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This is the Civic Media
Spotlight.
Welcome to the second hour of the Civic Media Spotlight.
We begin this hour with two segments from the Rational Revolution with Mark Becker.
In these two segments, Mark speaks with Green Bay representative, Ahmad Rivera-Wagner.
They talk about the upcoming Supreme Court
race.
What is up, everybody?
Welcome to the show.
You're in the right spot.
You got the rational revolution.
I am Mark Becker.
And it is always an honor to be here with you.
And joining us this week is our returning friend, one of our BFFs here on the show.
Representative from Green Bay, Amad Revere Wagner.
What's up, brother?
How are you?
Oh, I'm fabulous.
How are you doing?
Oh, dude, good.
I can't complain.
You know, life is life is good.
Well, it's election season, so life is rough.
Well, yeah, that's true.
Yes, it is election season.
The election day is on April 7.
Remind your listeners that there is important races up and down the ballot.
Have you been following the election?
I don't know if I have a choice but to follow
the election.
I think they're really important.
You know, we have locally, we have elections here too.
And I think one of the things that's interesting is like, there are some groups out there that are some people that are so
aghast and frustrated that, you know, the local political parties are getting involved in the races.
And that, to me, I think that's a bad take because it's like, you know, you want political parties to stay out of politics, you know, regardless of nonpartisan race.
Okay, well, this is what the political parties do.
So, you know, it's going to happen.
What about the state Supreme Court race?
What's your take on that?
Well, you
know, I'm a big fan of Chris Taylor.
And the reason why is that we watched the Supreme Court by one vote potentially overturned the 2020 election.
People forgive us that the all absentee ballots and blue cities were potentially going to be thrown out by at the time a Republican led Supreme Court and one Judge Hackerdorton
who is a Republican, who is an old school Republican who believes in democracy, was the deciding vote on whether or not the election results were thrown out in 2020.
And so I'm really one passionate about ensuring our Supreme Court is just reflective of our community, that it doesn't have to be right or left, but it does have to be focused on ensuring that we follow facts, that we deal with logic, and that we actually ensure that
the system works for people.
And so Chris Taylor is someone who has done that her work her whole life.
But in particular, her opponent actually was one of the judges that went forward with some of the 2020 election conspiracy theories and allowed them to pass her court.
And that to me tells you a lot about someone.
If you are willing to bend the law, break it completely just to do the bidding of
the president trump at the time i don't think that you are fit to serve in a position that serves everybody and so uh i think our supreme court is deeply important in wisconsin this is we need good people who are smart and talented who actually care about the rule of law and it's so funny to me that as a you know an open democrat that i'm i'm now the party of respecting the law respecting the constitution uh using it logic in fact there was a time where that didn't feel as
partisan, but it feels like now it's deeply important that we have people who get that fundamental rights or actually fundamental rights.
And so I want to Supreme Court justice that's going to make democracy work.
And that is Chris Taylor.
And so I look forward to more people like Judge Hagridon, who is a Republican, who I think did the absolute incredible thing by championing democracy when it was really, really, really hard.
And I think that there are
more Republicans like that, they're just not running for office yet.
And
so
my deep wish is that the Republican Party also puts up candidates that are deeply reflective of the communities they serve and not just political hacks for President Trump.
I just think that we deserve better.
We all deserve better.
Yeah.
And I think people really have to remember how close we were to some really, really bad things happening at the time.
You were the chief of staff for Mayor Genrich.
And so you had a front row seat to a lot of that.
Yeah, and you know, I've told the story before to your audience, but as a quick general reminder, you know, they called me an undocumented African immigrant who made up having a husband that I was planted by the DNC to steal the election using two Internet's and little people in the machines and a sitting elected official now who's on our comic council.
Yes, January 6 protest that called for the Proud Boys to come get
me, the mayor, and South St.
Jeffrey's to physically attack us and potentially kill us.
And that happened for two to three years where keyboard warriors were making up facts and figures.
There were media that were willing to carry the weight for people despite not having any evidence.
And what I love about that story is that there is a happy ending.
which is that this community rejected those lies, that approach, and elected the first openly gay person of color to represent Green Bay.
But more importantly, someone who gets that we need a government.
that reflects Green Bay, which is that we take care of each other.
We lift each other up.
We support one another.
But I know what that's like.
And so to me, this is really personal, the Supreme Court race, because we need people who are not going to add fuel to the fire of chaos and conspiracy theories.
We need people who really do care about the Constitution and the common good.
And I think Christo is that person that do that.
But this is deeply personal for me because I see how bad it can get when those things go unchecked.
Yeah, and I think, you know, there's, it's frustrating to hear Republicans like, oh, it's just, just move on.
You keep asking, did Donald Trump win the election?
You got to move on.
You know, and there was, yes, there was a happy ending for you.
I think it's going to be another happy ending when that particular representative is defeated.
And I hope, you know, for freaking the love of God that she can be defeated one of these times, because that's like, that matters.
You know, especially, you know, what you say matters, but, you know,
when it comes to something that serious, golly.
They
keep telling us to forget it.
But just recently, the president
of the United States, Donald Trump, has tried to issue executive order to nationalize our elections, that he's instructing his justice department, potentially ICE, to go to polling locations to protect the polls from undocumented immigrants.
That's not the word that they use.
So despite all of this allegedly being in the past, here we are in 2026.
Still having conversation about whether or not this person should be our president Trump does not believe he lost the 2020 election and is using the force of the federal government to cast doubt on our elections again.
And bipartisan support is coming out of the woodwork saying we've got to stop this, that we have to get the train back on the rails.
But as much as it feels like it's the past, the reason why we all of us keep bringing it up is it doesn't feel like it's over.
It doesn't seem like it's over for them.
And it doesn't feel like it's over for us.
The truth is, the American people, Wisconsinites, Cream Bay folks would love nothing more than to walk away from the chaos and conspiracy.
But instead, they keep bringing.
I mean, there's a there's a common council candidate running right now who brought up that she still believes that I stole the 2020 election.
Really?
Yes, just a month ago.
Oh, sweet.
Right.
So when we talk and literally said that the Internet is forever.
And I was like,
Just because it's a lie doesn't mean that it does, you know, we love it for it to go away.
The lie is going to continue, right?
Yeah,
right.
Exactly.
And so this is a common council candidate that is talking about how the elections are still stolen for the election on April 7th.
But I would be really proud to see Bendele defeat her.
Her name's Leanne Kramer.
And I would, I look forward to Bendele beating her, not only for that reason, because Bendele is a great champion for the community, but more so, we have to stop election conspiracy theorists from getting in the
Lovers of government because they will cause problems,
right?
I mean, you know, it's like deeply unserious people, you know thinking very Serious things, you know that that that that can harm a lot of people, right?
You know, is there something that the state government can do?
So let's say that you know, the president's directs ice to go to the polls Can anything be done about that?
So there's a bunch of folks working on what what can we can and cannot do?
One of the things that we have to understand is that all elections are local elections.
This is like for the Constitution.
We've done this for a long time.
So your election, the way that it shows up, what time is it at, is actually dictated locally.
ICE operates federally.
So really one of the interventions that we have is obviously collaborating with our local law enforcement, our local district attorneys, and our statewide AGs about ensuring that
Just because someone is in ICE does not mean that your human rights go out the window, right?
And that's something that we fundamentally misunderstand or the federal government misunderstands Everyone actually gets constitutional protections whether or not ICE shows up in your community or not whether they believe that they have both
The officers have rights, but so do the people in the community have just as many fundamental rights.
And so I think ensuring that we're going to protect those rights and what's really nice about Green Bay is our law enforcement has been deeply committed to ensuring that everyone's rights are respected, regardless of who's attempting to intervene.
And I think that is a positive thing for our community.
Yeah, we got we're talking with the representative of modern Vera Wagner.
I saw you last week at the No Kings protest.
Yes, that was awesome to see and catch up and and shoot the BS.
What's next though?
How do we make sure that that's not like where it stops?
Well, to me, you know, I mean, you brought this up at the top of the show.
I think that things are inherently political in this moment, meaning that No Kings is a pathway to us.
in my opinion, getting people involved, either running for office or voting for people who ultimately are going to make a difference up and down the ballot.
So from midterm elections for Congress, to state elections for state Senate and state rep, to common counsel races, to DAs, to judges, that my hope is that these rallies inspire people.
Because one of the things that we saw in the 2024 election is the opting out, that people felt like politics do not reflect that.
that politics don't hear them.
And we saw all kinds of things.
Some people voting because they want to see someone burn it all down.
Some people opting out completely.
So my hope is that this era is an era of making politics much more representative for the regular people and delivers that we show up and show up with both in protest but also in policy.
right, that even when you're in a minority party, there are things that you can do to actually move things along.
And I know that's what we're going to talk about later today.
That is really what I see for no Kings is it is an on ramp for people to be able to get involved politically, whether that is protesting and elections, whether that's running for office, whether that's emailing and calling your elected representatives, ensuring that we pull
our politics to be more responsive to everyday people is the reason why I got involved in politics.
And the reason why I show up at these No Kings rallies and protests is because any means necessary to make sure our government is more reflective and responsive to the people it serves, whether Democrats or Republicans, we need to ensure that people believe in their government, can trust their government, and if their government delivers.
And I'm excited because it seems like that energy is coming back.
And I really look forward to
leveraging that energy and supporting that energy in our government.
And we got a minute left in this segment, but talk about if you could coming together.
And, you know, we don't want, we need people to come together.
This only works if we are all united in November.
As we mentioned earlier, one of the most powerful things about the election conspiracy theories is when they came to Green Bay
What we did is we came together, Republicans and Democrats.
We recruited more poll workers than we've ever had.
We actually got more people involved in our local elections.
And what we saw is a historic turnout after people put mistrust in our elections because people came together across both parties, across
the city across political beliefs to say that our democracy is really important.
And to me, that is the inspiration, that we can come together and get things done when the goal is the people and not the politics.
So I'm very hopeful and optimistic.
And that's why I ran and got elected in 2024 when we had a Trump wave.
Green Bay actually got bluer because people want us to be like our community, taking care of each other, taking care of our neighbors.
And I know that we can do that here in Green Bay.
You know, and it's interesting when I was the chairman of the Republican Party.
There was a lot of, you know, at the time, it was like a time of the Tea Party and all these different factions that were, you know, going around with litmus tests and all of that stuff.
And all you're not conservative enough and all you believe in, right to life, but only with these, except all this stuff.
And they spent so much time fighting with each other.
that they couldn't coalesce and be effective.
And I'm obviously glad that they didn't.
But on the flip side, that is what we have to do.
We're going to talk about that.
We're going to talk about a legislative session update.
We got our BFF Ahmad Rivera Wagner state rep on the show, and we will be right back.
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Welcome to the next segment of The Rational Revolution with Mark Becker.
Mark speaks with Green Bay representative Ahmaud Rivera-Wagner.
They talk about the upcoming Supreme Court race.
Welcome back to the show.
To get The Rational Revolution, I'm Mark Becker.
We've got state rapper Mod Rivera Wagner handbond.
He got fired.
That's funny She sucked but the dot was over 50,000 at one point so I you know, I guess there's there was that you know, but you know, it's it's it's funny You know when we joke, but I think it's good to see like some of the wheels come off of this thing, you know
Let's be very clear, while we are laughing about it, Pam Bondi has orchestrated some of the cruelest and chaotic levels of public policy or this public approach that have really caused people their lives and their trust of their political lives, their everyday lives that have been completely disrupted by the chaos of this administration.
Frankly, happy she's gone.
The truth is I'm not sure that we're going to do any better.
But I do think that this is one form of accountability.
And so I'm thankful that, you know, who said this, and I actually fully support it.
Former Congressman Reid Ribble talked about having an AG that actually respects the Constitution and not the political machinations of the president.
And I couldn't agree more with Congress, the former Congresswoman Reed Ribble, that that's what we need in an attorney general is someone who actually respects the Constitution.
And again, it's so strange to be a hardcore Democrat and proud to be a Democrat, to be the person talking about constitutional muster and constitutional protections.
But I think that's really, really, really important.
And I think that's something that Republicans should be pushing for as well, is we need someone who just respects the Constitution and the rule of
law.
At Republican events, we would always have these groups handing out pocket constitutions.
I should see if they have their number, and maybe they want to come to the Dems Convention or something.
Or
at least hand them out.
Yeah, right?
Republicans are like, what is this?
Doesn't say Trump
on it.
I wanted to talk a little bit about the legislative session is
done.
Yes.
How did that go?
Well, it was a fascinating first term.
I want to make sure we set what it looks like.
The reason why the legislative session is done is that at the beginning of the year, the majority party, which in this case is Republicans, decided on a schedule that was one of the shortest schedules in Wisconsin history for doing legislative work.
That's passing bills.
That is going to hearings.
That's engaging our communities.
And I voted against that saying people sent me here to do work.
It's Green Bay.
Most people not only have one job, they have multiple jobs.
So they expect their legislators to do exactly what they are, but that that schedule passed.
Despite that schedule being one of the shortest on record in Wisconsin history, the majority party also then decided to end 10 months early, 10 months early.
So we're talking about the end of a legislative session, despite the fact that I have nine more months or eight more months approximately of
my term and we will not be passing any more bills.
We will have no more hearings.
Even introduction of bills gets a stamp essentially saying that you've introduced a bill that cannot get a hearing and will not be heard or will be voted on.
So just to really right size the ship, we are at a 10 months hiatus and we have ended our legislative session early because the maturity party has decided to do so.
So while that is deeply disappointing,
despite the short amount of time that we've had and being a minority party member as Democrats.
I am so excited that this will next week we will be signing two bills that I help author and work together that are two bipartisan bills on housing and immigration all focused on opportunity and affordability.
And so even as a freshman member, I was told I cannot pass any bills that I should not expect to have any bills passed in my first term.
And two, that most bills that you can't do big things in Wisconsin.
Here's the thing.
People doubt Green Bay all the time.
They doubted our team.
They doubt our city.
And we always show up.
We always do better when we punch above our weight.
And not only do we have these two bills, but I've had one of the most prolific
for sessions and I'm just so proud because every one of the bills that I've worked on including the bills that will be signed by the governor are ideas that came from the residents and people of Green Bay and that got turned into public policy and that policy won and it's not because they are liberal or conservative they're just good policy that helps everyday people and I want people to believe in our government again so despite all of the barriers I am so proud that I have two bills
As a freshman Democrat that are going to become law.
Yeah, and I think that people need to understand like how big of a thing that is, you know, like it's it's It's very difficult to to get something past this but you know in your in your first term It's it's typically is not done And to do that when the you know in the face of the headwinds of the GOP You know we're talking with a mod reviewer Wagner, dude, I'm proud of you man.
You didn't you really that that's seriously like that is freaking cool
And that speaks to your ability to do the right thing and get people on board with a very diverse coalition of Republicans and Democrats to get something done.
And frankly, folks that could be unlikely allies.
Here's what I have learned from Green Bay.
When you actually focus on the issues, you can build an incredible coalition.
And I don't make promises not to disagree with people.
There are people who I worked with on predatory lending legislation.
Well, it did not get passed.
It was one of the few bipartisan bills introduced.
It was with Senator Jacques and Rep Allen, some of the most conservative people in the state legislature.
And we all agreed that predatory lending should be curbed or ended in the state of Wisconsin.
And so like there are ways where we can agree on ending predator lending and fight about
pro-choice pro-life that we can agree on housing and have a debate on LGBTQ.
issues.
What I love about doing it around the issues and progress over politics is that it's not about me changing at all.
I don't change in any room I'm in but what I will do is focus on the things that we can work on together and then fight on the things that we have to fight about and that that disagreement doesn't have to be dangerous.
That we can deeply disagree and focus on this issue and then we can go back to deeply disagreeing and so I really feel like it's almost a harking back to a different time, a different era.
when you focus on the problems, not on the politics, right?
And so I'm just deeply proud.
Yeah.
It's kind of, it's, it's what I say all the time on the show.
It's not about left versus right.
It's about right versus wrong.
And that's kind of what, uh, what you've been about.
And, uh, you know, this whole, well, your whole life, but we're going to continue the discussion here with a representative of moderate Wagner, uh, on the rational revolution right after this.
I'm Mark Becker.
Stick around.
Next up on the Civic Media Spotlight, we talk with Robert Pilot from Native Roots Radio.
In these two segments, Robert Pilot speaks with Wendy Pilot, as well as Angie Vega, a Vega guitarist.
Hey, welcome back, everyone.
Hey, Wendy, we are with our friend Angie Vega, White Earth Nation of Ojibwe, and the big guitars here in the Twin Cities, St.
Paul Award-winning store.
Just great to see you, Angie.
It's been a long time.
Thanks so much for coming on Native Roots Radio.
Yeah, I mean, bonjour, everyone.
How's it going?
I am surprised you can hear anything from last night's concert.
Were you there by any chance?
No, I saw pictures and videos and he did purple rain.
Yes,
he did purple rain.
Yes.
It was a surprise.
Everybody was screaming and then all the purple lights just covered everybody and the whole place was purple.
It was awesome.
Oh my gosh, how heartwarming.
That is so cool.
How wonderful that he's been taking so much time with us and just really leading everybody to us and showing just what the great stuff that our state and our city has been doing.
Absolutely.
Angie, we want to talk about big guitars, but first, I know you were about at RISE, and I haven't been there in a few years, but I'd love to get a report on the great, and tell our listeners what RISE is.
Yeah, what RISE is.
It's REZ, R-E-S.
It's the Reservation Economic Summit.
RISE is a different thing, but this is REZ.
So they hold it
at Caesar's Palace every year.
And I've been wanting to go every single year because it's massive.
It's like I knew as a couple thousand people, but actually this year it surpassed 5,000.
I think it was like 5,100.
So to be among 5,100 Native American professionals and and just business owners, entrepreneurs, you know, some tribal government was there.
But all professionals, it was I was like emotional because I just
just to be around so many.
It's like, oh my gosh, we are really doing stuff.
We're, you know, and it was women, more women than men.
So that was pretty, pretty awesome.
Pretty natural, I think we're natural leaders, of course.
Right.
Learned so much, networked.
It was just, you said you've never been there or it's been a while.
It's been a while.
Yeah.
I can't even, I just, it's, you know, the National Center for American Indian Development.
So they put this on every year.
And, you know, when natives start businesses or even want just thinking about it, they're such a great resource because they have resources for grants.
loans.
There's just people for that that they have.
And they had sponsorship from like Chase Morgan.
So they're backed by all that too.
So I don't know, it's just anybody who is interested in in business being a business owner, I mean, just check them out.
It's just what a wonderful, what a wonderful thing to finally be a part of.
I want to go every single year, but I haven't been able to.
And so I got to go.
That's inspiring.
So who what does a native celebrities did you see?
Oh,
I met taboo from Black Eyed Peas.
It's really awesome.
And he was one of the speakers but then I met him later on on the dance floor.
Hey
now.
Hey
now.
there's a native fashion show that they held on a rooftop of one of the hotels and it was so glamorous and just to see all these native designers and all their work and and then he was there and he performed a little bit but then he came out and danced with everybody and I was so stiff Thursday morning and they woke up.
And then, oh, the first native female UFC fighter was there.
Her name is Nico Montanio.
Oh, speaking when I didn't know anything about her.
I didn't.
I had no idea.
But like, all these just, I don't
know.
Yeah.
It's awe-inspiring to see the great the great work that Natives are doing across Turtle Island And that's what we try to do is amplify that here at native roots radios, you know And that's why it's always really great to talk to you and about your great business and all the awards that big guitars gets and so it's it you're part you're part of that native Native push and native miracle.
Yeah for people who are watching us live you could see all the great guitars and
the backdrop there.
Yeah, it's awesome guitars
here.
I love it.
Yeah, it was nice to see some people from my tribe and then from, but just from everywhere.
And you know, it's that saying that we're all related.
We are because you see people from different tribes like way far away.
And
like it reminds you of someone that you are related to or know it's just like cousins you just feel like cousins are everywhere and it's just so true we're all related and
so did you go with your mom did you go with your mom
yeah she didn't go to the conference but she hasn't been to vegas in 30 years and so she was on her own until i came back from my parents then we walked everywhere you know it is so deceiving how how close
or not close, the hotels and... Casinos are, they look right next door to each other.
No, they're not.
They're far away, you gotta walk quite a ways.
I should have put a stepping in my phone to see how much we walked.
Yeah.
Wasn't there like a heat wave out there?
Yeah, it usually doesn't get hot till like Cinco de Mayo.
And, um, yeah, it was like high 90s out there, but it felt good to us,
you know, and,
um...
But they, all the taxi drivers and everybody said, yeah, this is so hot.
And Arizona got it really bad.
And my mom has RA.
She has got a room tour.
And she's really good out there.
She did the dry air,
dry, warm air.
Yeah.
Wow.
Well,
we're
gonna just.
The next segment we'll talk about the guitar shop and stuff, but I wanted to ask you too, when you went down to Vegas, did you talk about your beating and your work?
Because that's like a thing, I think the last three years you've really picked up on and I see you around the community and powwows and also you have, I'm sure you have a set up at Big Guitars too.
Yeah, I have it all here at the shop too.
It's nice to have a storefront where I can have it.
For those that are watching, I
make
these key chains with our words and stuff on it.
It's pretty fun.
That was one of the reasons I went to is because I wanted to scope out the native market.
I wanted to see how huge it is, if it would be way too much for me to do.
And it was, it was massive.
And there's stuff that I don't see ever see up here.
And then, you know, the real turquoise and silver and even the silverseness where they're pounding out silver and oh
my
gosh.
And I heard Navajo elders, they were speaking totally in Navajo.
Wow.
And it was so beautiful to hear.
And
So the fluency of it, I was just like, ah, but just everything, just the whole experience.
But yeah, I think I kind of want to set up next year.
I'll need a helper though.
Very cool.
Very cool.
What
should go?
Vegas is
awesome.
Well, we'll share a booth.
We'll bring native roots radio down there too.
And, uh, and native roots trading post.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Get a big old, big old space.
I got space.
Yeah, awesome.
That's that's really cool to hear because uh, you know, we we we see a lot of our relatives up here with the Ishinabi and Dakota and Ho-Chunk designs would be cool to see like you say that's silver and all that Yeah, that's awesome.
That's
beautiful.
And so you're okay.
You've been back for a few days.
You know jet lag
No, but you know what, Saturday, let's see, I had to meet my aunt halfway to drop my mom off.
We meet halfway in the state, so I don't have to drive that long way.
And I had her tuck and roll out of the car.
No, I'm just
kidding.
It was the first vacation me and my mother have been on together.
And I mean, it was kind of a vacation, but I was busy.
But we just never get to spend that much time together as adults.
And it was fun.
But man, when I got home Sunday, I was so sad and I didn't know why I felt sad.
And I realized it's my mom because I was with her
all
week.
You're lucky to still have your mom.
Yeah.
Right.
Yep.
It's amazing.
So that's wonderful.
Good for you.
Yeah.
And when I hear stories like that, I get emotional.
Yeah.
You think about your mom and my mom.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're
good.
So.
Yeah.
You know, and it's like overnight.
It's like.
Oh my gosh, you are old.
I mean, you're, I mean, not like you're an old lady.
It's just like, because they look the same to us our whole life, you know, she's still like 40 and she slowed down and I would get a little impatient and I'm like, oh my God, no, she's in her 70s now.
I can't believe it.
It's just like overnight, all of a sudden they're old.
And so
Well, that's the way I feel, Angie.
I'm going to be 65 in a month, and I feel old.
And I don't know about the wisdom, but I definitely feel old.
Well,
we're lucky to get that far.
That's true.
Every
year we get to be older, we should be grateful for it.
Good call,
Wendy.
Good call.
You're lucky
to edge.
Yeah,
we are
lucky to age.
Hey everybody, we are here with Angie Big, a white birth nation Ojibwe, and our friend here in the Twin Cities, St.
Paul, Big Guitars, and we're going to talk about her shop now in the next segment and all the great things that happened there and her award-winning shop.
So this is great to have Angie on again, and this is Native Earth Radio and I hope you
right back.
Stay with us.
To Thunder, Thunder maker is and Hunter Thunder Cloud is going to be on right after native Ritz radio and we produce another show right after us and so listen to some more information and they run a treatment center in Arizona and all native treatment center and it's all male right now and they're really trying to bring people back to ceremony and also
you know, combine the 12 steps and things
like that.
So
they have a lot of great things to say and they're working hard and we really appreciate their partnership along with Chase Iron Eyes who's on Tuesdays twice a month to here on AM950.
So it's really exciting.
Hey, we are here with our friend Angie Big and Angie, we got a lot of questions and you know, one of the things we love talking about big guitars
One of the things I never ask you for is your phone number.
And I want to do that a couple times before we forget.
So people that are listening can give you a call all over Turtle Island and do some business with you.
And your address too.
Well, we'll get to the address right too.
But I always forget about the phone number.
But welcome back again, Angie.
Yeah.
Thank you for having me again.
I really appreciate it.
And congratulations on the 10th season.
That's incredible.
I was a young man when I started this.
So
our phone number is 651-219-4941.
And we are in St.
Paul in the Midway area.
We're on Snelling in Thomas.
It's 595, Snelling Avenue North.
And we have a stoplight, so we're right at a stoplight.
Yeah, it's a really perfect location.
There's a tattoo shop next door and then on the other side is a barber shop.
So How long have you been in that location?
11 and a half years.
Oh, okay.
We can't even believe it.
You know before before we opened Ted was at a
my husband Ted he was at my music in Golden Valley for almost a decade and then um and then I worked for Rainbow Foods grocery store for almost 20 years and um you know they sold and uh and I was like Ted I just I can't do it anymore I don't want to do it another 20 years let's just do it let's let's let's try it out see if it works in it and it did and you've been
there 11
years
It's nice.
So it's yeah, I mean guitars are so popular and people you know take lessons all the time and love it I was just reading something about like how weather affects the guitars
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Absolutely in Minnesota for sure because we have all the seasons and because in other you know on the west coast or down south they don't have this problem with their guitars but we do because right now we're coming out of the cold dry season it's dry as a desert right now and then
And then it's, but you could probably stop humidifying your guitars now because it's going to get pretty moist here.
Oh,
so you have to humidify them during the dry season?
Oh,
sure.
Otherwise, you'll hear it crack.
You'll hear your acoustic guitar crack because the wood, you know, they're still trees.
They're still alive and
And they're just like us.
They're they're skin dries.
So you got to treat them.
You got to treat them and humidify them and got to respect your guitars.
And then in the summer, you don't have to humidify them anymore.
In fact, you don't want to humidify them at all because when they get too moist or humid, then they start giving you problems too.
It's like you can't win.
You have to humidify them or you don't, but you can't do either, or you can't do too much of either or.
And so, but yeah, maintenance, and that's what we do here.
We, I mean, we have a lot of really great use in new instruments, but we're the largest repair shop in Minnesota, I think even in the Midwest.
And then because of all the maintenance, it has to go on these.
And then Ted Hanwine's pickups.
And then here's a, here's a good, something for Robert.
Oh,
a
banjo.
She's holding a banjo for those who are not watching online.
That's
amazing.
It's a beautiful instrument.
I mean, the wood is just gorgeous.
It's shiny and it's
beautiful.
You know, they go pretty fast because a lot of people, especially with the, um, you know, we have a huge Irish community here and not too far is the Irish center.
And, um, so a lot of the Irish players, they play banjo.
And,
um,
yeah, when I see a banjo, I just can't get deliverance out of my mind.
I'm sorry, but, uh, it's a great instrument.
And, uh,
What is it?
Steve Martin plays that, too, doesn't he?
Yeah, Steve Martin does play the game, Joe.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's really good.
Listen, man, how can he be so good at everything?
I
don't know.
I'm still wondering what I'm good at here and I'm getting ready another 10 years to retire, but so hopefully I'll figure something out.
I
haven't played my trumpet in like 10 years now.
You used to be good at that.
You're probably still good.
You probably just have to practice a little
bit.
That's
all.
Get your chops up.
That's right.
The chops, definitely.
Yeah.
Have a lot of
hot air.
Yeah.
He's
got to get rid of a lot of hot
air.
There you go.
There you go.
Gosh, yeah, everything that's going on.
Well, I like Wendy bringing up the humidity because we've talked about the guitars being a living thing over the years when you've been on.
That was a really good question.
Let's talk about some of the services and what you have in the store.
Sure.
So as far as services, we're full repair.
We do everything imaginable to any fretted instrument.
So guitar, bass, banjo, ukulele, and mandolins.
and so we don't do violins or you know cellos or anything but we do electrical work we do refreading so we pull these out these are frets and we because they get worn down especially the older the guitar obviously and the harder that you play and then we replace those
The only thing we don't do is finishing, because we don't have a spray booth here.
That is just awful, awful stuff.
It's hard to get a permit for that too, because it's so toxic.
But we have people that live up there, so we can't have it at all.
And that's fine for me, because that is horrible.
I think it's cool when I see those guitars that are worn out and played.
God, there's this Irish guy guitar player that's got another hole in his guitar.
He plays it so hard.
I can't think of his name when he was in, he was in that movie we really liked years ago.
Oh
yeah, and Willie Nelson's guitar is his.
Oh yeah.
He has that big little hole, but you know, that, I mean, that's a, that's a sound.
And um,
you
never want to, I mean, if you have something like that, people don't, people want to leave it alone, obviously.
We have a lot of that.
There's some people who have like the grimiest guitars.
and they think it's good mojo so they're like don't clean it don't clean it and it's like oh
wow it's funny it's funny it's the guy from rage against the machine uh writes graffiti on his guitar and uh last night was no it said arm
arm homeless people.
It was like, wow, this guy.
Arm the homeless.
I thought it
said, I am homeless.
It was
hard to say.
It said, arm the
homeless.
You know, I'm rage against machine.
You know, those guys, they were, they were pretty radical.
Yeah.
And we're, we're at first stab when they came in January.
No, I didn't make it.
That was, that was too bougie for me.
I couldn't wait in line, you know, but that would, that was, you were there, weren't you?
No, I had some customers that were there that filmed it.
And I was, I, so I shared the, you know, shared the video.
I, what amaze, that was just so cool to hear everybody sing back to him.
And,
um,
yeah, famous lines.
I don't know.
That was really great.
Yeah.
It is amazing.
And I'm so happy too.
And we, you know, being a child of the sixties and, you know, that all these, uh,
musicians are stepping up and really supporting what happened here in Minneapolis, but also the anti-ice and all those things that are not good in this country.
It's good to see this come up again.
It's
funny reading people's comments saying, you know, keep it out of music.
It's like, no, this is what music is all about.
It's all about expression.
It's all about, it is politics.
It's our freedoms and our rights.
And it seems like there's some people who are
backwards on what they're thinking our freedoms are.
And it has to be written about.
And that's why all these songwriters, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Neil Young especially, you
guys are
at Farm A.
No, no, but I watched it live and it was amazing and it was it was really interesting too.
They played this land as your land when we were leaving and people don't realize that that was a big protest song, you know, an amazing thing.
They almost think of it as the anthem of the United States, but really it's a protest song.
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