet are, where your body is, and focusing on processes to get back there.

It's interesting that you actually mentioned the idea that we hold onto those losses a lot longer than we do the wins. And the wins are actually, of course, what, you know, you go to that next thing. I'm thinking of like all sorts of things as you're talking about this, but you go to that next thing and it actually carries you up and actually makes you perform better, usually at whatever you're doing as you were talking about it. I'm very much thinking about other podcasts that we do here at LCC Connect. And there is a mental health podcast where at one point they're talking about the notion that when they talk to somebody, a therapist, and they're dealing with a difficult discussion, they have to completely clear their mind, get into that present moment and get into the next, their next session, and just be there for that one person, which is a process.

And if you don't understand how to do that, you're really gonna struggle to be in that moment because that loss or win is still gonna be with you and distracting you. And that's what, that's when we talk about, like noise and stuff like that and being able to just turn that noise off for whatever said time that you need to turn it off for, because it'll still, the volume will still be there when you're ready to get back to it.

And I think that's huge in today's society. And I know, coach, you do a lot of that with your team of the mental and cogn regularly to handle that. But to this point, I think we struggle with that because, you know, like this shiny squirrel gets the ball kind of a society where, you know, it's hard to stay focused and present in a, in a conversation. And we talked about communication before on this podcast of being able to listen or give that, that person that is talking undivided attention. And podcast I just listened to talked about we have two eyes, two ears and one mouth. And there's a reason for that. We should look in here more than we should talk. But I think that's hard, and I think that's hard in sports because of what's next. You bring up a good point too, is the Motivating part of it, how you can use it as motivation for that next minute or that next event that you're dealing with. And that's the tough thing in sports, I guess life too, is that there is something next. And we talked about in a book, just read about, endings are new beginnings, and that game's an end, but they're the new beginning coming up. And that was Bill Walsh's fear in this particular chapter was, I got to get ready for the New York Giants. We play them in a week. And you know, back to the motivation, you know, I have to win that. And it was one loss. I mean, back. There was a number of losses that led to it, but why would this one more than the week before or. Or what? Or whether it was a bad loss or they. I don't even think they were winning in it. That, you know, the team came back.

But most of it comes down to what you label as important as an individual. And so as I was trying to tell you, you know, if something I view is like super important, it's a big loss, you might view it as, I mean, that wasn't that big of a loss. Some are going to say, well, that's just one game. There's a lot more games to go. But it's about what you view as important. And that's why it's so impactful at times, because others look at it as not a big deal. And so having the processes for yourself is why that's super important. Because you're not always going to get help from somebody else. Because they don't see it as that important.

Right.

And that's huge because a couple of things he mentioned is don't expect sympathy, don't blame others. And you're right, it was one loss to one team that they were probably supposed to lose to, but it also was a combination back to the total losses. But that process. And that's what I talked about, regaining composure, believing, building confidence, having direction, which are all part of the process. But he also, the neat analogy gave and he was a boxer, which I didn't know this, but I think of the Rocky movies, you know, like round 13, they're just beating each other up. And like Rocky gets knocked down and he's grabbing the ropes to get back up. And you know, the mentality in fighting is stand up, get back up. We all get knocked out many times. And that's why I use boxing as an analogy. And you talked about that too, losing. But that mentality of stand up, get back up and Again, that's the response that we've talked about. That's the mental process of having that mindset and making failure is part of a success. Because even in the Rocky movies, if it's a late round, how close are you to just stand up? Maybe that's just enough to stand up. And it's true. We believe it. We've talked about it before on here. Showing up is half the battle. Or we discussed that. But another thing, and I don't want to dive into it today, an article you gave me the other day about mental toughness is fake it, fake it till you make it kind of a thing. And it was much deeper than that. But acting like you did it because we can't bring it every day and you're going to get knocked down and lose. But having that process in place for when you do, because it's the toughest time. It could be the lowest of lows when adversity is at its highest. And, you know, now we'll head into my TED Lasso. One of my favorite things of TED Lasso is be a goldfish. And at the end of season one, they get relegated. And the goldfish has the shortest memory in the animal kingdom, I believe. And, you know, I think he says.

Like 8 or 10 seconds like that. Just forget it.

Just forget it. Seconds.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which really comes back to staying in the present moment. And that's one thing that I was thinking about as you were saying it, and it's the one thing that all three of us seem to agree on, and that's the notion that the past is the past, future hasn't happened, and present moment is what counts. So I'm kind of curious. Do you have a technique that helps you to stay into the present moment?

In our program, we talk a little bit better than goldfish. We say five seconds. And so no matter what happens, you've got five seconds to react. And then after the react, after the five seconds is you need to respond.

Okay.

And so that's. Once again, that's a muscle that you can work on because we're talking about failure. We're talking about overjoy, excitement. You know, it's five seconds to react and then respond to what you need to do next.

So you're saying train the brain kind of a thing.

Yeah.

You practice it.

Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of the times what I'll do, though, is I was thinking about myself and the things I do, like golf or bowling.

Those are my sports.

And a lot of the times, if I'm Finding myself distracted with other things. I'm not saying it always works, but I kind of focus in on my feet, and I'll focus in on the feeling of being grounded. And that kind of helps me to kind of clear my mind and say, this is what counts.

That's a great technique.

It works. It's something that, if you can go barefoot, that that's where grounding actually starts. But it's a feeling. You can have it in the batter's box. You can feel the. The dirt under your feet, under the cleats. It's. It's a big grounding thing. And just the feeling of something helps you become present of where you're at.

This is a great technique. And I took it from Brian Kane, and I had my daughter do it in tennis. Was, you know, he had said, when you're playing your best tennis, what are the three things you're doing? Well, and real simple, like one or two, three words. And I had them write her on her shoe. She had white tennis shoes, so every time she. At an end of a point, she could look down on her shoe and bring her back to interesting. These are the three things that I do well. Like, I get to the middle of the court, I throw the ball higher on my serve, and again, it was much shorter than that because your shoe would be skeptic feet.

Hey, I know.

I've also heard your players kind of talk about how they do that with their mitts, right?

And it worked. And it's a very neat technique of back to you to try and find a visual thing to bring you back to the present. And again, we're talking sports, but even in life, and we've talked enough about this in there, but breathing is a big thing. Music is another thing that can help. Humor. They used to talk about presidential candidates are good at Wag the Dog, where if we're talking about this topic, they try and bring a different topic in to distract you and get you away from the topic that you want to focus on. And that's what you're doing with your mind, is finding something that can bring you to the present or back to what you need to do well, even in good moments, because you can get overconfident or cocky.

So another solid one is just being thankful, you know, seeking to. And then being thankful for this moment, whatever you have in this moment. And you can take really short walks, you can just stay sitting in a chair, but you just start thinking about, you know, I'm going to come up with two things that I'M thankful for. Maybe things are not great and you have to start with one, but you can come up with things that you're thankful for. And when you start thinking about the things that you're thankful for, it removes the sadness, the anxiety, all that, all that stuff starts going away because it's really hard to be thankful and angry at the same time. It's almost impossible to do that.

But the thing that's not impossible, and I again learned this at the first pitch dinner a couple years ago with Zach Sorensen, is how you can change it quickly, how we think we can't. Like if we're in a slump or, you know, we had a bad shot that we can't change and get it. And he did a neat little thing like he had us clapping and getting us like all jumping high. And then a second later he had a breathing and brought us all the way back down to a nice point that there are methods that can, even though you think it's the most extreme or you can't get from, you know, red, green, yellow light from one to the other without skipping a step, there are methods that change it relatively quickly. And we just talked about a couple of them that I think are very beneficial. And gratitude is another great one. I'm glad you brought that up because we do have a lot to thankful for and it just changes your mindset when you think of gratitude. So that's an important thing that all of us should do better. And there's theories out there. We should have gratitude journals or wake up and do our gratitude every day.

The gratitude helps you stack, like micro or really small victories, which, by the.

Way, I still haven't gotten to that journal.

So.

It'S been sitting on my shelf. And I'm going, I'm going to get there. I'm going to get there.

Keep getting there.

I'm there.

Not consistent, though. So I have journaled, but not as consistent. So I'm glad you brought that up, actually. Medallion. That's something I got to work on, too.

Sounds like you need an accountability partner.

I probably do. We all do. We've talked about, about that before. That is very important, I believe, and that can be a future podcast. But back to the present. It's so important because again, another thing we've talked about on this podcast is what you want to happen, what happened, and what the next best decision. And that's the important thing about practice and the intentional practices is trying to handle all those scenarios and preparing for all those scenarios. And we know we can't I've seen great coaches that scripted the first inning or the first 10 plays of a game, and they go so well. And then you wonder. And we've seen coaches that make halftime adjustments or lineup adjustments, and some have worked and some haven't. And again, because in the end, we're still dealing with people and emotions and competitiveness, and those don't always mix well together. And then you put the focus on the scoreboard as your main evaluation tool that, you know, it all plays into how you handle that when you, when you get knocked down or when you're at the lowest of low. And, you know, I already mentioned that it's hard to beat someone that doesn't quit. But another couple quotes I've heard of recently that I hadn't heard before is the bottom is when you stop digging. And to me, that can go twofold. One, you could keep digging yourself a hole further if you're doing the same thing. But two, if you keep digging and filling that hole, then don't stop, you know, get better and get back up. And the reverse one of that was the only job you start on top is digging a hole. So there's your little quotes for the day or for the podcast that I try and find and really like. But again, that process of how you're handling it, and we've seen too many times in sports where you dig yourself a hole and you dig deeper, or we've seen people that have done a great job thinking their season is over and. And dig themselves out.

Sometimes you're not actually digging yourself a hole. Other things are digging yourself a hole which could push into, you know, where we're at in the time of year, you know, the weather digs holes for our athletic teams. And you're working through that and that's not a great hole to be in, but you have to be able to respond to it and start figuring out a process to be win this moment after everything that's happened. And that really sums up a lot of what you've been talking about.

Yeah, definitely. What a good point into that, especially being a team, which we are all part of, is that you're right, you might find yourself in a hole with another. And a neat thing is a totally different direction is the foxhole of who you want in your foxhole with you. And I saw a neat thing I haven't even talked to you about is, and maybe you do this because you do a lot of interesting things with your team is have like a.

Is that a compliment?

It is. They have One, some of them might not work, but most of them are interesting. It's interesting one way or the other. You do a lot of neat development mental things with your team but you know, have the team identify each person identify who they want to be in a foxhole with and then you can really see like what member of your team is like the most reliable or the person that you know got, you know, most vote that that's your go to person. So whole nother whole story that we.

Get because that kind of go into experience too. If you never been in a foxhole, you might not choose wisely. But if you've been in a foxhole before, you're going to choose a lot differently than somebody that hasn't been. So experience matters in that. In that game as well.

It does. So but to the point though is when you're in a tough situation or you think the lowest of low, back to the accountability partner. You also need a team there to build you up or help bring you back.

You don't need to. But it helps. It does help for sure because you can do it. It's just. It's harder.

Yeah, no. Yep, you're right. And again doing it would be learning who you are and how to overcome that or just your experience in dealing with that before. But it's tough. Back to our original premise is the more you lose, the hole might be bigger or the tougher you seem to think that it is to get out of it.

And that's why they say winning and losing is contagious.

And it is. But also how important back to the minute of getting back to the present is experience and just making sure it's short and move forward whether you celebrate or lose for the past weekend. It's it bring it that one minute at a time and trying to remember to. To get that mindset to that point.

Which helps with the law of attraction as well. You know, when you're consistently losing, you're just kind of replaying that over and over which then is an attraction piece. You can reset that law of attraction immediately. Just you have to have the process in place and the mindset, the self talk, maybe the support system. But you can reset that instead of replaying the loss over and over and over which then attracts more losses. And it's not just in the game but.

Right.

I was gonna say a losses could be a bad at bad. It could be. And not the. It's not always the final score which we do focus on.

It could be a bad parking job. You know, I Mean, it's, there's a lot of ways to look at losses.

I'm getting pretty good at parking.

I give you plus ones when I see it. There's a plus one.

I've been practicing on the fourth floor where it's not as busy. And there was a streak though, like a couple weeks ago I was bad, I'd get mad at myself. So, man, parking.

Kind of interesting that you talk about that. Is we during the bowling league that we've been having very first half of the season, my team was like way at the bottom of the list, you know. And it was this thing where you could tell it was just in our mindset that we were going to lose over and over. Now we're in the second half. I just told the guys it was like, you know what, just have fun with this, you know, we're way at the bottom. Don't worry about it, you know, we'll be fine. We're up to second place now. So currently at this point in time now that could change by, you know, a couple of weeks.

But, but that's the neat thing is if you bring it back to the present, even like a bad at bat or a bad inning that there's still time to. And even at the end, and we talked about this before of a season where it might be tainted, you can still build that ending can be a nice beginning for the future heading into the off season to get momentum or developing younger talent to get them ready for the future.

What you experienced is a version of success because you're not worried about the results anymore. Yep.

Yeah. And I will even say some of my best bowling games have always been when I'm outside of the league. So if I'm just playing on my own just for fun.

Yeah. The pressure, the.

It's gone.

Yeah. And we forget that sometimes. And I know how glad you know, we'll talk about core values also in the future. But made that just the joy. And you know, I had a youth parent in my office the other day and I said, you know, if they're smiling out there, continue to do it. If they're not smiling, then they're not. They're too much. And we forget that sometimes. And when that's my joy is watching our student athletes smile when they're out there competing. And that can help with the minute to minute success. So good stuff, man. That went a lot farther than I want. So those that are still listening, you.

Didn'T want it to go that far.

Well, we try and keep it on a You know, certain time frame. So we're at. Good question. We had a couple of them before for the podcast itself, but we're gonna go with the one we kind of talked about is your go to quick food at home when you're by yourself and you just need something quick to eat. And I can start to give you guys a second. But a couple of things, for me, cereal is one of them. That's pretty easy. But my main go to is a microwave grilled cheese. And that sounds so bad on this podcast. But going home, we have nice bread and nice cheese. So put a couple slice, throw it in the microwave, and I have a grilled cheese. So my only other one would be frozen burritos. So put a couple in there with cheese on it. So those are my. Like, if I'm home late and they're, you know, dinner's cold or not there or kids ate it all. Those are something I. I make quickly to get me through. You guys have any of those impressive.

I do do the. I do the grilled. I do the grilled cheese.

Yeah.

Quick grilled cheese.

You make it, though, on a griddle and instead of putting it in the microwave with you.

I do not dig that microwave vibe. So, yeah, I will throw it. In fact, I've got a cast iron skillet that I use that really makes awesome grilled cheese. And then cold cuts, just, you know, a ham sandwich or a pepperoni and salami sandwich, something like that. Always good.

Yeah.

You, Greg, you tend to do a lot of interesting things at home that.

Good or bad, Cutter?

Depends on the outcome.

Do you have one?

Yeah, I mean, sort of. I think in the coaching world, your hours are always really weird. And so sometimes I do get home at extremely weird times. And if I'm really hungry and there isn't a dinner that has been made hours before or something else, sometimes I just won't eat, but I'll try to. Like, typically I'll go to grab a granola bar or something like that instead of making something. I just find that that's even quicker than throwing something in the microwave. So that's kind of usually where I go. But it's also important when you're working a lot of hours that you try to eat healthy, as healthy as possible. And that. And so sometimes I found because of that situation, I need to be a little smarter about it. But if I wasn't being so disciplined, I'd probably turn to, like, chips and cheese.

That's another good one. Yep. Nacho cheese.

That is one that unfortunately I do rely on from time to time, so.

And again, the real grilled cheese is better. I was just trying to be quick and simple and grilled cheese, the whole nose topic.

I'm not gonna lie, Greg, that kind of just sounds disgusting. Throwing a cheese.

It isn't the greatest. I didn't say it was great. I just said that's what I do quick and for a sandwich. So I will start. I will start griddling it. All right, but in the grilled cheese, there are so many variations now that we can talk about in the future, but until next time, Go Stars Stars on Sports is recorded live at the WLNZ Studios. Engineering and production assistants are provided by d' Alion Lowry and Journey Robinson. You can listen to the episode and other episodes of Stars on Sports on demand@lccconnect.org to find more information about our athletic program, visit lcc stars.com thanks for listening. Be sure to join us next time for more Stars on Sports.

Go Stars.

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This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. The Model T Ford is perhaps the most famous automobile in the world. From its introduction in 1908 until production ceased in 1927, Ford produced some 15 million Model Ts. The car was simple, reliable and affordable for middle class Americans. The first Model Ts cost $825, equal to about $23,000 today, but mass production allowed Ford to drop its price. By 1925, a Model T cost only $260. The car earned several nicknames, most commonly Tin Lizzy and Fliver. The Tin Lizzy became such a prominent part of American popular culture that a whole series of Model T jokes swept the country. Some jokes dealt with the Model T's simple construction, such as a little spark, a little coil, a little gas, a little oil, a piece of tin, a 2 inch board. Put them together and you have a Ford A favorite Model T joke had it that a farmer tore the tin metal roof off his barn, crated it up and shipped it to the Ford Motor Company. A few days later he received a letter from Ford that stated, your car is one of the worst wrecks we have ever seen, but we'll have it fixed for you within a week or 10 days. Another story had it that when Henry Ford delivered a speech, he announced that his factories were turning out a Model T every three minutes. That's not fast enough. Shouted an audience member. Ford then declared that new machinery would soon allow the assembly line to produce a new auto every 90 seconds. That's not enough. Cried the same heckler. Henry Ford asked him to explain. There's a sucker born every minute. The man declared the Model T was cheap, but the low cost came at a price to comfort. When two men allegedly were discussing Ford, one declared that Henry Ford had done something for America that everyone should appreciate. What's that? The other asked. The first one answered, he has made walking a pleasure. Henry Ford made a fortune on the Model T and loved the jokes since they were great advertising and helped sell cars. When the Model A finally replaced the Model T, jokesters had the last laugh. Ford, they declared, had made a lady out of Lizzie. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.

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Listen to this program and many others on demand at LCC Can Are you among the millions of Americans living with chronic pain? If so, you may think prescription opioids are the solution. The truth is, the benefits of opioids are limited. Opioids only mask the pain. Opioids also come with serious side effects, ranging from nausea to withdrawal symptoms to overdose. As many as 25% of people who are prescribed opioids struggle with addiction, and those who are addicted to opioids are 40 times more likely to move on to heroin. No one wants to live in pain, but no one should put their health at risk to be pain free. There is another physical therapy. Physical therapists treat pain through movement and exercise. No warning labels required, and you get to be an active participant in your care. Choose to treat your pain safely. Choose physical therapy. Visit moveforwardpt.com to find a physical therapist near you. This public service announcement is brought to you by the American Physical Therapy Association.

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This is Time Signatures with Jim Irvin, a podcast and radio program presented by the Capital Area 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 intercourse, 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 once again to Time Signatures. I'm your host, Jim Irvin and you already have met one of my guests today, but as many of you know, I offer an open door policy inviting my guests back if they have news to share, such as news of an upcoming tour, a new record label signing, or in this case, the pending CD release. Now, as fate would have it, we're also fortunate to not only welcome Ben Levin back, but we're also pleased to welcome one of his many musical collaborators, Takudu Asano, with him and he is visiting us from Japan in the Cincinnati area. Gentlemen, welcome to Time Signatures and Talk. Welcome back to the United States.

Thank you. Thanks for having us sir.

Very nice to have you guys. There's a lot to dig in here so I want to get right after it. I want to hear from both of you. So talk, please jump in if there's things that you have to add to the conversation. And I guess the best place for us to start, Ben, is the story of your meeting with tac. How and where did this relationship start?

Well, so we met in. In 2019 through the Pinetop Perkins Foundation. So I was attending my second year, and I was headed down to Clarksdale as an intern, and TAC had signed up as a student that year. So the director and the folks of the foundation recommended, you know, that TAC and I connect ahead of the workshop. And, hey, you guys seem to be into the same kind of traditional blues, and you should really connect. So Tak and I really met through Facebook, and. And we started talking about music, and I got a message probably about a mile long, Takudo, saying, this is who I like to listen to. And. And all these different styles. And at first edit and I thought, there's no way he's listened to all these guys. But of course, then I heard him play, and I said, okay, yeah, he really is a master guitar player. So we said, then meet in Clarksdale. Tack flew to Cincinnati, and another friend of ours, Ben White, flew to Cincinnati from England. And so the three of us connected in Cincinnati and down to Mississippi together. It was just a great road trip, obviously, a great workshop experience, and we've been buddies and musical collaborators. Collaborators ever since then.

Wow. Now, Ben, I know that, you know, I follow you on Facebook, and I noticed that you were just in Japan not long ago for a small tour with tac, weren't you?

Man, it was so beautiful. I. I got to spend time with Tack and his folks, and. And we really got around the country a little bit. I spent a week in his hometown in Sapporo, which was pretty unseasonably cold for April. I ended up having to borrow a winter coat. I didn't expect that, but it was so beautiful, and everybody was so friendly, and it's just one of those trips of a lifetime, and I hope I get to do it again.

Go ahead. Tack, you wanted to show you something.

So we have a few but deep blues fans in Japan. The Japanese, this one, I'm sure that the blues fan in Sapporo, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, they're very happy to hear his sound.

Oh, I can imagine. Yeah.

Yeah. This traditional style. There's a few bands like this. So I want to say thank you for coming to Japan, show what you're doing.

It's my pleasure.

I can imagine that there has to be some significant differences between Japanese and US Culture. Musically speaking, speaking. Ben, how well were you received over there?

I. I think really well. You know, I played some smaller venues, some really, really intimate clubs where, you know, I'm sitting here playing and the audience is right here. And it was just really fantastic. And I loved the musicians too. You know, I told this story when I got home. I had a rehearsal with one of the bands before the gig, and I actually had one of the musicians correct me about a song that I had written, you know, saying, this is not how you played it on the record. And I, I said, what do you mean? What are you talking about? This is how I play it. And, and I went back and re listened. I said, sure enough, he's right. He knows my song better than I do. I really appreciated the, the musicianship and just the, the diligence. You know, it was so easy for me to come in and we played six shows and every show is with a different band, a different drummer, different bass, but it was like butter. It was like nothing. So it was so really, really cool.

Now, tech, this is your. I assume this was your first time that you had been visiting with you in Japan. How did you feel that things went? Were. Were you guys received well by everyone? Was there excitement for the music that you were playing by, attended your shows?

Yeah, for sure. He actually sold a lot of cities, right? Yeah, he got like a lot of cities and support he brought. And after the three shows, almost gone.

Oh my God.

Yeah.

Well, you should, you should bring more cd.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. It's, you know, it can be hard to sell CDs these days, but over there.

Oh, yeah.

Moving like hotcakes.

So well, Ben, you've traveled across the pond in other areas of Europe. How would you. How would you describe the acceptance of the blues in Japan versus Europe? Would you say it's as, as good as Europe? What would you. What would you say?

I would say it's a similar thing. There's a, I think sort of a. A deep intensity in the following of the blues. You know, people in Europe and. And now I witnessed in Japan. I don't know how to say. It's not a casual thing. People are really, really deeply into it and they love the history. And, you know, it's not sort of a singular style of oh, this is blues. It seems to be understanding of the vastness of all the different styles within blues. You know, a musician that we work with, a really, really great guy, his name's Miki Asan. He runs the Hoodoo Man Blues Band in Sapporo. He doesn't speak any English. And of course I, I should have worked more on my Japanese. I did. I don't speak really any, but we carried a whole conversation just talking about our favorite musicians. And he was naming all these people going way back into the 20s and 30s. So just a really, really deep falling. Not, I would say, not a large falling. Right. But the people that are into it are really, really into it.

In Tokyo, he, when he played Charles Brown song, every time he played Charles Brown song, so he said like, oh, Charles Brown, he's a West coast side Bruce man. And he was a mentor of Rachel's. And then people recognized, oh, Rachel's. You know, a few people know about Charles Brown, but not many people know about him. So. But in Tokyo, there were really deep, deep Gryffons there. So, so when he said, oh, I'm gonna play Charles Bond people, it was just amazing. And yeah, I, I, I was kind of proud of it. Okay. But these guys know Charles Brown.

They know the good stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, Tech, I want to flip the script a little bit here. Now you're, you're here visiting. You've been here before. How well are you received over here with your music?

I think the rhythm is different. Very different. The drum rhythm. Yeah, we, we do, yeah, same stuff. And we run blues from the record and, you know, maybe now, for now, YouTube. Yeah, we do sing songs. I just feel, well, slightly different from the rhythm. Especially rhythm. There are drums and bass. Yeah, I love this rhythm section. In the US it's hard to explain what you're saying.

You get feeling playing the music here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But say the audience is pretty well received in you.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Good.

Oh, good. Yeah, no, it's okay. Yes. Yeah, I'm really glad to hear that. Some audiences, you know, how you play how you know the blues and, and yeah, when I was in New Orleans, I, I played once in the New Orleans venue and one, one, one woman, maybe she was 60 years old, huge Bliss fan. She was like, yeah, you keep the blues alive, you know.

Yes, yes, people.

No, don't play that song. You keep the blues alone.

Encouraging.

Yeah, yeah, that's very interesting thing. And I was very honest. Yeah. To hear that.

Well, it's gotta, it has to be nice to hear that kind of response when you're, you know, a visitor in a country and, and, you know, try and doing your best to play the music as, as well as it should be played. Yeah, I can tell You. I've seen some video of you playing the blues and I'm very impressed with it. I gotta. I gotta turn the page, guys, because I'm really excited to hear about this project you guys are working on and you're very soon getting ready to release a new album. Tell me about it. Fill me in, guys.

Well, this album actually started with the collaboration with Tokudo, so.

No, it's okay.

This is.

We're talking about long time ago, five years ago, we did a recording session and it was great. It was my first time in the studio with tech. And we got one song that we really love that we decided to keep and it was a Christmas song called Forgot Mrs. Claus. So very cool. Released it as a single that year and ever since then it's been in my mind. You know, I would love to do a Christmas album. I love. You know, there's so many great classic blues Christmas songs. A lot of stuff from King Records here in Cincinnati. And I. I love, you know, when the holidays come, you can revisit all these great blues Christmas song. So. So Tack and I collaborated on another song, but I'm getting ready to release the album. It's called Ben Levin presents A Holiday Blues Review. So to kudos. A special guest. And we also have little Ed from the Blues Imperials. Nice little Jimmy Reed track. Great blues vocalist Candace Ivories on a song with me as a duet. And great local Cincinnati blues veteran Sunny Hill sings on a track. So got some special guests and it's just a lot of fun. I think it's a great record. I'm proud of it.

You really should be. And let me just say that you remind me so much of Bob Kortor, my mentor.

I love Bob. So thank you for saying that.

Bob is an incredible. He's an incredibly gifted musician. I consider him a good friend.

We've.

We've built a friendship over the last year and a half. But the thing that I like is, I mean, I. For example, the album, you know, that you put out with Jimmy Reed, back to. To little Jimmy Reed. Sorry about that. Back to Baton Rouge. Every time you put something out, including your most recent album, take your time. The likes of which. And of course Bob Courtor put some notes in here and I really like that. You got little Ed, you got Bob Strozier, you got little Jimmy Reed, Johnny Bergen, Noah Witherspoon. I mean, I. I look forward honestly to your work now because you're always collaborating with someone and I think that it's very important to. If we're going to keep the blues alive, that there needs to be these collaborations. And Corritor is an incredible study if you watch the way that he releases his albums, because he's always collaborating with people. And it's exciting to me when I see a young guy like yourself and Takuto working together with these seasoned musicians and putting out collaborative works like this. I really enjoy it. Talk about that for a minute. And what, what does that mean to. To both of you to be working with some of these incredible talents?

Well, from.

From my point of view, Jim, you know, you have me, right? And. And. And Takudo from Japan. And we have seasoned veterans, some elders on stage with us sometimes. You know, last year when Tukuto visited, we played the King Biscuit Festival with Bob Stroger on base, man. And so, you know, when we get on stage together, no matter who's on stage with us, we transcend age and time and any sort of barrier that you. That you would have in an everyday life. You know, we're all just playing music together. And the bassist that I work with regularly in Cincinnati, another veteran on the scene is Walter Cash Jr. And when he first met Takudo, he says, you play guitar, like, I remember the style back in the day. I haven't heard that style in so long. And he just loves tax playing, so.

Wow.

It's really, really a beautiful thing.

And, and it has to be a very sweet experience to be on the stage, especially for both of you because of your age, Especially for Takuto, because he's not from this area. He's actually from another country. It's got to be an exciting thing to be on stage with these people and. And share that experience with them.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. On the stage, I really focused on the music, so I. I just focus on it. But sure, after I came back to Japan, I. I got some videos and I. I watched. And now I recognize how that was beautiful, you know?

Yeah.

Oh, I can imagine.

And I could cry on only the bass note, you know? Yeah. Bob Struggle and Water Cash. I really love both of them. And one day I actually cried. I have frank pain, for sure. But in Japan, I mean, in Japan, I watched our videos and, wow, this bass line. Yeah. Like I said, I really like rhythm section in the US Yeah, I really like this playing. So, yeah, it's. It's just unbelievable. So I. I would cry and I. I can imagine.

I mean, you're. You're standing up there with giants and it's. It's.

Yeah.

Just as somebody watching from this from the side. It's an incredible experience, guys. With the release of this cd, have you guys talked about doing some touring both here in the United States as well as in Japan?

Well, I, you know, obviously I want to get back there, Irv. I, I, I really fell in love with the country and so we're talking about me going back next year. And you know Tac, I told him he's welcome to come to the US whenever he wants to. I'm happy to host my folks help post him. Yes, thank you. So we don't have anything concrete but we're, we're certainly brainstorming and working on, on some more trips.

Well, we need to get you guys up into Michigan to play and tack. I want to thank you so much for signing this CD for me. Since this is your first appearance on Time Signatures Tech, tell people where they can find more information about your music. Maybe if they want to get a CD or find a way to book you.

Oh you guys can search on Instagram. The good Osano and in my band it's in my bio and we did actually we did, did released our latest live album. This is first one and we just released last month the second live album on Spotify and Apple Music on streaming stuff and we uploaded on YouTube so seven songs of the live out from the live album. So okay. Yeah, we, we focus on the video quality and recording quality. So I hope you guys enjoy the YouTube too. So. Well, search Takura Sano on Instagram or Our band is Abu Kong A B U C O N There's many music videos we uploaded.

Awesome, awesome.

Attack runs like three or four different projects and Avocado's just one of them and he's the band leader and he manages. It's a 10 piece R B, soul and funk band. So tax got a lot of plates. So I'm really impressed because I, I struggle enough just keeping three or four band members working.

Yeah. And I'm excited to get a copy of the new album when that's available. The, if you have the live album, if that comes out on CD next time you come to the States or maybe I can get information from Ben to get it from you directly from Japan and I don't have any problem, you know, purchasing a copy of that. Ben, you know the drill man. You've got CDs out, you have them available, working folks get your CDs and all the other information.

Yeah, the best way is through my website, benlevinpiano.com and like Tac said, I'm on Instagram as well. Ben Levin piano and Facebook and I always try to keep things up to.

Date.

So people know what's going on.

Very cool. Now you are going to be performing. You were going to come to Michigan and you were not able to come to Michigan because you're going to be performing with someone very special. You want to talk about that real quick?

Yeah, yeah. So I, I'm really honored. I, I was invited to play at the historic Bluefront Cafe in, in Bentonia, Mississippi, which is now the oldest, longest running juke joint in Mississippi. Wow. And it's now it's run by the legendary blues man Jimmy Duck Holmes. And so he overtook it from his parents and now he runs it. And of course, Jimmy is one of the last purveyors of the, the Bentonia style, which started with artists like Skip James. And so he invited me to come down and play the festival and, and to even back him up and support him on his set to celebrate the anniversary of the Blue Front. So really an honor for me and of course I hope I can make it up to Michigan soon. But yeah, a very exciting thing for me.

Well, we definitely want to get you up here. There's not a, not a doubt in my mind. And I want to thank both of you for your time. Takasanu and Ben Levin, it has indeed been a pleasure. Guys, thank you very much for taking time today for joining us on Time Signatures.

Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you for having us. Thank you.

It was a great pleasure. Thank you.

Well, that wraps up this edition of Time Signatures with Jim Irvin. Many thanks again to our very special guest, Takasanu and Ben Levin. But even more importantly, we thank you for taking time to check us out and watch our program. 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 is my mission. Until next time, my friends. So long.

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's theme song, Michigan Roads is used by permission and was written by Root Doctor featuring Freddie Cunningham.

You know I'm done fine baby Diving.

Up and down these Michigan road yeah.

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 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.