Starting a Music Venue with Andrew Moose, the hum

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH.

[00:00:17] Welcome to the Entrepreneur Exchange on The MESH Podcast Network, a monthly conversation about startups and small business with ideas, tools and advice to operate your business more effectively.

[00:00:27] On today's show, when you're a business sometimes you have to pivot. So we have secured a special guest Andrew Moose who is co-owner and operator of an outdoor music venue called The Hum.

[00:00:41] And we'll talk about the trials and tribulations of starting up a music venue and being in the entertainment industry with Mr. Moose.

[00:00:49] Plus, we'll have some highlighted businesses that you should be checking out on our small business of the month feature.

[00:00:57] Welcome. My name is Jeff Neuvel, your co-host, director of the Manufacturing Solutions Center in Conover, North Carolina.

[00:01:03] I'm joined by my co-host Gary Muller who is executive dean of Economic Development and Corporate Education at Catobe Valley Community College in Hickory, North Carolina.

[00:01:13] Gary, how's it going today?

[00:01:14] Jeff, I'm doing great. And I'm excited to be doing this podcast today with two of my favorite people, you and Moose.

[00:01:20] So this is going to be very exciting for us.

[00:01:23] I'm also very happy because you know our SkillsUSA students and advisors had a great week at the State Conference in Greensboro.

[00:01:31] I'm proud to say that we broke our own record for winning the most gold, silver and bronze medals in the history of the state with 39.

[00:01:39] Well, that's very good. Congratulations for our listeners who might not know what SkillsUSA is. What is SkillsUSA?

[00:01:47] It's a national program with over 400,000 members across the country.

[00:01:52] High school and college students that started it as a technical skills program but it's also grown into leadership.

[00:02:00] And so anywhere from advertising graphic design all the way to welding as well as entrepreneurship which by the way that was a great lead in.

[00:02:06] Because you've been the advisor of the Gold Wing team and I have too.

[00:02:13] So we're very near and dear to the entrepreneurship program and we took home the gold this year.

[00:02:19] And I got to give a shout out to my wife, Tammy Muller, our executive director of SkillsUSA.

[00:02:24] We continue to lead the state. You asked me we did win chapter of the year which we're very proud of for the 11th year in a row.

[00:02:31] And she's a great lead in today's program because she loves entrepreneurship and she loves us.

[00:02:38] And so I'll turn it back to you.

[00:02:40] Well, that's great. And a shout out to our friend and colleague, Kristi Lafever.

[00:02:44] Yes.

[00:02:46] So I think was the mentor of this year's entrepreneurship state champion as well.

[00:02:50] Yes. She's done a great job working with our students in many different areas.

[00:02:53] Well congratulations to you. Congratulations to your SkillsUSA teams and colleagues. We're very happy for you.

[00:02:59] Thank you.

[00:03:01] But we're also very happy to have with us our friend and colleague Andrew Moose who wears many hats in addition to working here on the mesh as a producer and recruits such talent as Gary and I.

[00:03:18] He also has his own business and Andrew is co-owner of a music venue called The Hum which started in 2022. So Andrew, how's it going today?

[00:03:30] Jeff, thank you so much for having me. Gary, always a pleasure to see you.

[00:03:35] SkillsUSA program is just so important for our community and congratulations on all the great things you're doing here.

[00:03:41] Well thank you and we do get a lot of community support from the mesh, from everybody and it really makes it nice. It's a community success story.

[00:03:50] Tremendous.

[00:03:52] And Andrew, your love...

[00:03:56] Jeff, let me stop you. Andrew, this is crazy.

[00:03:59] I was going to say who is that?

[00:04:01] This is crazy, Jeff. We're all friends here. Only my mom calls me Andrew and you know that.

[00:04:06] I don't know what your mom calls you. So I know that professionally you go more as Moose.

[00:04:13] That's correct.

[00:04:15] So just for our listeners, from here on out, you're Moose.

[00:04:18] Yes sir. That is correct.

[00:04:20] You prefer to be going as Moose.

[00:04:22] I do.

[00:04:24] Why don't you drop the Andrew moniker?

[00:04:26] Just go Moose Moose? Just drop the...

[00:04:28] When you were in sixth grade did you tell your teacher no? Call me Moose.

[00:04:31] No, it just kind of has evolved to that point.

[00:04:35] The unfortunate part is when folks would call the house back in the day they'd ask for Moose and their mom would say,

[00:04:43] well which one? There's four of us here.

[00:04:45] No there's not. There's just one.

[00:04:48] Do people ever call you Mr. Moose?

[00:04:50] Occasionally when they need my attention.

[00:04:53] You probably don't like that either?

[00:04:55] I mean it's fine.

[00:04:56] All right. Well, you started the music venue but before you started the music venue you're also a musician.

[00:05:04] That's correct.

[00:05:06] So I mean you have a band.

[00:05:08] I do yeah Moose and Friends.

[00:05:10] Moose and Friends which if folks want to find Moose and Friends if you go out to Facebook or Instagram or various places you can find Moose and Friends.

[00:05:16] MooseandFriendsMusic.com you can find us there too.

[00:05:18] And I've gone through several of your shows and enjoy your music very much.

[00:05:23] Thank you.

[00:05:24] You know you didn't start an outdoor music venue just so you could have a place to play.

[00:05:30] You started it as a business venture.

[00:05:33] That's correct.

[00:05:35] What kind of music do you play?

[00:05:37] It just depends on the venue and the guys that I have with me but generally speaking we do trios, bluegrass shows, full band shows.

[00:05:46] It depends on the size of the venue and what folks want to hear and what they're paying us to play.

[00:05:51] Very good.

[00:05:52] Very malleable.

[00:05:54] I was going to say he pivots to the crowd.

[00:05:56] That's right.

[00:05:58] He does some of his own stuff.

[00:06:00] He'll do some Tom Petty.

[00:06:02] He'll do some Bob Marley.

[00:06:04] I like that.

[00:06:06] He's very flexible.

[00:06:08] Very flexible.

[00:06:10] But you know our folks that appreciate music should go check that out but let's folks that are interested in entrepreneurship and starting a business.

[00:06:16] Number one you started this in 2022.

[00:06:20] We're still on the end of COVID and what not.

[00:06:23] Which outdoor venues was probably a plus at that point in time but I got to think that just starting a venture like this is quite the challenge.

[00:06:31] So I mean why did you do it and what sort of challenges did you run into in getting things going?

[00:06:36] Sure.

[00:06:38] The idea of starting an outdoor music venue here in Hickory started back right at the beginning of COVID.

[00:06:45] In February and March of 2020.

[00:06:48] I have three business partners the Mitchell family Gavin Barrett and James they're my three business partners.

[00:06:55] Shout out to those guys they've been nothing but helpful and great folks to work with.

[00:07:01] Gavin and I were or are have been friends for years and we've been kicking around this idea that we need to fill a gap in the music space here in Hickory.

[00:07:14] And it the fledgling idea started a fantasy football draft.

[00:07:19] Him and I were talking about the things that.

[00:07:22] That's a lot of brain power going on here.

[00:07:26] True and a lot of it was because him and I just didn't really care about the fantasy football draft so much or at least I didn't and we were talking about different things and right.

[00:07:36] Therefore you probably won the league but go ahead.

[00:07:38] I did not.

[00:07:40] I think he actually did my he might he's won that league.

[00:07:42] I digress.

[00:07:44] His family is intimately involved in commercial properties here in Hickory and I floated the idea to him saying hey listen if there is ever a space that you would consider transforming into an outdoor music venue.

[00:07:59] I would be your Huckleberry this that was something that it's been my dream to do since I could remember starting to go to college.

[00:08:07] The concerts outdoor music and summertime and community is what I love and what I live for.

[00:08:16] I think it's it brings people together.

[00:08:19] It does all those things right so a few months later we were in and lockdown we were still in the office here but Gavin gives me a call and says hey step out your back door here at the office so out the back door here the mesh.

[00:08:34] is, right across the street is our venue.

[00:08:37] And at that point in time,

[00:08:39] there was a roughly a 5,000 square foot metal shed

[00:08:43] that was sitting right where our stage is.

[00:08:46] Hundreds of shrub trees that were roughly

[00:08:50] six to 13, 14 inches in diameter.

[00:08:53] No real grass to be seen really.

[00:08:59] So there was a lot of work to do.

[00:09:00] And we started with an idea

[00:09:04] and we started the process of upfitting that place.

[00:09:10] And here we are, three years later.

[00:09:13] We had a soft opening in 2021 in October,

[00:09:16] had our first full season in 22,

[00:09:18] our second full season 23

[00:09:19] and we're getting ready in our third season in 24 here.

[00:09:22] And actually as we taped this toward the end of April,

[00:09:26] your first show I believe is Saturday, May,

[00:09:30] May the 4th.

[00:09:31] May the 4th.

[00:09:32] If you're listening on Drop Day, it's this Saturday.

[00:09:35] Yeah, so if you were in the Hickory area,

[00:09:38] you should be checking them out

[00:09:39] and I'm sure we'll give you an opportunity

[00:09:42] to tell people where to find you.

[00:09:43] But if you go to the Hum Hickory or the Hickory Hum,

[00:09:46] I think you'll be finding it.

[00:09:47] But, so I would assume that one of the big challenges

[00:09:53] in starting an outdoor music venue

[00:09:56] is number one, finding space

[00:09:59] but also finding the right space for people to find you.

[00:10:02] You know, is that, you know,

[00:10:04] you are fortunate to be working with some partners

[00:10:08] who are sort of in the real estate game,

[00:10:09] but you know, in terms of making sure

[00:10:11] this was the right space, what do you think about that?

[00:10:14] Well, when he showed me the property,

[00:10:17] it was a long way to go from inception to a re-heart now.

[00:10:23] But what first caught my eye was one location.

[00:10:26] Our venue is located

[00:10:28] roughly a three minute walk

[00:10:30] from right in the heart of our downtown.

[00:10:33] Our venue is a natural amphitheater slope.

[00:10:38] So our stage is situated down at the bottom

[00:10:41] of a gradual sloping hill

[00:10:43] and it's a perfect viewing experience for our patrons.

[00:10:48] So like I said, from first glance to where it is now,

[00:10:53] I couldn't imagine, but here we are.

[00:10:57] So, you know, if you had walked in

[00:10:59] and spoken to Gary or I about how I want to start this

[00:11:03] outdoor music venue, we would have probably said,

[00:11:05] well, have you created a business plan?

[00:11:08] Did you create a business plan?

[00:11:09] Yes.

[00:11:10] Yes.

[00:11:11] Good answer.

[00:11:12] It was a skeleton business plan at the start.

[00:11:17] We have a five year plan.

[00:11:20] However, it has diverted from the original and...

[00:11:23] Well, we call that pivoting.

[00:11:24] Yeah.

[00:11:25] Well, we do call that pivoting

[00:11:26] because you get further into investigating things

[00:11:29] so you find things out that you need to adjust for.

[00:11:31] That's 100% correct.

[00:11:33] And Jeff, you were very, very pivotal in speaking to pivot

[00:11:38] in our success

[00:11:41] because you were our small business advisor.

[00:11:43] You were my small business advisor

[00:11:44] throughout that starting process.

[00:11:47] So I do have a debt of gratitude for Jeff.

[00:11:49] And this is why I'm doing the podcast

[00:11:51] is because I owe him one.

[00:11:52] I thought it was because I often buy you lunch.

[00:11:56] That's also true.

[00:11:58] We'll get into more of that later.

[00:11:59] Okay.

[00:12:02] In terms of starting up,

[00:12:03] you said you had a property that needed a lot of work.

[00:12:06] And I think I'm assuming that you put in

[00:12:09] a lot of sweat equity.

[00:12:10] I did, yes.

[00:12:11] I also suspect that there were some challenges

[00:12:14] in that when you're doing an outdoor music venue,

[00:12:16] number one, they're probably sound

[00:12:19] or they're probably a lot of regulations

[00:12:21] and bureaucracy and red tape.

[00:12:22] And you got neighbors.

[00:12:23] So I mean, how do you work through all those issues?

[00:12:26] Well, we can start at the beginning.

[00:12:29] Before we cut one tree down,

[00:12:33] before we raise that metal building

[00:12:36] that I mentioned earlier,

[00:12:38] we went to the city of Hickory.

[00:12:40] We met with our city manager.

[00:12:42] We met with the business development committee.

[00:12:44] We met with fire and police

[00:12:46] and sat down and said, hey, this is our idea.

[00:12:49] Here's where we want it.

[00:12:50] Here's where we want to have this venue.

[00:12:54] Is it a viable idea?

[00:12:55] Would you guys be behind us?

[00:12:57] And we received a resounding yes,

[00:13:01] which was a heck of a great day for us.

[00:13:07] We are situated in close to neighbors.

[00:13:11] So we do adhere to the city of Hickory's noise ordinances.

[00:13:16] Typically, we try to be really good neighbors

[00:13:18] and try to be all quiet by around 10, 30 p.m.

[00:13:23] And all quiet by 11.

[00:13:25] And knock on wood, it's been a pretty smooth transition

[00:13:31] from having nothing there

[00:13:33] to a vibrant music venue for 12 nights a year or so.

[00:13:36] How many days a week do you have performances?

[00:13:40] Well, because we're outdoor,

[00:13:42] we don't have an indoor space currently.

[00:13:44] So we're at the mercy of the weather,

[00:13:47] Mother Nature has perfect attendance.

[00:13:49] She shows up at every event.

[00:13:51] So we're May through October

[00:13:53] and we typically try to do two to three events a month.

[00:13:58] Again, we're kind of back to that business plan

[00:14:00] and how we pivoted, how we were pivoting.

[00:14:04] Our original thought was to do every weekend.

[00:14:08] We learned the first year

[00:14:11] that sometimes when you try to do too much,

[00:14:15] it is too much.

[00:14:17] We realized that folks,

[00:14:22] I'll just say this,

[00:14:23] sometimes scarcity creates demand.

[00:14:26] And when we went to a couple of shows a month,

[00:14:29] we saw an increase in attendance.

[00:14:31] We saw our revenues go up, of course.

[00:14:34] So we found our sweet spot

[00:14:36] and that is twice a month, roughly.

[00:14:40] And in terms of,

[00:14:42] you've got partners,

[00:14:45] but I think that one of your primary responsibilities

[00:14:49] is determining who should be performing at the hum

[00:14:53] and trying to go out and find bands

[00:14:56] and that are a good fit with the community

[00:15:00] and what's gonna bring people in.

[00:15:02] And did you have any surprises

[00:15:05] as you started to do that?

[00:15:07] Are people receptive to coming to a new venue

[00:15:10] or are you finding that there are certain types of bands

[00:15:14] that the community is more likely to show up for?

[00:15:18] I like to call it the musical palette of our town.

[00:15:23] So when we first started,

[00:15:27] my idea was to bring musical groups

[00:15:32] and that folks might have not heard of before

[00:15:35] that hey, I'm gonna really give Hickory something new

[00:15:37] that they're gonna just love.

[00:15:39] I love these bands.

[00:15:40] I'm gonna bring them in.

[00:15:43] The whole town's gonna come.

[00:15:45] Didn't happen, didn't happen.

[00:15:48] So what we are very fortunate to have here in Hickory

[00:15:52] is an original music series

[00:15:54] that is free to the public on Friday nights

[00:15:56] called the Sales Original Music Series.

[00:15:59] Bob Sinclair is the curator of that program

[00:16:02] and for those programs.

[00:16:04] And he does a really good job being able to do that

[00:16:06] and folks do come out to those events.

[00:16:09] Guess what?

[00:16:09] They're free, right?

[00:16:11] Our venue is not.

[00:16:12] We are-

[00:16:13] You're actually a for-profit business.

[00:16:15] We are a for-profit business, correct, correct.

[00:16:17] Albeit we do have support from the city

[00:16:20] on a few different things,

[00:16:21] but back to the musical palette,

[00:16:25] we realized that the first season,

[00:16:27] folks were more likely to return

[00:16:31] if we had the Tribute Acts come.

[00:16:33] So we are heavily programming Tribute Acts.

[00:16:38] Basically, well, I think we have 12 books,

[00:16:41] 12 shows booked right now.

[00:16:42] I think eight of those shows are Tribute Acts

[00:16:45] and they range from the band that's coming on May 4th

[00:16:49] is called Thirst and Howl.

[00:16:50] They play all the soft rock,

[00:16:52] yacht rock hits of the 70s and 80s,

[00:16:55] the Journey Tributes.

[00:16:56] We have Notorious BIG Tribute.

[00:16:59] We have all these things coming in

[00:17:01] and we try to give folks a whole different

[00:17:03] array of things.

[00:17:04] So but yeah, I think the Tributes work better for us.

[00:17:08] And we look for those folks

[00:17:11] through a couple of different avenues.

[00:17:13] Obviously I look,

[00:17:14] I can check out different venues

[00:17:16] that are hosting those bands already.

[00:17:18] So the bands that are coming to the Orange Peel

[00:17:23] and the neighborhood and things like that

[00:17:25] that are venues that have had that

[00:17:27] and I can see the success that they are,

[00:17:29] that's what drives me to book these bands

[00:17:30] and not to mention that I do have bands

[00:17:33] that come over and come in or repeat offenders

[00:17:36] year over year because they do so well.

[00:17:38] The Journey Tribute, Child By Fire does really well.

[00:17:41] The Chain, the Fleetwood Mac Band does really well.

[00:17:43] So they will never not be at our venue.

[00:17:46] So that's what we look at.

[00:17:48] That's what we look at.

[00:17:49] We'll see Gary there for the Notorious BIG.

[00:17:52] Of course, baby, baby.

[00:17:53] I'm worried about that.

[00:17:56] Notorious BIG is a famous hip hop artist

[00:17:59] that originally from Brooklyn.

[00:18:02] That sounds, my mom grew up in Brooklyn.

[00:18:04] She probably knows who you are.

[00:18:05] She probably does.

[00:18:06] You'll probably go way back.

[00:18:07] I'll have to ask mom.

[00:18:08] Yeah, ask mom.

[00:18:14] In terms of the revenue that you generate

[00:18:17] when we're doing your planning,

[00:18:19] where you saying, hey, we're gonna sell X number of tickets

[00:18:22] and that's gonna generate X amount of revenue

[00:18:24] and I'm sort of thinking that maybe you found

[00:18:28] that you've had to tap into different sources of revenue.

[00:18:31] I know selling beer is a good thing.

[00:18:34] It is, yeah.

[00:18:35] Not only is it delicious, it is a revenue voter for us.

[00:18:38] How is that sort of the reality of the revenue

[00:18:42] that you generate been different

[00:18:43] from what you might have expected?

[00:18:47] I'll say this.

[00:18:49] We do have different streams of revenue

[00:18:52] within this model that we have.

[00:18:54] Once ticket sales, of course, we're roughly,

[00:18:58] we have between a $15 and $20 pre-sale ticket

[00:19:02] and then roughly a $20 to $25 ticket

[00:19:06] that is all for the day of the show.

[00:19:09] And we're averaging roughly four to 500 folks

[00:19:13] that are coming in our door on the beer side of things,

[00:19:17] beer, merch, all the other things.

[00:19:20] We're our...

[00:19:21] Not just beer, just t-shirts and...

[00:19:24] You have non-alcoholic drinks for us.

[00:19:25] We do, Pepsi is a, we are a proud presenter of Pepsi.

[00:19:28] They are a great sponsor for us.

[00:19:30] So I can be there.

[00:19:31] Yeah, 100%.

[00:19:32] 100%, we and...

[00:19:33] We've got some stuff for you too, Gary.

[00:19:34] Yeah, for sure.

[00:19:36] And roughly through the numbers that we are able to,

[00:19:42] in the metrics that we're able to look at and quantify,

[00:19:45] basically we are seeing patrons spend roughly

[00:19:50] about 13 bucks a person when they enter.

[00:19:52] So...

[00:19:53] That's like one beer, right?

[00:19:54] No, and that's in here, and here it is.

[00:19:57] And this is another thing that we've been really trying

[00:19:59] to be cognizant of is our price points for all this.

[00:20:03] We want to have folks of all different socioeconomic classes,

[00:20:08] race, genders, this whole thing.

[00:20:09] So we wanna make sure that we're an affordable place to come.

[00:20:12] We wanna be able to provide space for an entire family.

[00:20:17] And another reason what we had,

[00:20:19] well another pivot that we made

[00:20:22] from our original business plan is that

[00:20:24] we allow kids 12 and under in free.

[00:20:27] And we have seen exponential growth after we did that.

[00:20:31] So folks, instead of having to pay for a babysitter

[00:20:34] or something like that for their kids that are 12 and under,

[00:20:37] are now bringing these kids to the shows.

[00:20:39] And that's a real important piece for me too,

[00:20:42] because I grew up in a musical family.

[00:20:43] My mom taught music out of the house.

[00:20:46] I've been immersed in music my whole life, sports as well,

[00:20:49] but music was a super key driven factor in my life.

[00:20:53] And so my take on having kids at our shows is that,

[00:20:59] yeah they might be running around trying

[00:21:00] to poke each other in Iowa sticks,

[00:21:02] they're still around the music.

[00:21:04] And they're at least there and they have this experience

[00:21:07] where they might be able to look back 10, 15 years from now

[00:21:10] and remember the times they had at our venue.

[00:21:13] That's the goal for me because it's a community venture.

[00:21:20] As of now, it's not a money making venture.

[00:21:23] We at this point in time, in year three,

[00:21:27] we are looking at our break-even point.

[00:21:30] The last two years, we knew that it was gonna be rough going

[00:21:34] because every small business that starts

[00:21:37] has those rough patches at the beginning.

[00:21:40] So now year three, in our business plan,

[00:21:43] this is our break-even year, if not break-even better.

[00:21:48] Well and as far as, you know,

[00:21:50] we're talking about the various ways

[00:21:52] that you generate revenue.

[00:21:54] I think that another is also you're in a position

[00:21:57] where now you're having enough people come through

[00:21:58] the doors where you've got a little traction

[00:22:01] on selling some sponsorships to people

[00:22:03] as a way to help promote their businesses.

[00:22:05] Absolutely, yeah.

[00:22:06] We present sponsorship opportunities

[00:22:08] to different local businesses as a marketing opportunity

[00:22:11] because luckily I have on my side

[00:22:15] the team here at Jackson Creative is our marketing arm.

[00:22:19] So we're running real big meta-ads for every show

[00:22:23] and last year our impressions were

[00:22:27] out of this world for the handful of events we did.

[00:22:31] We almost, I think it was close to 800,000 impressions

[00:22:35] through our social media ads.

[00:22:36] So we're putting sponsors inside those video ads

[00:22:40] that we're running so they are definitely getting

[00:22:42] their juice for their squeeze there

[00:22:44] on the sponsorships that we're selling to these folks.

[00:22:48] Not only are we giving them banners at events,

[00:22:50] we're giving them the social media recognition,

[00:22:52] website recognition, newsletter recognition,

[00:22:54] MC shout outs at all the events, things like that.

[00:22:58] So we wanna have these sponsors feel like

[00:23:01] that they are part of what we're trying to do

[00:23:03] and that it is community venture

[00:23:05] and that it does take community buying to do all this

[00:23:07] and they are a huge part in what we do.

[00:23:11] So I'm gonna come back to the thing about the families

[00:23:15] and sure under 12 is when you're,

[00:23:18] it struck a memory with me

[00:23:20] because my parents, we had about in about

[00:23:21] words Pennsylvania they had a music venue just like that

[00:23:25] and they brought me and I wouldn't have gone to these events

[00:23:29] but there's things that when you hit me,

[00:23:30] I thought about there was some of my best times.

[00:23:32] One of my family, if they had just gone by themselves,

[00:23:35] I wouldn't have gotten to go.

[00:23:37] What created your love of hip hop music?

[00:23:38] I think it's exactly, of course my mom was a hip hopper

[00:23:41] so you know I get that.

[00:23:45] I don't think that's gonna carry with us

[00:23:47] for many podcasts now.

[00:23:49] So you talked about some of the sponsorships

[00:23:53] and some of the social media advertising

[00:23:55] are there other ways that you get the word out?

[00:23:57] What sort of, in terms of marketing the hum,

[00:24:00] what have you done and what have you learned

[00:24:03] in terms of trying to get the word out there?

[00:24:07] For me it is no matter the amount of money

[00:24:11] that you sprint spend on social media advertising

[00:24:14] and print advertising and all these other ways,

[00:24:17] it's still to the old adage

[00:24:19] the best marketing is word of mouth.

[00:24:23] The more people that we can get coming to the venue,

[00:24:25] get excited about the venue,

[00:24:26] tell their friends about their venue,

[00:24:27] about the venue, that to me has shown more

[00:24:32] promising growth than anything.

[00:24:35] There was nothing that took me off more

[00:24:38] than if I asked somebody last year,

[00:24:42] hey do you know about the hum and they say no.

[00:24:45] So now I think that with two full seasons under our belt

[00:24:52] and Hickory only being the size that we are,

[00:24:55] I think the majority of folks do know who we are,

[00:24:58] where we are, what we do.

[00:25:00] That makes our marketing a little bit easier

[00:25:03] because now our marketing is not about awareness,

[00:25:07] it is about what we're offering.

[00:25:11] Okay.

[00:25:12] That makes sense.

[00:25:13] You know, when we started this conversation,

[00:25:18] we talked about your partners and the fact that

[00:25:23] at least one of them you've been friends with for some time,

[00:25:25] I'm still friends.

[00:25:27] Oh absolutely, yeah.

[00:25:28] Do you two get a friend sometimes?

[00:25:30] Yeah, and you know, you wear other hats

[00:25:34] other than being co-owner of the hum.

[00:25:36] Yeah, I've got a coat rack back here.

[00:25:38] You've got, you know, and I know Gavin and the Mitchell's

[00:25:43] also wear other hats as well.

[00:25:45] They certainly do.

[00:25:45] So you're juggling things.

[00:25:47] I mean, what any lessons you've learned

[00:25:50] that you can share with other folks

[00:25:51] who are starting a venture like maybe don't leave

[00:25:54] your day job right away and that sort of thing.

[00:25:56] Right, if you are dedicated to what you do

[00:26:00] and there is time in the day for it,

[00:26:04] you're, I realize that.

[00:26:05] It could be long days.

[00:26:06] They are a long day.

[00:26:07] They are really super long days, but

[00:26:11] I think it was my grandmother told me one day that

[00:26:15] if you like what you do,

[00:26:16] you're never gonna work a day in your life.

[00:26:18] Right, so I love producing podcasts for you guys.

[00:26:22] I love doing what we do with Jackson Creative

[00:26:24] and I certainly love the music venue.

[00:26:26] So I don't necessarily consider it work so much.

[00:26:31] I think it's just what I do and not to mention that

[00:26:34] I hate sitting on the couch watching TV.

[00:26:36] I just, I don't like it.

[00:26:36] My wife just wants me to sit down and hang out sometimes

[00:26:39] and then just doesn't work.

[00:26:40] But I think that if I were to,

[00:26:44] I'm not in the business of doling out advice,

[00:26:46] but if I were to, to any entrepreneurs out there

[00:26:51] considering opening a music venue

[00:26:52] or jumping into a business venture,

[00:26:56] just make sure you love it

[00:26:59] because if you don't, then there's just,

[00:27:01] it's not gonna be great.

[00:27:03] It's not gonna be fun for you.

[00:27:06] If I'm joy in it, that's my takeaway from all this.

[00:27:10] Please find joy in it.

[00:27:12] Well, I think that's pretty good advice.

[00:27:13] Yeah. All right.

[00:27:15] Well, Andrew, we, Mr. Moose.

[00:27:18] Godly. Who's Andrew?

[00:27:20] You've called me Andrew three times

[00:27:21] with this podcast.

[00:27:23] That's three more times than you've called me Andrew

[00:27:25] in your whole life.

[00:27:25] I'm, you know, I'm throwing off my game, man.

[00:27:27] I apologize, Moose.

[00:27:29] Anyway, thank you for joining us talking about the hum

[00:27:34] and I'm looking forward to being there on Saturday

[00:27:38] with Thurston Halband.

[00:27:39] I have my captain's hat ready to go.

[00:27:42] I was gonna say, is Gil good?

[00:27:43] Yeah, you do.

[00:27:44] Yeah, you do.

[00:27:45] I got one for the wife,

[00:27:46] so we'll be there ready to go.

[00:27:49] You know, I guess at this point

[00:27:51] we just look for good weather.

[00:27:52] And just knock on wood, man.

[00:27:55] Knock on wood.

[00:27:56] Looks good right now.

[00:27:57] How do you react to bad weather?

[00:28:00] Well, Gary, like I said before,

[00:28:02] Mother Nature has private continence.

[00:28:04] She shows up to every event.

[00:28:06] We as an outdoor venue have to have ironclad contracts

[00:28:10] when it comes to weather and bands and things like that.

[00:28:14] So most of the,

[00:28:16] and I've learned that you only book bands

[00:28:19] that are willing to work with you

[00:28:21] and they're willing to reschedule.

[00:28:23] Most times, bands require deposits and things like that

[00:28:27] when you book them.

[00:28:28] And we've just decided as a group that, you know,

[00:28:33] hey, like if we're gonna pay a band a deposit

[00:28:35] and they're holding a date force

[00:28:36] and it ends up being rained out,

[00:28:38] that deposit's gonna be rolled into the next show

[00:28:40] and we try to get that band within a 12 month timeframe.

[00:28:44] That's the way we schedule our contracts.

[00:28:47] We actually have two bands that got rained out last year

[00:28:49] that are coming back this year.

[00:28:51] The first one is Thurston Howe.

[00:28:53] And so yeah, hopefully it's smooth sailing.

[00:28:57] All the pun intended.

[00:29:02] Well, Moose, thank you for being the podcast guest.

[00:29:05] As you well know,

[00:29:06] we always like to do a lightning round

[00:29:08] at the, with our guests and you're in for it now.

[00:29:13] So this month's lightning round is sponsored by Globo Gym.

[00:29:18] Do you need to lose some weight and get in shape?

[00:29:20] Not, don't go to Globo Gym.

[00:29:21] But if you already look good, you come to Globo Gym.

[00:29:24] Check it out on the internet.

[00:29:26] So we have some quick questions, quick answers for you.

[00:29:29] Sure.

[00:29:30] First question.

[00:29:31] Best all time concert, music concert experience?

[00:29:35] My first concert experience.

[00:29:37] Which was what?

[00:29:39] For some reason my mom and dad let me go see

[00:29:41] the Grateful Dead when I was 14.

[00:29:44] May, March 23rd, 1995.

[00:29:46] I'll never forget him.

[00:29:47] Life changing event?

[00:29:48] Life changing.

[00:29:49] My parents didn't take me to the Grateful Dead.

[00:29:51] They didn't let me, they just let me go

[00:29:52] with friends and their parents.

[00:29:54] And where was this?

[00:29:55] It was at the old Trolley Coliseum.

[00:29:57] Okay.

[00:29:58] Or the one on Tryon, the one that got bulldozed.

[00:30:01] All right.

[00:30:02] When I was young and went to those concerts,

[00:30:04] a lot of smoke was in the arenas

[00:30:06] and one might get a contact high.

[00:30:08] I didn't even know what that was when I was there.

[00:30:10] 14 years old now.

[00:30:11] All right.

[00:30:12] What's your adult beverage of choice?

[00:30:16] Right now it is, my favorite drink right now

[00:30:20] is at City Walk Brewing,

[00:30:23] the vodka lemon type seltzer craft cocktail

[00:30:28] they've got on.

[00:30:28] That's my favorite drink right now.

[00:30:29] I don't know, like a vodka, seltzer.

[00:30:30] Yeah, it's good.

[00:30:31] Yeah, it's good.

[00:30:32] The beer these days is just,

[00:30:34] it doesn't agree with me so much.

[00:30:35] Okay.

[00:30:36] Yeah.

[00:30:37] Would people characterize you as sweet, salty or sour?

[00:30:41] Tends on the day.

[00:30:42] Most time it's sweet.

[00:30:44] Okay.

[00:30:45] I'm, what do you think Gary?

[00:30:46] When you call him sweet?

[00:30:48] I think he's a good guy.

[00:30:49] Oh yeah.

[00:30:50] Thank you.

[00:30:51] A little salty.

[00:30:52] I don't know.

[00:30:53] Yeah, Jeff seemed me salty.

[00:30:54] Yeah.

[00:30:56] If you were an Olympic athlete,

[00:30:58] what sport would you compete in?

[00:31:00] Golf.

[00:31:01] Is that an Olympic sport?

[00:31:02] It is now.

[00:31:02] Yes.

[00:31:03] All right.

[00:31:04] All right, last question.

[00:31:05] What is your spirit animal?

[00:31:07] It's a moose, man.

[00:31:08] It's a moose.

[00:31:09] Got to be.

[00:31:10] Oh yeah.

[00:31:11] That's like a perfectly.

[00:31:11] I'm just kidding.

[00:31:12] Yeah, but honestly it's probably

[00:31:14] like a Labrador retriever or something like that.

[00:31:16] Happy all the time, gets a lot of rubs,

[00:31:18] gets a swim in the river.

[00:31:19] Slavering and everything.

[00:31:21] You know, all those things.

[00:31:21] All right.

[00:31:22] All right, Moose, where can people find the hum?

[00:31:26] Where should they look up for it

[00:31:28] to find out more about the hum?

[00:31:30] First and foremost, they can head to the website.

[00:31:31] It's thehum.live, L-I-V-E,

[00:31:35] and all of our social media channels,

[00:31:38] Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter.

[00:31:40] We're on all of them.

[00:31:41] They're, it's hard to miss us on the internet.

[00:31:43] And if people want to find Moose and Friends,

[00:31:45] where should they be looking for that?

[00:31:46] MooseandFriendsMusic.com

[00:31:48] and all the social media channels you can find.

[00:31:50] All right.

[00:31:51] Well, that's very good.

[00:31:51] Well, thank you so much for

[00:31:53] Yes, thank you.

[00:31:54] for sending in, joining us

[00:31:56] and playing a different role in today's podcast.

[00:31:59] You know, we like to end each podcast

[00:32:01] by giving a shout out to a small business in the month.

[00:32:04] Moose, do you have one that you want to give a shout out to?

[00:32:06] I certainly do.

[00:32:08] My small business of the month is Taqueria Las Isabelas.

[00:32:14] It is the Mexican cantina

[00:32:17] that is across the street from the hum, Victor and his team.

[00:32:22] They have done so many improvements of that place.

[00:32:24] The food is always phenomenal.

[00:32:28] They're so friendly.

[00:32:30] And I will put their Mexican food up against just about anybody.

[00:32:33] So it is authentic.

[00:32:34] It is authentic and the red sauce,

[00:32:37] best know what's coming.

[00:32:40] You've been warned.

[00:32:42] All right, Gary, you have a small business

[00:32:44] you'd like to give a shout out to.

[00:32:45] Yeah, I'm going to do a little twist.

[00:32:47] We actually talked about it a little bit before the podcast.

[00:32:50] I'm going to spotlight the Katama Valley Furniture Academy

[00:32:54] furniture showroom.

[00:32:56] We're now open on Monday through Thursday,

[00:32:59] eight to five for people that are interested in buying furniture

[00:33:02] from our students that are going through the program.

[00:33:06] The proceeds all come back to the program

[00:33:10] for buying materials and supplies.

[00:33:12] Of course, we get a tremendous amount of supplies

[00:33:14] from our partners, so we're very fortunate there.

[00:33:18] And furniture is really good.

[00:33:20] It's the best deal in town.

[00:33:22] And our furniture, because our furniture partners give us

[00:33:24] high quality materials.

[00:33:26] And so I just give a shout out to our students

[00:33:29] and instructors that do a fabulous job.

[00:33:32] And it's 973 Locust Road.

[00:33:36] It's actually Street in Newton, right off of 70.

[00:33:39] And we'll put a link in the show notes as well,

[00:33:42] because it actually is a great deal

[00:33:45] if you're looking to buy sofas, chairs,

[00:33:48] upholstered furniture.

[00:33:50] It's a training center for people going into

[00:33:53] the furniture industry, but they're selling really high

[00:33:55] quality furniture at very, very economical prices.

[00:33:59] Yes, it's a great value.

[00:34:01] It's if you are in the area.

[00:34:03] And a lot of people do come to this, to our area

[00:34:07] to buy furniture.

[00:34:07] There's a lot of furniture being made.

[00:34:09] Yes, absolutely.

[00:34:10] This is the furniture capital of the country.

[00:34:12] OK. So I want to give a shout out to

[00:34:17] a group in Morganton, North Carolina

[00:34:20] and Burke County, North Carolina

[00:34:22] that have reestablished a local newspaper.

[00:34:26] It's called The Paper.

[00:34:27] You can find it at www.thepaper.media

[00:34:31] as someone that spent a little bit of time

[00:34:33] in journalism and newspapers.

[00:34:35] It's sort of a sad state of affairs these days

[00:34:38] for when it comes to local news.

[00:34:40] And a fellow named Alan Van Noppen.

[00:34:45] He's the publisher of The Paper.

[00:34:47] And basically he wanted to do something

[00:34:49] that would focus on local news in his area,

[00:34:52] Morganton, North Carolina, Burke County, North Carolina.

[00:34:55] In twenty twenty three, he started The Paper.

[00:34:59] They've got it now a circulation

[00:35:02] that's pushing over 2000 people.

[00:35:05] They know their business model includes subscription revenue

[00:35:09] advertising as well as some philanthropic support

[00:35:12] from the community, but it's totally focused on the community.

[00:35:15] You should check it out.

[00:35:16] Sort of a model for maybe other communities

[00:35:18] to make sure that they continue to get local news.

[00:35:20] So check out the paper at www.thepaper.media

[00:35:26] and just sort of just sort of cool.

[00:35:28] So anyway, it's great.

[00:35:32] Moose, thank you for joining us today.

[00:35:35] Thank you for having me, sir.

[00:35:36] I appreciate it a lot.

[00:35:37] We appreciate the support that we get

[00:35:40] from the Mesh Podcast Network.

[00:35:42] You should check out all the podcasts going on at the mesh dot TV.

[00:35:46] Moose as a Mesh producer,

[00:35:48] he got any cool podcasts going on at this point in time.

[00:35:50] I know well known comedian John Reep,

[00:35:53] but does his podcasting through the mesh?

[00:35:55] Any other things?

[00:35:56] Certainly, just to showcase a local podcast

[00:35:59] that's really up and coming right now

[00:36:01] that we're seeing some great growth is and especially if you like barbecue,

[00:36:06] the low and slow barbecue show.

[00:36:08] It's hosted by Michael Willard,

[00:36:09] Chigar, Michael Chigar Willard here right here in Hickory.

[00:36:12] And he's doing some great things on that podcast.

[00:36:15] So if you like barbecue and you like

[00:36:17] seeing where the sausage is made, at least check it out.

[00:36:21] I don't know if I want to see where the sausage is made,

[00:36:23] but I want to know where the good barbecue spots are.

[00:36:24] So that's really good.

[00:36:26] All right.

[00:36:27] Well, we appreciate all you guys listening

[00:36:29] and we look forward to talking with you again next month.

[00:36:32] Take care.

[00:36:42] You've been listening to the Mesh,

[00:36:44] an online media network of shows and programs

[00:36:47] ranging from business to arts, sports to entertainment,

[00:36:50] music to community.

[00:36:52] All programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube.

[00:36:58] Check us out online at themesh.tv.

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