Blue Suede BBQ: Rubs, Sauces & Service

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

[00:00:10] We all know Memorial Day marks the unofficial start for summer,

[00:00:17] but it's also a time to salute soldiers who sacrifice their lives in service of our country.

[00:00:23] The Memorial Day holiday also concludes National Military Appreciation Month.

[00:00:28] So in this episode of the Low and Slow Barbecue Show,

[00:00:31] we meet a military member who serves our nation in the U.S. Army,

[00:00:35] and he serves barbecue fans through his business, Blue Swag Barbecue.

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[00:01:03] Now let's meet our guest, the founder and operator of Blue Swag Barbecue,

[00:01:07] Chris Loskiewski. I murdered it already, Chris.

[00:01:11] We'll get you to say it here in just a second. You promised.

[00:01:14] No, you warned me. Loskiewski.

[00:01:16] Chris Loskiewski is a lieutenant colonel and the chief engineer

[00:01:20] for the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Liberty in Fayetteville,

[00:01:24] North Carolina. Chris, welcome to The Low and Slow Barbecue Show.

[00:01:28] Hey, thanks for having me. I really, really appreciate it.

[00:01:30] Yeah. Excited to talk to you about your business first.

[00:01:33] I want to start by sharing our appreciation for your military service.

[00:01:37] Thanks for putting on that uniform every day and doing what you do

[00:01:40] in service of our country. I appreciate that. Thank you.

[00:01:43] So first, let's get started. What is Blue Swag Barbecue?

[00:01:47] What is it and what do you guys do?

[00:01:49] Well, you know, really, it's it's it's me primarily.

[00:01:53] Of course, you know, the family helps my wife and my kids

[00:01:55] because they kind of don't have a choice.

[00:01:58] And then and then a buddy of mine, another another army buddy,

[00:02:02] another lieutenant colonel who's in a different career field than me

[00:02:05] has has graciously volunteered to run my social media

[00:02:09] is for me over the last few months.

[00:02:11] And so, you know, it's a team of it's a team of family and friends.

[00:02:16] And it's a company that I started back in 2020

[00:02:19] during the height of Covid.

[00:02:20] So, you know, that's a great time to start a side business.

[00:02:23] Yeah.

[00:02:24] You know, and I did it to be my future career when I retired from the army.

[00:02:27] And so I plan to begin my transition

[00:02:31] retirement into retirement this fall

[00:02:34] with my retirement being next next summer.

[00:02:36] And so my goal, you know, I offer catering services as well as,

[00:02:41] you know, line of products online that folks can get.

[00:02:44] And ultimately, my goal is to just be a difference maker

[00:02:47] in the community through the world of barbecue.

[00:02:51] Yeah, cool.

[00:02:51] And we'll talk a little bit more about that stewardship

[00:02:53] as we kind of move along here.

[00:02:55] And you mentioned that you got started during Covid.

[00:02:57] You know, you wanted to start it as sort of a retirement option.

[00:03:00] But but why barbecue and why rubs and sauces?

[00:03:03] How did you get going down that road?

[00:03:05] Well, I'm from Memphis, hence the name.

[00:03:08] So, you know, I've always loved I've always loved barbecue.

[00:03:11] And I began kind of dabbling with making my own barbecue,

[00:03:15] I'd say, in around 2010 after my second Afghanistan deployment.

[00:03:21] And and so that can just kind of progress over the years

[00:03:24] into expanding into like my, you know, expanding my cooking skills

[00:03:27] and different things in the kitchen and always wanting to get better.

[00:03:31] But there was always that draw to barbecue,

[00:03:34] both literal and figurative. Right.

[00:03:36] And every time I go home to Memphis to visit family,

[00:03:39] like the first place they like, they know the first place

[00:03:42] we're going to go eat when I get home is the rendezvous

[00:03:45] in downtown Memphis.

[00:03:47] And so and so it just was a natural thing.

[00:03:50] Right. And as as friends kept telling me, hey, man, you got to sell this.

[00:03:54] Like you need to bottle this. You need to do this.

[00:03:57] I said, no, no, no, it's just, you know, it's just for just for fun.

[00:04:01] But I said, why not?

[00:04:03] You know, and then finally it was in 2020 and our neighbor

[00:04:06] and good friends and fellow service member

[00:04:10] named Erin Healy, who's a phenomenal entrepreneur of her own.

[00:04:16] She just kept urging me.

[00:04:17] She was like, hey, you need to start this online.

[00:04:19] And I'm actually going to kind of just bug you until you do.

[00:04:23] So it just it just happened.

[00:04:25] I said, all right, let's do it. You know, what can go wrong?

[00:04:27] So yeah. OK, so that's very cool.

[00:04:30] You mentioned kind of a little bit about your background

[00:04:32] and the Memphis connections there.

[00:04:33] You talk a little bit about, you know, how you got there.

[00:04:36] I love to hear that that tip for the favorite barbecue spot

[00:04:39] in Memphis and rendezvous.

[00:04:41] But, you know, I've been following you on social media

[00:04:44] and I see you do some catering.

[00:04:45] You do a little bit of competition.

[00:04:47] You got rubs and sauces.

[00:04:48] So of all that stuff, which came first or was it all kind of at the same time?

[00:04:52] No, it was definitely the rubs and the sauces first.

[00:04:55] The dry rub came first.

[00:04:58] You know, I I modeled it after similar flavor

[00:05:02] profile to the rendezvous dry rub.

[00:05:05] I just think it's phenomenal gives and and, you know,

[00:05:09] I've made it my own.

[00:05:10] It's and it makes, you know, great color and all that stuff.

[00:05:13] So the rub rub came first.

[00:05:15] Then I was like, hey, I want to try something different.

[00:05:19] So I started doing experiment with bourbon smoked sea salt.

[00:05:23] So I started doing that.

[00:05:24] And then I said, OK, I need to figure out how to make my own sauce

[00:05:28] because I'm tired of paying for other people's stuff.

[00:05:30] When I when I think I can do do it either better or I can do a good enough.

[00:05:35] And and so I just kind of experimented with with a Memphis recipe,

[00:05:39] you know, traditional Memphis recipe, and I've just kind of expanded

[00:05:43] the product line from there.

[00:05:45] So definitely the sauces and rubs and then the catering

[00:05:49] and the competitions have kind of just come on over the last year or so

[00:05:54] to kind of now that I'm back stateside

[00:05:58] for presumably the rest of my life, not going to work.

[00:06:01] Yeah, that, you know, I'm using the catering and the competitions to one further.

[00:06:06] My outreach right to the community,

[00:06:10] but also to continue to hone my skills and get feedback

[00:06:13] from people that aren't family and friends.

[00:06:15] You know? OK.

[00:06:16] Well, so tell me a little bit about that process

[00:06:18] that goes into making your rubs and sauces.

[00:06:20] You know, what does that look like?

[00:06:22] You mentioned you kind of drawn some influence from the Memphis stuff.

[00:06:25] But but tell me a little bit more about, you know,

[00:06:27] what that process is from beginning until, you know,

[00:06:29] putting it out on the interwebs for sale.

[00:06:34] That's a great question.

[00:06:35] So, you know, I start really with

[00:06:38] with the flavor profile that I'm looking for.

[00:06:40] And and, you know, I don't always know what that is.

[00:06:44] But I have I have a pretty good

[00:06:48] I don't want to say palette, but I feel like I'm able to pick up

[00:06:52] on flavors right and can combine flavors and seasonings and spices

[00:06:56] to get kind of what I'm what I'm looking for.

[00:06:58] And so it's just a process of trial and error.

[00:07:00] Maybe if I'm completely uncertain about something from the get go,

[00:07:05] I'll look up, you know, a couple of

[00:07:08] from a couple of recipes from a couple of folks that I that I trust

[00:07:12] and and fully, you know, involved into how they cook.

[00:07:16] And then I just modify it from there.

[00:07:18] I mean, you can ask my wife, you know, she'll hand me a recipe

[00:07:20] for dinner to make, and I will not make it like the recipe says, you know.

[00:07:24] She'll get mad at me, you know, she's, you know, for changing the recipe.

[00:07:28] I'm like, honey, I changed the recipes of Gordon Ramsay that I get.

[00:07:32] I changed the recipes of, you know, Guy Fieri.

[00:07:35] Like, it doesn't matter.

[00:07:36] I'm going to make it the way that the way that I'm looking for.

[00:07:39] So that's kind of it.

[00:07:40] So I figure out where I'm going with the flavor profile.

[00:07:44] And then, you know, I kind of believe that,

[00:07:48] you know, since I'm not doing this as a

[00:07:51] as a moneymaking thing, this is not something that I'm like, hey,

[00:07:55] I'm going to be the king of barbecue.

[00:07:57] If that happens, great.

[00:07:58] I'm just doing it because I love to do it.

[00:08:00] I think I'm good at it and and I love to serve people.

[00:08:03] So that so for me, I like to tie those

[00:08:08] products to something meaningful, right?

[00:08:11] So whether it's the name Blue Suede BBQ

[00:08:14] and its connection to Memphis and Elvis Presley in Memphis

[00:08:18] to my my 901 barbecue sauce, which is 901 is the area code from Memphis.

[00:08:23] And, you know, it's the phone number that I had for the first 20 years

[00:08:27] of my life, right?

[00:08:29] To the the blind tiger Carolina gold mustard sauce.

[00:08:34] You know, I wanted to tie something to South Carolina.

[00:08:37] And I was in Charleston earlier this year and,

[00:08:40] you know, doing one of the one of the coach,

[00:08:44] you know, stage coach tours that my wife and I, my wife makes me do

[00:08:47] every single time we go there.

[00:08:50] But, you know, we learned about the blind tiger speakeasies

[00:08:54] during Prohibition in Charleston.

[00:08:56] And I had already been thinking about this particular espresso

[00:09:01] tequila from a local distillery here that I wanted to do something with.

[00:09:05] I knew I wanted to do something.

[00:09:06] I knew I wanted to make a sauce, but I didn't know what.

[00:09:09] And then when we heard about that blind tiger speakeasy,

[00:09:13] I said, that's it.

[00:09:14] Like, that's the connection. Right.

[00:09:16] So so, you know, I like to do

[00:09:21] I like to do something that's more than just, hey, here's a barbecue sauce.

[00:09:24] Here's the thing.

[00:09:25] And and so I spend a lot of time thinking about

[00:09:28] and being deliberate about the name of it, the design of the look.

[00:09:32] I do all the designs for everything myself,

[00:09:35] bottle everything myself.

[00:09:37] And so so, yeah, I like site, I make things that I think are good.

[00:09:42] Of course, I ask other people, hey, is this taste good?

[00:09:44] Does that taste good?

[00:09:45] And then and then I just like to tie it to something

[00:09:47] that I think is important, right, because then that speaks to

[00:09:51] that speaks to more than just what's in the bottle. Right.

[00:09:53] Yeah, definitely.

[00:09:54] A personal connection always goes a long way in the marketing world, for sure.

[00:09:58] So let me just make sure I'm right.

[00:09:59] You're getting all these ingredients and you're piling them up

[00:10:02] in your kitchen and you're mixing them up together

[00:10:04] and putting them in the bottles and the whole nine yards.

[00:10:06] You're you're doing it by hand yourself.

[00:10:08] Yeah, 100 percent.

[00:10:09] Everything is done by hand, you know, and it's it's a labor of love.

[00:10:14] You know, like just last night, as a matter of fact, I had a couple

[00:10:17] of orders come in over the weekend,

[00:10:20] so I had to make a fresh batch of my whiskey sauce

[00:10:23] and get it bottled up and shipped out today.

[00:10:26] Or my wife shipped it for me today, you know.

[00:10:28] So we do everything by hand, you know, with love.

[00:10:32] Yeah, very cool.

[00:10:33] So you mentioned people order it online.

[00:10:36] Where can people go and get your sauces?

[00:10:39] Yeah, so the the easiest place is from from the website.

[00:10:43] It's www dot blue suede barbecue dot com.

[00:10:46] Pretty simple.

[00:10:47] And then I'm also on Facebook and Instagram, as you know.

[00:10:52] And then we're kind of venturing into the tick tock and and YouTube space

[00:10:57] and probably will increase that participation later in the year.

[00:11:01] But the easiest place to go is is the website.

[00:11:05] Yeah. And that's blue suede BBQ dot com, right?

[00:11:08] So it's the letter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:11:10] Yeah. Not spelled out.

[00:11:11] OK. I was poking around there last night.

[00:11:13] I saw some of your stuff on YouTube as well as some enticing things.

[00:11:17] You know, you offer some good tips and some good insight to people

[00:11:20] who are getting interested in that kind of stuff.

[00:11:22] And it offers some nice personality into your world, too.

[00:11:25] What is your favorite sauce that you're making?

[00:11:28] Man, I tell you, I'm I'm a I'm a brand loyal guy.

[00:11:33] I'm a brand loyal guy, like whatever it is.

[00:11:35] And so that 901 sauce, which I've got the line of products

[00:11:39] conveniently right behind me, but that 901 sauce is it's the first one.

[00:11:45] You know, and I just think every time I make it

[00:11:48] and I taste it and I go, man, like I'm ready to pour it,

[00:11:53] pour it in a mug and just drink it.

[00:11:55] So yeah, I love it.

[00:11:56] I love it.

[00:11:57] But I tell you that Carolina Gold that I that I came up with recently

[00:12:02] is quickly becoming an equal favorite for me.

[00:12:07] And like I said, I'm not a big mustard sauce guy.

[00:12:10] Yeah, cool. OK, so I want to go into the family jewels here

[00:12:13] and probe some of those secrets that you got.

[00:12:15] Now, we're not going to go into any kind of confidential military secrets

[00:12:18] or anything like that.

[00:12:19] But, you know, I want to talk about, you know,

[00:12:21] what really kind of inspired you to do barbecue?

[00:12:23] And when did you get started smoking meat low and slow?

[00:12:27] You talk about 2020.

[00:12:28] Was that the start of it?

[00:12:29] Or, you know, do you feel like you've got a further background

[00:12:32] back on up into your history?

[00:12:34] Yeah, no, it definitely goes back farther.

[00:12:37] I would say it goes back at least to maybe about 20,

[00:12:42] 2010, maybe even,

[00:12:45] you know, 2009, give or take and kind of.

[00:12:48] And it's what got me started

[00:12:52] wanting to cook as a way to serve people is I was it.

[00:12:57] I was in Afghanistan on my second tour there

[00:13:01] and the guy that shared the office with me, my my my senior

[00:13:06] noncommissioned officer, my sergeant that worked with me.

[00:13:10] We were preparing for USO tour of.

[00:13:14] Oh, man, I'm going to just blank the name James Gandolfini,

[00:13:17] you know, old, old,

[00:13:20] the gangster himself.

[00:13:21] So he was coming over.

[00:13:23] Yeah, there you go.

[00:13:24] He was coming over with a couple of other folks.

[00:13:27] And I'm Italian, you know, my my family is Italian.

[00:13:30] And Aaron, my my sergeant working for me, he's Irish,

[00:13:34] but I'll forgive him.

[00:13:36] And he said, hey, I want to make he like the cooking.

[00:13:39] He said, hey, I want to make something for Gandolfini as just a special treat.

[00:13:43] So what we did was we got some we were able to get some

[00:13:47] some melon and just kind of balled some melon up.

[00:13:50] And we were able to get some prosciutto.

[00:13:52] And we just did some melon balls wrapped in prosciutto.

[00:13:56] And we had that there.

[00:13:57] And and there was a whole like meal

[00:14:01] plant prepped and cooked by actual cooks.

[00:14:04] And then our little platter.

[00:14:05] Yeah. And and Gandolfini walks in and we're in,

[00:14:09] you know, Bagram, Afghanistan.

[00:14:12] And the first thing he sees and says,

[00:14:15] he sees that platter of that we made.

[00:14:18] And he said, well, I won't say what he said, but he was really excited

[00:14:23] that that something that he grew up with, you know, as an Italian American

[00:14:29] was right there for him.

[00:14:30] And he just I mean, it like just his fate, like everything changed.

[00:14:34] And it just kind of clicked with me then.

[00:14:35] I said, wow, like that's one.

[00:14:38] That's a famous actor.

[00:14:40] And we're just giving him some melon and some prosciutto.

[00:14:43] Like and he's acting like like he's back home in mom's kitchen.

[00:14:47] So right. I said, wow, that's that's powerful.

[00:14:51] And so I came home from that deployment and

[00:14:55] I think it was Christmas, maybe Thanksgiving

[00:14:58] that year and family came in town and my my best friend was he was deployed.

[00:15:03] And so he let me use his smoker.

[00:15:06] And it was the first time that I was going to do anything.

[00:15:09] So he had a trigger back then.

[00:15:12] And so I just smoked a turkey and smoked a ham for Thanksgiving.

[00:15:18] And the response that people had, again, in the other family and friends,

[00:15:22] of course, but but my father, especially, you know, being full blooded Italian,

[00:15:27] he's it's either he he means what he says, you know.

[00:15:31] And so see, and at that time or that point in his life,

[00:15:35] he had already lost his sense of smell, which meant he lost his sense

[00:15:38] of taste, too. So he couldn't taste it.

[00:15:41] But he ate it and he just I mean, he put his head down and he came up

[00:15:45] and he said, son, I can't taste the flavor, but this is the moistest,

[00:15:51] most tender.

[00:15:54] But Turkey I've ever had in my life, this is amazing.

[00:15:57] You know, he couldn't even he couldn't he couldn't even taste it.

[00:16:00] Yeah. So, you know, and so that just I was like, whoa, OK.

[00:16:04] This is kind of exciting.

[00:16:05] So then it just kind of, you know, went from there.

[00:16:07] I experimented and make my own bacon, you know, cold smoking bacon.

[00:16:11] And then my wife's from the Pacific Northwest.

[00:16:13] So, you know, doing

[00:16:16] like, you know, smoke salmon and stuff like that.

[00:16:18] And then I just said, hey, that's let's get into this Memphis thing

[00:16:22] and and just progress from there.

[00:16:25] Yeah, very cool.

[00:16:26] So a little bit kind of inspiration about that reaction you're getting

[00:16:29] from folks, whether it's Tony Soprano or your dad,

[00:16:32] other people when they see, you know, bring it to put it on the platter

[00:16:36] and they put it in their mouth.

[00:16:37] That's that's an exciting, cool reasons to keep doing it.

[00:16:39] So tell me a little bit about what your typical your cooker

[00:16:42] setup is like now.

[00:16:44] So you fast forward modern day.

[00:16:46] What do you like to cook on and what are you smoking over?

[00:16:49] Well, you know, that's kind of a loaded question.

[00:16:52] So I've got I got a little bit of everything I just

[00:16:55] I just actually about a month or so ago,

[00:16:58] I actually burned up the the electric pellet smoker I have.

[00:17:02] I won't get into that, but something failed.

[00:17:04] Something failed on it.

[00:17:05] Way too much oxygen got in there while I was inside and it just

[00:17:08] it's fried. So but over the last few months,

[00:17:11] I've been building a giant and I say giant.

[00:17:15] And it is offset wood smoker because, you know,

[00:17:19] I know that there are certain competitions where you got to have,

[00:17:21] you know, old school stick burner.

[00:17:24] And that's fine.

[00:17:24] And it's a challenge that I wanted to present to myself in the first place

[00:17:28] because, you know, over the course of my military career

[00:17:31] and as we've been moving

[00:17:34] typically every two years and sometimes across the ocean

[00:17:38] and back and things like that, I said, I can't.

[00:17:40] I'm going to have to go with something simple until I settle down.

[00:17:44] So I was using some pellet smoker, a chargriller pellet smoker

[00:17:49] barrel shape, very similar to a trigger, but a lot cheaper

[00:17:52] and worked really well.

[00:17:54] And then so now I've got a giant that giant 300 gallon drum

[00:17:59] that I converted into that offset wood burner.

[00:18:02] I've got a a chart or excuse me, a

[00:18:05] an electric vertical smoker that I use as well.

[00:18:11] And then I've got an old bourbon barrel

[00:18:14] that I've converted into a cold smoker as well.

[00:18:17] So, you know, just trying different things and get different profiles.

[00:18:21] But when it comes to the wood, I mean, I love pecan.

[00:18:24] OK. And everything, you know, there's a there's a

[00:18:28] a reason or a season for everything.

[00:18:31] But man, I tell you what, I love pecan.

[00:18:33] Mix that in with, you know, mix a little bit of fruit in there,

[00:18:36] whether it's maple or apple or cherry to kind of balance it out.

[00:18:40] But man, for me, bang for the buck, it's it's pecan.

[00:18:43] But recently, I, you know, I had to use hickory because my

[00:18:46] my pecan guy wasn't able to deliver what I needed.

[00:18:50] So I went with hickory and and actually that's what that's what I won.

[00:18:55] People's choice on last month was on with hickory.

[00:18:57] So maybe I'll stick with that, too.

[00:19:01] Yeah. Well, congratulations for that big win.

[00:19:03] Let's talk a little bit about your charitable service and that stewardship

[00:19:06] that I noticed you mentioned there on your website.

[00:19:09] You know, you call out three organizations.

[00:19:11] It's the Live Like Lou Foundation,

[00:19:14] the Little Groups of Paratroopers and the Delta Theta Foundation.

[00:19:18] So, you know, tell me why you chose those particular organizations to support.

[00:19:23] Yeah, I really appreciate you asking about that

[00:19:25] and bring given an opportunity for me to talk about those organizations.

[00:19:29] So thank you for that.

[00:19:30] You know, I believe that, you know, God has given my family and I a purpose

[00:19:36] and given all of us a purpose. Right.

[00:19:38] And I think that the more that we've been blessed with,

[00:19:41] the more we're responsible to give back.

[00:19:45] And so we just got to figure out what that means for each of us.

[00:19:48] So for me, it's serving others and assisting those who need help.

[00:19:52] You know, you can kind of tie that, obviously, to my military career.

[00:19:55] But, you know, for me, it goes beyond that.

[00:19:58] So these specific organizations that I support

[00:20:01] have a close personal connection for me.

[00:20:03] So I'll start with the fight up to theta foundation.

[00:20:06] So they are the nonprofit arm of the national fraternity

[00:20:12] fight out to theta fraternity, and I'm a member of that fraternity.

[00:20:15] And I know people have this stereotype about fraternities

[00:20:19] and sometimes that stereotype is well deserved. Right.

[00:20:21] But but we truly are our organization truly is focused on something different.

[00:20:26] And so the foundation exists to strengthen men for life

[00:20:31] by building on a tradition of the core values, which are friendship,

[00:20:35] sound learning and rectitude, which is doing what's morally right.

[00:20:40] And so the foundation ensures that its college students

[00:20:43] are receiving the highest level of leadership education,

[00:20:47] which is vitally important, particularly for young men these days,

[00:20:51] so that they can become impactful servant leaders,

[00:20:54] you know, inspiring thinkers and philanthropists themselves.

[00:20:59] And so as a member of fight out to theta, since I was a freshman in college,

[00:21:04] you know, just a couple of years ago, I won't say when, but, you know,

[00:21:10] I've loved the opportunities to continue to give back and to develop,

[00:21:15] you know, the next leaders for our country. So

[00:21:19] so Little Groups of Paratroopers is a national veterans

[00:21:22] nonprofit organization that myself and some other

[00:21:28] paratroopers began also during covid in 2020.

[00:21:32] It's the same time that I was starting Blue Suede Barbecue.

[00:21:35] And it was started initially as, hey, we just want to once we get

[00:21:39] through this covid thing, we just want to get everybody together again

[00:21:43] and and, you know, reconnect.

[00:21:46] And so it started with that purpose, but we quickly realized that,

[00:21:51] hey, we've got something here that we can speak to a small

[00:21:55] community of the military that not that we're overlooked because we're not per se,

[00:22:01] but we're not well understood by even many.

[00:22:06] I would say the majority of the military.

[00:22:07] So paratroopers got the the folks that are dumb enough

[00:22:10] to throw themselves out of plans on purpose.

[00:22:14] And so what we do is, you know, we're committed.

[00:22:17] And so I say we because I'm the I'm the national board president of

[00:22:21] the organization.

[00:22:23] And so we're we're committed to strengthening the the airborne community,

[00:22:27] as we call it, and making an impact on the lives of those most in need.

[00:22:31] And so, you know, as a paratrooper and the president,

[00:22:36] you know, we leverage, I think it's very important.

[00:22:40] And so we leverage our partners that we've made.

[00:22:43] We have partnerships with Traeger, Kimber Firearms

[00:22:47] and some other organizations and some other veterans, nonprofit

[00:22:50] organizations that do kind of excursions and outings for veterans.

[00:22:54] And so we've partnered with them to provide for us to kind of be the conduit,

[00:22:59] right, because there are there are a thousand and one organizations

[00:23:03] and things people doing things for veterans.

[00:23:07] But it's really hard to know where to find that information.

[00:23:10] And so we're kind of want to be that conduit for folks to help provide,

[00:23:14] you know, world class events and to unite the airborne community

[00:23:19] to fundraise and support our local communities

[00:23:23] so that we can provide grants and other opportunities

[00:23:27] to paratroopers, their families, their kids and things like that.

[00:23:32] And then lastly, the Live Like Lou Foundation is a nonprofit,

[00:23:37] another nonprofit dedicated to supporting families affected by ALS,

[00:23:41] Lou Gehrig's disease.

[00:23:43] They fund ALS research to find treatments or cures

[00:23:47] for Lou Gehrig's disease and to honor Lou Gehrig's legacy.

[00:23:51] Now, Lou Gehrig was a Fidel as well.

[00:23:55] So, you know, he's a fraternity brother, you know, not the same years.

[00:23:59] Right. Of course, but he's a fraternity brother.

[00:24:01] And actually, when I was growing up as a young kid, I love I love basically

[00:24:05] I love I love baseball my whole life.

[00:24:07] And from the time I was probably nine,

[00:24:10] Lou Gehrig was my favorite player of all time.

[00:24:12] I watched the movie The Pride of the Yankees.

[00:24:15] And I said, man, that's like that's a good that's a good guy.

[00:24:19] You know, and he was and he was good at what he did.

[00:24:22] And so he was always my favorite player.

[00:24:24] And so to join the same fraternity that he was a part of was

[00:24:27] was really special.

[00:24:29] And so we have this natural connection with the ALS.

[00:24:33] And so Live Like Lou was founded by a fellow brother

[00:24:36] who unfortunately was diagnosed with ALS and eventually passed away.

[00:24:41] But his his family carried on the organization in its mission.

[00:24:46] And they're in a truly, truly incredible band of people

[00:24:50] doing amazing things for those affected by this horrible

[00:24:54] and currently 100 percent fatal disease.

[00:24:58] And so, you know, the other piece to that

[00:25:01] for me is being an active duty soldier, I've learned that

[00:25:06] the research community consistently shows

[00:25:09] that military service members are 60 percent more likely

[00:25:13] to be diagnosed with ALS than those who never serve.

[00:25:16] And the problem is, we don't know why.

[00:25:18] You don't know why.

[00:25:19] And we're seeing that same trend with firefighters,

[00:25:25] other first responders and then also football players.

[00:25:28] So I think there's that connection with with head injuries as well.

[00:25:32] But we don't know why that this is happening.

[00:25:35] And so the kind of the last piece or connection for me

[00:25:38] is my big brother in the fraternity when I was a college student.

[00:25:43] Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with ALS

[00:25:47] about eight years ago, passed away about eight years ago.

[00:25:51] And so his name was Ralph Doxey and he's from Mississippi.

[00:25:56] So, you know, all those connections that it was just it was just too natural,

[00:26:02] you know, to to pair up with these folks.

[00:26:05] And they're phenomenal people, a small group of people

[00:26:08] doing just amazing, amazing things.

[00:26:10] And so, you know, it's a way that I can help others

[00:26:13] way to keep Ralph's legacy alive.

[00:26:15] And yeah, I think it's important to do that stuff.

[00:26:19] Yeah. So as part of your stewardship and support of those great organizations,

[00:26:22] I appreciate you giving that explanation.

[00:26:24] And people can get connections to them on their website at BlueSwayBbq.com.

[00:26:30] You know, what kind of events are you guys doing,

[00:26:32] you know, to support these organizations?

[00:26:35] Yeah. So what I have done so far and again, it's because,

[00:26:40] you know, still kind of getting getting my sea

[00:26:44] legs under me to really ramp up this business

[00:26:47] and make it a business rather than a hobby.

[00:26:50] So I've been donating money and portions of proceeds to those organizations.

[00:26:58] But I just had a discussion a few weeks ago with the executive director and

[00:27:06] and and some other leadership from Live Like Lou, for instance.

[00:27:10] And we want to put together

[00:27:12] we want to start creating an annual like, you know,

[00:27:15] brews and barbecue festival or lose and barbecue, you know,

[00:27:20] play on play on the name of Lou Gehrig, right?

[00:27:23] Or lose brews and that kind of thing.

[00:27:24] So we would, you know, I offered to head that up here in North Carolina.

[00:27:30] We've got the North Carolina chapter of the ALS association here.

[00:27:34] If they were willing to participate and we have a lot of great

[00:27:38] micro breweries right here where I live.

[00:27:41] And most of them are veteran owned as well.

[00:27:44] So it's a really, you know, it will be a great opportunity

[00:27:47] to kind of just bring all that together and help each other

[00:27:53] as we as we do our different things.

[00:27:55] So that's for that.

[00:27:58] For the Fight Out to Theta Foundation, again, it's primarily

[00:28:03] financial contributions, although I do also do some volunteer work for them.

[00:28:09] That's me individually.

[00:28:13] I serve as a as a judge

[00:28:17] for one of their graduate scholarship committee.

[00:28:20] So I'm a judge for that.

[00:28:22] And then and then I typically go

[00:28:25] in the summertime to Miami of Ohio, where the headquarters is at.

[00:28:30] And I serve as a faculty member for their leadership conference

[00:28:33] that they host, which I'll be doing that again this year.

[00:28:36] And they asked me if I would come in and serve cook barbecue.

[00:28:40] Yeah. And I said, well,

[00:28:42] I mean, maybe how many people we talking about?

[00:28:44] And they said, well, at least a thousand.

[00:28:46] We're hoping for 2000.

[00:28:47] I was like, OK, hold on.

[00:28:49] That's a lot of barbecue.

[00:28:51] That's a lot. I'm going to need a man.

[00:28:53] I need a team for that.

[00:28:54] And and I'm still active duty in the army.

[00:28:57] So let's let's postpone that idea.

[00:28:59] Let's put a pin in it till next year.

[00:29:01] And I absolutely do it.

[00:29:02] And what's great is if you if you know Matt from Meat Church Barbecue,

[00:29:08] you know he's a he's a brother as well.

[00:29:10] So we may find a way, an opportunity for the two of us

[00:29:13] to kind of get together next year and and support that that event.

[00:29:17] And then lastly, for the little groups, paratroopers,

[00:29:23] getting financial contributions with them.

[00:29:25] And then as we progressively increase our opportunities

[00:29:29] and our events as the little groups of paratroopers,

[00:29:33] I'll naturally find the ways

[00:29:36] for Blue Suede Barbecue to support that as well.

[00:29:39] OK, so a great explanation.

[00:29:41] Appreciate you sharing that.

[00:29:42] And again, folks can go to Blue Suede BBQ dot com and purchase your products

[00:29:47] and know that the proceeds are going to support some of those

[00:29:49] definitely worthwhile causes.

[00:29:51] I want to take just a moment here and then we're kind of running down on time.

[00:29:54] But I want to talk to you about your military service.

[00:29:56] And again, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S.

[00:29:59] Army, you know, the division engineer for the 82nd Airborne Division

[00:30:02] at Fort Liberty there in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

[00:30:05] Take me back to the beginning.

[00:30:07] Why did you get why did you decide why?

[00:30:09] What motivated you to enlist in our military?

[00:30:13] Nine eleven.

[00:30:14] So I was a I was a college sophomore when nine eleven happened

[00:30:19] and I was on track to be a landscape architect at the time,

[00:30:23] which I still am doing that stuff.

[00:30:24] But and I come from a long line of service.

[00:30:29] You know, my father, many of my uncles, cousins,

[00:30:33] you know, a couple of aunts, you know, grandfathers, you name it.

[00:30:36] So but it wasn't until nine nine eleven happened.

[00:30:41] And I said, OK, it's my time.

[00:30:43] So I originally went the Marine Corps route for their officer candidate program.

[00:30:50] But we just had some

[00:30:52] we'll just say some paperwork, some paperwork issues on their end that

[00:30:57] that just dragged out for a really long time.

[00:31:00] So in May of 2003,

[00:31:04] I switched over to the army

[00:31:06] just because I just wanted to serve and do my part.

[00:31:08] So, yeah, so I commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2005

[00:31:13] and I will retire presumably in in in 2025 after 20 years.

[00:31:21] So, yeah, well, 20 years of service to our country.

[00:31:25] That's definitely admirable, especially getting started

[00:31:27] in such a tumultuous time there when our country really needed

[00:31:31] folks like you the most.

[00:31:32] With kind of that in mind and again, the Memorial Day holiday is right here around us.

[00:31:37] What does that holiday mean to you?

[00:31:40] Man, that's a tough question to answer.

[00:31:43] And it's tough because it's hard.

[00:31:46] It's hard to answer.

[00:31:47] You know, I'm sure Veterans Day is a little bit easier to answer

[00:31:51] because, you know, that's for everybody.

[00:31:53] Memorial Day, as you pointed out at the onset, is is special

[00:31:58] because it's for the folks that didn't come back.

[00:32:01] And, you know, it's tough and I'll just leave it at that.

[00:32:06] You know, and and and I'm grateful for the opportunities

[00:32:09] that those that have gone before us have laid out for me, my family,

[00:32:15] for you, your family and everybody else.

[00:32:18] Yeah, well, thank you so much for that perspective.

[00:32:20] And can definitely tell it means a lot and understand why.

[00:32:23] We talked a little bit about our secret recipe.

[00:32:25] Won't get into that a whole lot.

[00:32:27] We'll talk about you can get it on the blog.

[00:32:29] Chris is going to share it with us, but it's for your South Carolina

[00:32:32] gold mustard sauce.

[00:32:33] So look at the blog there again.

[00:32:35] Don't go to any details.

[00:32:37] Share it with me in the email.

[00:32:38] We're going to we're going to put it out there on the blog.

[00:32:40] But but why did you choose that particular sauce as your secret

[00:32:43] to share out there with the world?

[00:32:44] Well, because I'll tell you one, it's it's new, right?

[00:32:48] Newish. It has been selling.

[00:32:51] I've sold out of it, I think three times already.

[00:32:54] And every time that I've had an event,

[00:32:56] so I've had I had three events in April and and that's right

[00:33:00] when I first bottled it.

[00:33:02] And every time that people would taste it, they kind of the same

[00:33:06] reaction that I did was, oh, hey, well, that's different.

[00:33:10] Like, yeah, you know, I had people say the same thing.

[00:33:12] I don't I don't like mustard sauce.

[00:33:14] And I was like, hey, neither do I try this one.

[00:33:16] And I and I gave it to him and they were like, oh, man,

[00:33:19] like you make this.

[00:33:21] I said, yeah, I make this myself.

[00:33:22] Like this is different.

[00:33:24] This is not, you know, it's not like that way out in the woods crazy.

[00:33:28] But it's different.

[00:33:30] Like they're like, what is it that is different about us?

[00:33:32] Well, you know, I put some ingredients in there

[00:33:34] that I don't think you normally find in American barbecue sauce.

[00:33:40] You know, there's a little bit of

[00:33:42] of Korean red chili

[00:33:46] pepper or red chili paste in there.

[00:33:49] Goju Jang.

[00:33:50] It's it's really it gives it that little bit of backdoor

[00:33:54] spice that comes in on the back end.

[00:33:56] You're like, oh, man, I didn't expect that.

[00:33:59] There's some adobo sauce in there as well.

[00:34:01] And then really what does it?

[00:34:03] And I'm telling you, I tried making another batch

[00:34:06] with a different liqueur, and it wasn't the same.

[00:34:10] It was the same type of liquor, but it was not the same flavor.

[00:34:13] And so I want to give a shout out here.

[00:34:15] And they don't know that I'm doing this and they don't pay me to do this.

[00:34:18] But to the Cape Fear distillery,

[00:34:20] this is their tech cafe, tequila coffee

[00:34:26] made with espresso.

[00:34:29] And it's it's phenomenal.

[00:34:31] And I'm telling you, that's that's the key to the sauce is that right there.

[00:34:35] And yeah, I'm really happy about that one.

[00:34:39] And so that's why I decided to share it.

[00:34:41] Plus, I want to give a shout out to another, you know, another local

[00:34:45] local business. And yeah, that's great.

[00:34:46] We love to support the local gods, wherever you are.

[00:34:49] You support your local, your partner, your people that you know

[00:34:51] and that around you. So we're going to wrap it up here.

[00:34:54] I want to ask you, you know, just right quick,

[00:34:56] you kind of went into a little bit of this.

[00:34:57] But what's next for Blue Suede Barbecue?

[00:35:00] Obviously, you're going to, you know, retire from the military.

[00:35:02] But what happens next?

[00:35:04] Yeah, that's man.

[00:35:05] I tell you what, I'm asking myself that same question.

[00:35:08] My wife's asking me to. But, you know, so I start my retirement

[00:35:12] transition in October.

[00:35:14] And so that's really when I can really focus,

[00:35:17] you know, almost wholeheartedly on this.

[00:35:20] And so, you know, I'm trying to I'm just trying to figure out,

[00:35:23] do I want to, you know, I don't really want to do a brick and mortar,

[00:35:27] I don't think.

[00:35:28] Although I've got I've got an offer to put build two restaurants

[00:35:33] in Elizabethtown, North Carolina,

[00:35:35] which is actually where Cape Fear Distillery is.

[00:35:38] So another another person there has asked me to build two barbecue

[00:35:42] restaurants there.

[00:35:44] That's kind of a lot right off the bat.

[00:35:45] So I think we may have to pump the brakes on that.

[00:35:47] But I think what I'm going to end up doing initially is I'm just going to

[00:35:52] I'm just going to invest in in a good

[00:35:55] either food truck or trailer that I can just

[00:36:00] be a little more free about where I'm doing my barbecue at,

[00:36:04] and I'll do as many events and competitions as I can.

[00:36:08] I just just within the last month put the catering option on the website.

[00:36:12] So folks could actually just put it there on the website

[00:36:16] and then start the communication and request that way.

[00:36:19] Rather than having to email me and go back and forth,

[00:36:22] you just go right to the website and put that in there.

[00:36:24] I also did about two months ago.

[00:36:27] There's the Ironwood Cafe here in Pinehurst,

[00:36:30] which is a phenomenal restaurant to me.

[00:36:33] It's the best restaurant in the area.

[00:36:36] They they commissioned me to do six briskets for them

[00:36:40] over for a weekend special menu that they were running.

[00:36:44] So I did six. Yeah, I did six briskets for them and they did it.

[00:36:47] They served it, I believe, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

[00:36:51] as a special meal.

[00:36:53] And then on Sunday brunch, they did a special like brisket

[00:36:56] eggs Benedict with it.

[00:36:58] And it was just I mean, apparently it got rave reviews.

[00:37:01] I was actually out of town all weekend.

[00:37:03] I didn't even get the chance to go try it.

[00:37:07] But I think they sold out of it as far as I know.

[00:37:10] So I think there are some opportunities, continued opportunities there.

[00:37:13] And then there's another local place here in Aberdeen,

[00:37:17] North Carolina called the High Octane Coffee.

[00:37:20] And the lady that runs that really, really great lady.

[00:37:24] And her family is a veteran family as well.

[00:37:28] And so she wants to bring in these after hour,

[00:37:31] you know, like food and music events to her space there.

[00:37:36] And so she's she's commissioned me to do at least

[00:37:39] I think at least two nights we're going to do like a beer and barbecue night.

[00:37:44] And I'll do like three meal pairing for her.

[00:37:47] And then and then we talked about doing like a bourbon

[00:37:50] and barbecue or whiskey and barbecue night as well.

[00:37:54] So that's kind of the immediate future.

[00:37:56] And we're just going to see where this takes us, brother.

[00:37:59] Definitely some great options out there for you.

[00:38:02] Again, Chris Loschiavo, Lieutenant Colonel, appreciate your time

[00:38:05] and sharing some of your story here with us on the Low and Slow BBQ Show.

[00:38:09] Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Love what you guys do.

[00:38:11] Thank you. Yes, sir.

[00:38:13] Well, you've been listening to the Low and Slow BBQ

[00:38:15] show on the mesh.tv network of podcasts.

[00:38:17] Be sure to visit us online at LowSlowBBQShow.com

[00:38:22] That's where you'll find the blog and you can hear other podcast

[00:38:24] episodes featuring the Carolina's great pit masters like Chris.

[00:38:28] If you like what you hear in the Low and Slow BBQ Show,

[00:38:31] please follow us and subscribe in your favorite podcast stream.

[00:38:34] Remember, you can subscribe to the new the new newsletter, The Lowdown.

[00:38:38] It's all at LowSlowBBQShow.com.

[00:38:41] Special thanks to Chris Loschiavo from BlueSway BBQ.

[00:38:44] Thanks as well to our producer, Andrew Moose

[00:38:46] and the whole team at the mesh.tv network of podcasts.

[00:38:50] Most especially thank you for listening to the Low and Slow BBQ Show.

[00:38:54] Remember, for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast,

[00:38:57] make it low and slow.

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