AJ Haynes, a Shreveport native and founder of the acclaimed rock group Seratones, is not one to mince words. For the sixth and final episode in our podcast series exploring the cultural impact of The Louisiana Hayride, Haynes joined All Y’all co-host Sara Hebert for a free-wheeling conversation that covers the history of Texas Avenue, racial erasure in pop culture, Shreveport music venues, the state of modern country music, and more. To Haynes, the idea of “reviving The Louisiana Hayride” sounds anachronistic, exclusionary and dull. She’d rather re-imagine the Hayride than re-create it, and daydreams of a Louisiana Hayride lineup featuring genre-hopping artists like Margo Price, Black Pumas, Sturgill Simpson, and The Suffers. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

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Episode 76: "Skeletons In Our Blood": AJ Haynes Reimagines The Louisiana Hayride

On the afternoon that Mr. Alton Warwick, widowed husband and business partner of Margaret “Maggie” Lewis Warwick, sat down with All Y’all and LPB to share his memories of The Louisiana Hayride, only seven months had passed since Maggie’s death. For decades, he and Maggie had worked side-by-side to promote the Hayride as a potential economic driver for Shreveport. Her absence loomed large over our conversation. Maggie had been a fixture in Alton’s life since his youth in Shreveport; he’d met her through his record-producing, electric guitar-playing cousin, Mira Smith, owner of Shreveport’s Ram Records. Alton saw firsthand how the music industry limited the opportunities of female performers and producers like Smith and Lewis. “Girl singers were just to sing,” Alton said. “They weren’t supposed to make waves, they weren’t supposed to produce records. They were not supposed to lead the band. But her and Mira, they were not going to go quietly into the night. So, in Nashville and all of those places, they made a mark in a man’s world.” What began as a conversation about country music history quickly became an oral history of a match made in country music heaven. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 75: Along for the ‘Ride: Alton Warwick Remembers His Wife, Maggie

Kix Brooks, the Shreveport native and bona fide country music superstar, was only five years old when the original Louisiana Hayride produced by KWKH came to an end in 1960. He grew up in the Highland and Shreve Island neighborhoods, graduated from Louisiana Tech University, and honed his songwriting chops at downtown Shreveport nightclubs like Humpfrees. These days, Brooks calls Nashville home, but visits Shreveport often. During one of those visits, he sat down with All Y’all and Louisiana Public Broadcasting to discuss how his hometown shaped his career in music. Brooks reminisces on his early days gigging in Shreveport, shares some incredible advice for aspiring songwriters, and sings the praises of his favorite Shreveport eatery, Herby-K’s. Brooks believes in the work of songwriting. Over the course of his 40-year career, he has written and recorded thousands of songs and forged lifelong friendships with the likes of Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker. During our conversation, Brooks reflects on these friendships and the lessons they taught him. It is an intimate, inspiring conversation about roots music, life in Shreveport, and the daily habits of a working songwriter. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 74: "Perspiration and Inspiration": Kix Brooks on Shreveport, Shrimp Busters and Songwriting

Joey Kent grew up backstage at The Louisiana Hayride—just not the version of the Hayride that you may be thinking of. His father, Shreveport media executive David Kent, launched a second installment of the Hayride after the original iteration of KWKH’s influential barn dance program fell silent in 1960. David Kent’s Louisiana Hayride, produced in partnership with emcee and radio personality Frank Page, moved the show from Shreveport Municipal Auditorium to a more modern venue on Benton Road and added an onsite restaurant and bar. Joey Kent often corrects those who insist that the Hayride ended in 1960. “There were so many talented musicians on my father’s show,” Kent said. “Most Hayride history books tend to end in 1960, but that doesn’t really do service to performers like (Nat Stuckey, Shoji Tabuchi, Micki Fuhrman, Linda Davis, and others).” Kent authored Cradle of the Stars: KWKH & The Louisiana Hayride (https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Stars-KWKH-Louisiana-Hayride/dp/1455624454) and co-authored Elvis Presley: The Hayride Years, 1954-56 (https://www.elvis-collectors.com/book%20review_hayrideyears54-56.html). He is also responsible for donating a large archive of recordings and materials related to The Louisiana Hayride to the Library of Congress. But perhaps his most unbelievable contribution to the story of The Louisiana Hayride came about completely by accident. While clearing out an office at KWKH, Kent says that he happened upon a reel-to-reel recording wedged between a desk and a wall. That reel-to-reel turned out to contain a previously unknown recording of Elvis Presley’s Hayride debut on Oct. 16, 1954. Kent tells the jaw-dropping story of that discovery, along with many others, during his insightful conversation with All Y’all hosts Sara Hebert and Chris Jay. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 73: "Lost Chapters of Hayride History": Joey Kent on Documenting The Louisiana Hayride

Growing up poor in Marthaville, Louisiana in the 1940s, Big Rob Gentry considered only four things in his hardscrabble world to be indispensable: Jesus Christ, Earl Long, the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and KWKH. The latter was brought into his home courtesy of a cabinet-sized radio that his father saved up to purchase for the family. Each morning and evening, the Gentrys would gather ‘round the radio to listen to country music, news and entertainment beamed out of Shreveport, Louisiana. His favorite program was The Louisiana Hayride. For the second episode in our six-part series produced in partnership with Louisiana Public Broadcasting, All Y’all spoke with Gentry about how the country music showcase—which broadcast live from Shreveport Municipal Auditorium from 1948 until 1960—shaped his life. Gentry is the retired editor and publisher of The Sabine Index and a Louisiana Political Hall of Fame inductee who donated a sizable collection of Hayride-related artifacts, documents and memorabilia to The Cammie G. Henry Research Center at Northwestern State University in 2014. If you’ve not heard the first episode in this series, give it a listen to hear country music historian and author Dr. Tracey Laird discuss some of the same things that Gentry brings up in this episode, including the “hooping and hollering” that set the Louisiana Hayride apart from its more hidebound competitor, the Grand Ole Opry: https://www.allyallblog.com/2020/08/10/louisiana-hayride-dr-tracey-laird/ The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Links: Louisiana Hayride on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride Shreveport Times article on the "Robert Gentry Collection" at Northwestern State University: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2014/09/18/former-newspaper-publisher-donates-collection/15858011/ Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 72: “Hoopin’ and Hollerin’”: Big Rob Gentry on Loving The Louisiana Hayride

The Louisiana Hayride was a live country music jamboree that was broadcast weekly via Shreveport, Louisiana’s 50,000-watt powerhouse station KWKH beginning in 1948. The lifespan of the Hayride was brief (the original program ended in 1960) but consequential, with artists like Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, and Kitty Wells changing the look and sound of American pop music from the stage of Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. For our six-episode series exploring the lasting impact of The Louisiana Hayride, All Y’all partnered with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Over the course of the series, you’ll hear from a wide range of interview subjects, including musicians Kix Brooks and AJ Haynes, historians Joey Kent and Rob Gentry, entrepreneur Alton Warwick, and this episode’s guest: Shreveport native, music professor and author Dr. Tracey Laird. Dr. Laird is the author of Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River and co-author of Shreveport Sounds in Black and White. Dr. Laird joined All Y’all’s Sara Hebert for an interview by phone from Decator, Georgia, where Laird serves as professor of music at Agnes Scott College. Her books are the best place to start for anyone seeking a well-researched, smart, and fun primer on the mythology, music and meaning of The Louisiana Hayride. In the first episode of our six-part series, Dr. Laird describes Shreveport as “a kind of a crossroads of cultural impulses” where music that fell “outside of the canonical understanding of country music” could find a more receptive audience. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Links: Louisiana Hayride on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River: https://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Hayride-Radio-American-Musicspheres-ebook/dp/B000WMF7FY Shreveport Sounds in Black and White: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001M4HZGA/ Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 71: “A Kind of Crossroads”: Dr. Tracey Laird on The Louisiana Hayride

On June 29, the world lost someone very special. The film industry brought Jim Hayes to Shreveport, but his love of our little town is what kept him here—along with his wife, Christine, and son, Walker. Jim was many things, but first and foremost, he was an artist. Whether building props for movies ranging from Austin Powers to Mulholland Drive, painting his signature flames down the side of a hot rod, or creating interesting environments at local businesses like Abby Singer’s Bistro and Twisted Root Burger Company, Jim literally left his mark on Shreveport. After the recording of Jim and Christine’s Exit Interview (https://www.allyallblog.com/2018/06/27/exit-interviews-jim-and-christine-hayes/), Jim stuck around afterward to share the story of how a car gig for Johnny Depp secretly went totally wrong. We’re glad to finally have it out in the world today. See Jim at work in episode 2 of Moviesauce‘s series “Faces” : https://youtu.be/CmXrgoFWTpo All Y’all is brought to listeners with the support of Marilynn’s Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 70: Jim Hayes, "I Destroyed Johnny Depp And Winona Ryder’s Relationship

The second installment in an ongoing series, this episode of Exit Interviews features Ashley Johnson and Ari Butler, both of whom have recently relocated from Shreveport, Louisiana to Connecticut. The Exit Interviews series features candid conversations with former Shreveport-Bossier residents about how living here shaped their lives and what lead to their decision to relocate. Ashley and Ari's conversation with host Sara Hebert highlights many of the best aspects of life in Shreveport (live music, grassroots-organized community events, a supportive LGBTQIA community) while underscoring the need for more professional opportunities. It's an insightful, revealing conversation. Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Thank you, Marilynn's Place and Maccentric All Y'all would not exist without the incredible support of our sponsors, including Maccentric and Marilynn's Place. Please support these wonderful local businesses.

Episode 69: Exit Interviews: Ashley Johnson and Ari Butler

You can tell a lot about someone from the way they treat the animals in their lives. When storyteller Cristal Willcox's beloved cat Kashmir passed away, her friends gathered for the kind of midnight funeral that could only take place in Louisiana. In another time and place, storyteller Randall Ross embarks on a lovelorn holiday acid trip during which a talking feline encourages him to commit cat burglary. It's a weird episode. All Y’all Live: Going Through It on Saturday, Sept. 28 The next All Y’all live storytelling event, Going Through It, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at LSU Shreveport’s beautiful University Center Auditorium. For our sixth annual Fidnto Award fundraiser event, we’re currently seeking true stories of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, beating the odds, and going the distance. There’ll be a cash bar and live musical interludes. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health support services for under-served communities in and around Shreveport. Purchase tickets at http://allyallblog.com/tickets Our Sponsors Are Freaking Great Seriously, how lucky are we to be sponsored by an incredibly good po' boy shop (Marilynn's Place) and the most trusted Mac service shop in town (Maccentric)? Can you imagine if, instead of talking about two badass, locally owned businesses, we were hawking MeUndies.com? That would be awful. Please support our sponsors.

Episode 68: Haunted: Cristal Willcox, "Cat People"

Like the t-shirt says: Y’all Means All. Since our first live event, All Y’all has prioritized the inclusion of LGBTQ voices. This past June, Sara from All Y’all took part in StoryCorps’ Stonewall OutLoud project, helping gather stories from LGBTQ elders in Shreveport including Randy Moulder, Deborah Allen and David Radford. For this special episode of All Y’all, we’ve assembled a few of our favorite moments from their stories, in hopes that these excerpts will encourage you to listen to their full stories.  Here’s links to their full StoryCorps stories: David Radford: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/why-do-i-like-aquaman-instead-of-wonder-woman-i-didnt-know-what-was-wrong-with-me/ Deborah Allen: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i-look-at-their-children-and-they-are-so-full-of-love-and-empathy-and-love-my-kids-are-the-parents-i-wish-i-could-have-been-like/ Randy Moulder: Pt 1: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/if-these-people-would-take-five-minutes-to-say-hello-and-get-to-know-me-this-old-queens-got-some-pretty-interesting-things-to-say/ Pt 2: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/if-these-people-would-take-five-minutes-to-say-hello-and-get-to-know-me-this-old-queens-got-some-pretty-interesting-things-to-say-2/ All Y’all Live: Going Through It on Saturday, Sept. 28 The next All Y’all live storytelling event, Going Through It, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at LSU Shreveport’s beautiful University Center. For our sixth annual Fidnto Award fundraiser event, we’re currently seeking six true stories of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, beating the odds, and going the distance. There’ll be a cash bar and live musical interludes. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health support services for underserved communities in and around Shreveport. New Stuffed & Busted E-Newsletter Our food and drink podcast, Stuffed & Busted, has a new, semi-weekly e-newsletter where All Y’all co-host Chris Jay publishes wild rants on topics like snow cones, farmers’ markets, food events, and more. Sign up for Stuffed & Busted’s Small Bites e-newsletter here: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Thank you, Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric All Y’all live storytelling events wouldn’t be possible without the support of our presenting sponsor, Marilynn’s Place, and our podcast sponsor, Maccentric. Please support these incredible local businesses the next time you need your Mac repaired or your belly filled.

Episode 67: StoryCorps Sampler: Stonewall Outloud

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the All Y'all archives: Kate Archer Kent, “Keep Your Hands On the Rope.” We'll be back next week with all new stories and episodes. Thanks for letting us take a break after our wildly successful and fun evening of stories!

Episode 66: Rebroadcast: Kate Archer Kent, “Keep Your Hands On the Rope”

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A young, gay man comes of age in the Deep South, where he is the son of a pastor. If you're expecting this story to end in tears, you may be right - but they may be tears of joy. Michael Chisum's ode to the love of two fathers was a message that we very much needed to hear in this time of bigotry paraded as faith. "God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him." -1 John 4:16  All Y'all Live: Wildcard 2 on Friday, July 26 Tickets are now available for the next All Y'all live storytelling event, Wildcard 2, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 26 at RSVP. At Wildcard events, storytellers names are drawn from a hat - anyone who's drawn has to either tell a short, true story (10 minutes or less) or nominate a friend to tell a story in their place. Tickets are $15 each. There'll be a cash bar and musical interludes by Nate Treme. These events are an absolute blast, and can often feel like a combination of a house party and a live storytelling event. Tickets may be purchased at http://allyallblog.com/tickets Thanks to everyone who's already gotten tickets - y'all are the real MVPs. New, Weekly Stuffed & Busted E-Newsletter Our food and drink podcast, Stuffed & Busted, has a new, weekly e-newsletter where All Y'all co-host Chris Jay publishes wild rants on topics like snow cones, farmers' markets, food events, and more. Read the first two editions or sign up to receive future e-newsletters: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Thank you, Marilynn's Place and Maccentric All Y'all live storytelling events wouldn't be possible without the support of our presenting sponsor, Marilynn's Place, and our podcast sponsor, Maccentric. Please support these incredible local businesses the next time you need your Mac repaired or your belly filled with well-seasoned red beans.

Episode 65: Momma and Daddy: Michael Chisum, "Heavenly Father"

So, let's say it's your day off. You get some friends together, make some plans, and head out for a day filled with anything - anything - but work. You know what comes next, right? Your services are required. Duty calls. Do you answer? When retired DEA agent Pam Brown took the stage at All Y'all Live: I Just Work Here in April 2017, she reflected on an unusual ethical conflict at the office ("the office," in this case, being a beachfront bar in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami). It's a story about grey areas, moral ambiguities, and "doing the right thing for the wrong reason." Live storytelling just 2 weeks away All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice’s Bar) in Shreveport. Purchase tickets: http://allyallblog.com/tickets During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products.

Episode 64: I Just Work Here: Pam Brown, "Day Off"

If you were asked to conjure up the most American meal possible, you might dream up a Thanksgiving Dinner shared with silver screen cowboy John Wayne. Storyteller Bonne Summers actually shared a Thanksgiving with Wayne, during an idyllic American holiday that she recounted live onstage at our June 2015 live event, "Brush With Fame." Live Events and New Stuffed & Busted All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (2609 Youree Drive) in Shreveport. Purchase tickets: http://allyallblog.com/tickets. During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know or nominate someone else to do so – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Stuffed & Busted, our food and drink-themed podcast, is doing a lot of fun stuff lately. We just released a short documentary film about Kon Tiki, a Polynesian restaurant and lounge that operated in Shreveport from 1970 to 2008, and we're in the process of launching a weekly e-newsletter called Small Bites. Sign up for the newsletter: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Watch our new short film, Kon Tiki Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsUQ9G-m6IU Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Like All Y’all on Facebook: http://fb.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 63: Brush With Fame: Bonne Summers, "Dinner With The Duke"

Doesn’t it seem like the harder you try to impress others, the less likely it is that things will go as planned? Anwar Fikri’s story of awkwardness, allergies and Airmen elicited many sympathetic groans - and lots of laughs - during our August 2017 live event, “The Skin I’m In.” He joined us during while serving at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City. Live Events and New Stuffed & Busted All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice’s Bar) in Shreveport. Tickets are available at http://allyallblog.com/tickets. During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y'all on Facebook: http://fb.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

Episode 62: The Skin I'm In: Anwar Fikri, "The F-N-G"

All Y'all is a live storytelling event series and podcast featuring stories from the Deep South. Hosts Sara Hebert and Chris Jay bring the community together through powerful, true stories told in front of an audience, without notes. The podcast is independently produced with help from sponsors and the community of Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana.

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All Y'all

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