Music.
On our morning show today, Brian Raday is representing Mid-Continent Grid Solutions.
He is in the studio with us.
First of all, Brian, we appreciate you making the effort to come down and see us in person.
Yeah, Phil, thanks for having me.
I'm happy to be here.
So where do you hail from?
I'm in the Madison area.
So about an
hour away.
All right.
And how long have you worked for Mid-Continent Grid Solutions?
I
still work for the company earlier this year.
OK.
So you've been out and about.
You've had some meetings and things like that.
And how have they gone from your standpoint?
You know, we've gotten a lot of really good feedback on the Becky project.
You know, we had our open houses in August.
You know, we spoke to thousands of people and got some really valuable feedback that we're going to use to make the study segments that we put out better.
So we're going to refine them over the next few weeks here, and then we're going to do another round of open houses.
And those open houses and that feedback we get from people is really, really important as we work to minimize impact of this really important project.
Initially, Brian, I know you had a deadline of like, I think they said September 7th when the cutoff was, have you extended that for more public
comment?
Sure.
Yeah.
So that deadline was just so we can kind of set our rounds of public feedback.
Um, so when we get feedback from people, we use it to make these, um, these study segments better.
And September 7th was kind of the day we said, you know, please get to us before then so that our routing and signing team can sharpen their pencils.
We could take this feedback.
We can work off of it.
Um, but we still want to hear from folks.
Um, you know, we're taking public feedback, um, up until we filed with the
PSE and we'll still be here after we file with the PSE.
So if anyone, you know, wants to make their thoughts heard about the Becky project or especially if you're a potentially impacted landowner, we really, really want to hear from you on our website.
What's the feedback been like?
I mean, have you had some hostile crowds?
Yeah, you know,
we've had feedback sort of all over the board.
You know, at open houses, we had a lot of people who came just looking for information.
We had some folks who had some concerns.
And our goal is when people have concerns is we want to answer their questions.
You know, those open houses, we fill them with subject matter experts, whether it's engineering, you know, forestry, vegetation management is really important for farmers who are along study segments.
So, you know, we want people to engage with us, you know, thoughtfully, and we want to answer their questions to hopefully make them feel more comfortable.
Um, and in terms of landowners and things like that, that's, that's where a lot of the concern is, um, you know, and, and how do you respond to them when they have questions?
Sure.
So we, we want to hear from them because they know their land better than anybody.
Um, that's why we do the, this robust community engagement process that we have, um, because we don't know what we don't know.
Our routing and signing guys have access to a lot of publicly available information, satellite data, that sort of stuff.
But there are sometimes specific landscape features on people's properties or plans they have for their properties or things that we just possibly couldn't see.
Things like center pivot irrigation, things we need to be aware of so we can make informed decisions to minimize impact on the ground.
And tile that's in the ground.
You train this
tile, yep, that's another
really great
example.
So something that you would stay away from then potentially.
So another question that comes up often is why not use the current corridor?
You know, you have the interstate system.
Why not follow that?
Sure.
It's a really good question.
And the reasons for it are multifaceted.
So I'm going to take a step back to the MISO process.
So the need for Becky was determined by MISO.
MISO is our regional transmission organization.
The most helpful way to think about them is like air traffic control for the electric grid.
So before they put a project out for bid, like Becky, which was put out for bid, they look at all existing transmission corridors and see what could be accomplished through an upgrade.
So they determine the need based on peak load going up in the central region, including Wisconsin.
So when they determine that need, they have to solve it.
And a step they take before putting a project out for bid is to upgrade an existing corridor.
So they looked for that.
They accomplished that in some places.
In the Becky area, they could not accomplish it through an upgrade of an existing transmission line.
So they put out forbid connecting points of interconnection, which are the triangles you see on the map on our website or people saw at the open house.
So that part of the existing corridor is sort of taken off the table before we even get to where we are now because we prioritize existing corridors and so does myself.
So now we are looking to use existing corridors where possible because it in many cases minimizes impact.
It's also state law.
So we've looked for those opportunities, but we also have to keep in mind of homes and businesses that are along existing corridors that we don't want to disrupt.
I see.
The other question that comes up often, Brian, is people wonder about burying lines.
Has that ever been kind of, I mean, did you have that in terms of a bid or not?
Sure.
So that was not something that was out for bid to bury the line.
Um, there are some challenges with burying the line, um, in that you have to be able to access it for maintenance, um, in case there's an outage.
Um, and also air actually keeps the line cool, which is something I learned in some of these discussions.
So cooling the line when it's underground, significantly more difficult.
We need the power in Wisconsin.
Is that one of the things?
Because one of the first things I heard about Brian was that it was going to cross our state and go east and that the Wisconsin was not really going to benefit from
it.
So Wisconsin will benefit from an enhanced electric grid that will provide more reliable electricity for homes and businesses right here in Wisconsin.
So Becky is a part of a portfolio of projects that's going to kind of sit over the upper Midwest, like a backbone.
So it's a backbone of 765 kilovolt transmission.
So that's going to provide energy, another pathway to travel, which is going to increase reliability.
So when Miso does their planning, and I don't work for Miso, but I've read their documents, you know, they saw that peak load in our area is going to go up about 50% over the next 10 years.
And they determined that there were 20 pieces of critical infrastructure, transmission lines in Wisconsin that could be
Over, overrun overloaded.
by that peak load increase.
So the Becky project as part of a larger portfolio will take that stress off the currently existing electric grid and improve reliability for homes and businesses right here in Wisconsin and across the Upper Midwest.
Do data centers have an impact on
the future planning?
Sure.
So these these things take a long time to site and build, right?
So my so does long range transmission planning and the need for the Trons 2.1 portfolio that Becky's a part of go back to studies from the late 20 teens, you know, which was before I always say before
before Claude and ChatGPT, right?
It was before this data center proliferation we're seeing, and might so determine that the need for this project exists even without the data centers.
Okay.
And that's one of the things that's been brought up a lot.
I know it's, you know, it's become very political.
Our political people that are running, they're all talking about it as well.
And that's one of the things I'm sure you've heard about as well.
We have
heard about it, yeah, and we appreciate everyone's feedback.
You know, we've heard from elected officials, we've heard from candidates who have sent us information or have been covered in the news, and we're looking for that feedback.
Our goal is to minimize impact on, you know, families, businesses, communities, and the environment.
And the only way we can do that is by getting feedback from folks and hearing what's important to them.
So it's really great that we've gotten the level of engagement that we have.
So describe MISO and MidCon and Grid Solutions and how you work together, if you would.
Uh, so yeah, so my so is like I said, it's a regional transmission organization.
Um, so they're, they're kind of like air traffic control.
Um, they put this project out for bid once they determined the need for it was there and MGS was a bidder for that project.
Um, so they put it out for bid.
MGS is a joint venture company.
Um, so some companies came together to form MGS, MGS bid on this project and was awarded it by my so.
One of the things it was talked about to it when you were recently here in Richland Center was health hazards.
And you talked about studies.
Are there studies that show that there's not a health risk?
Yes.
So there have been thousands of studies over the last 50 years that show that 765 KV transmission can be done safely.
One of MGS's partner companies, American Electric Power, has been operating 765 KV transmission in the Midwest since the 1960s.
Really?
So I didn't know that any line like this existed currently in the Midwest.
Where are some other lines?
That's some good examples.
So most of their footprints in Ohio, but they have been some in Kentucky and in Indiana and Michigan, I think.
Yep, so in the Midwest.
So it's new to Wisconsin, but it's not new to the United States.
I mean, that's a point that we want people to be aware of.
So it would cross our state then, as we mentioned, heading east then, Brian.
Does it go all the way to the east coast then?
Um,
so the, the trudge 2.1 portfolio kind of, I'll say starts for lack of a better term, um, you know, cause the power can travel all over this backbone once it's built.
Um, but it goes from South Dakota across, um, Minnesota, um, into Wisconsin through the Maribel project and the Becky project.
Then it goes south Illinois.
west to Iowa, actually back north into Minnesota, and then it goes east over into Indiana.
So it's part of a pretty large portfolio of projects.
But the part that MGS is responsible for is the Becky Project, which is Bell Center to Columbia, to Sugar Creek in Walworth County, and then we hand it off at the Wisconsin-Illinois state line.
You had three different triangles on there as you mentioned that and how do you go like through each one and kind of pick out the best scenarios or how do you determine where you go?
Sure.
So those triangles were provided to us.
So when my so puts it out for bid, they put those triangles out and say, who can help us connect them?
And MGS said, you know, we can and we think we could do it in a cost effective manner that minimizes impact and we were awarded the bid.
So what are you looking at, like some red flags and things like that, where you're going to stay away from it?
How do you make the decision?
Yes, so the goal globally is to minimize impact.
You, of course, want to stay away from residences and businesses.
um, and, you know, critical habitat for endangered species, um, and wetlands and those sorts of things.
Um, it's, it's a pretty iterative process.
We're still really early in it.
Um, our routing and siting team, um, is working on the feedback that we've gotten on the study segments we put out.
Um, you know, we're going to refine those study segments.
Um, we're going to do another round of open houses and, you know, we may learn more about those refined study segments.
Um, and we're really working towards distilling our way down to what we'll eventually file with the state.
um, early next year, which is, you know, a route and at least one route alternative is what state law requires.
So we will know possibly by early next year where exactly the route's going to be.
Nope.
So the PSC will determine the final route.
Um, so, so we file, so we're doing a lot of research on these potential routes, right?
That, you know, that we think are feasible and constructable and we're trying to figure out as much as we can about them so that when we file with the state, we have a, you know,
information we can provide the state regulators.
And then the PSC will select the final route as part of the approval of our CPCN, which is the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.
That's the name of the document, essentially.
So the state PSC will pick the final route.
And we think that will be about a year after we file.
So what is the timeline?
Let's say that everything goes through.
When would work begin on this, Brian?
Sure.
So we're going to have our other round of open houses.
And then if we file early next year, which is our current schedule, we book about a year for PSC, that would lead to construction in 2029 and then in service in 2033.
So when I say we're early, I mean it.
And that's part of why the planning processes are so robust because
These projects are our major infrastructure projects.
So they take time to site and we want to do it properly.
And that's why we have this robust public engagement strategy that we've been working on for the last couple months and we're going to work on for the next few months.
Is
it inevitable that it's going to happen or can somebody step in and
put
a stop to it?
So we want people to work with us now and give us as much information as we can get so we can make informed routing and signing decisions.
The PSC process involves another layer of public engagement where people can get involved and intervene.
What
about
airports?
Do you stay away from them?
Um, they have clearance.
It's sort of like a cone coming off the runway.
It's called like a glide path.
So yes, we're aware of airports.
Um, and that's, um, something that we're looking for.
You know, there's a lot of publicly available information, um, but we also want to hear from people if they have private airstrips and things like that so that we can, you know, minimize impact on those.
Sure.
Um, you know, and of course there are always rumors out there.
Uh, one of the, and I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that, um, surveyors have been offering money to go survey on people's lands.
Have you heard anything about that or not?
Um,
we have not done any of that yet.
So that's not us.
So it could be any, could be somebody else, but that's not us.
Not you.
Okay.
What about concerns about stray voltage?
That's another thing that, uh, that we've heard a little bit about.
Yeah.
It's something that we've heard from.
Um, and it's something that we want to work with people to, you know, minimize impact, um, wherever that's possible.
Um, you know, we're confident that, um, this technology can be used safely.
Um, we want to work with people, particularly farmers who have big equipment that operate under the lines.
Um, you know, we, we want to work with them on a parcel by parcel basis, um, to make sure that we're minimizing the impact on them and their property.
Sure.
I mean, it's a long ways in the air, obviously, but, uh, still, I've heard that, you know, maybe three voltage could be an issue, especially for herds and things like that too.
Right.
Yeah, and we want, you know, we connect people with experts, you know, but, you know, transmission lines and agriculture have coexisted for a really long time and we're confident we can minimize impact in a way that doesn't impact people unnecessarily.
What about wildlife and effect on wildlife, scaring away animals and things like that?
Have you heard anything about that?
Um, you know, we've, we've heard some people coming with concerns about wildlife.
Um, you know, we, we have, um, you know, environmental experts who come to our open houses who can answer really specific questions.
Um, but, you know, our goal is, you know, and I say it a lot is to minimize impact.
Right.
Um, so, you know, we're, we're looking for critical habitat species and all of those things, um, as part of our routing and signing process.
Sure.
I mean, you can understand people's concerns.
You know, you got a family farm that's been in the family for 150 years and you know, the driftless area is pretty pristine.
I mean, I guess.
You know where people are coming from,
right?
I do.
I do.
And that's why, you know, when, when I say we're looking to minimize impact, we mean it sincerely and we want to hear from people.
And one of the ways we minimize impact, Phil, and I think this is important for, for listeners is, you know, my soul determined the need for the 765 KV backbone, right?
So a 765 kilovolt line can move six times the energy of a 345 kilovolt line.
So a 345 KV line are the largest ones in Wisconsin right now.
So if you look at like the south belt line,
or if you're coming from here in a Richland center into Middleton, those 345 lines you'll see on 14, those are 345 KV lines.
So might still determine the need for this backbone.
and they determined the solution was 765 because it replaces the need for siting six of those 345 KV lines.
So that's one of the main ways we minimize impact globally is that, you know, the alternative is multiple big infrastructure projects.
And this 765 KV technology allows us to, you know, give the economy headroom future proof, our electric grid, you know, without siting six 345 KV lines.
And our right away is only about 30 feet wider than those 345 KV lines.
and our towers are about 25 feet taller.
So there are some trade-offs, right?
But, you know, I think when you talk about impact to landowners, impact to wildlife, impact to property, you know, one 765KV line is less impactful than multiple 345KV lines.
Certainly somebody's
property value could go down.
I mean, would you agree?
So when we go to acquire easement, which is a ways away,
You know, that's after the PSC selects the final route, you know, MGS will have real estate team that will go out to acquire the easement are right away is going to be about 180 feet.
Landowners will be fairly compensated.
So they Wisconsin law, they're entitled to an assessment.
So the land will be assessed and whatever impact there is to their property value.
And especially for farmers and other folks, any impact there is temporarily during the construction process will be assessed and they will be compensated for it.
I'm sure people are looking down the road though.
It's like, I go to sell my property and is my property going to be worth less now as a
result.
Yep.
So that is what, um, you know, the assessor determines, um, and, and we make that payment one time to acquire the easement.
And then, uh, how do you determine fairly compensated, like one, one neighbor might get this much and how come you got this much?
I mean, how that's determined by one person then
or how
does that work?
So that'll be determined by the, um, assessor.
Um, and then so after the properties assessed if the winner doesn't like the assessment, they're actually entitled to an additional assessment.
So, yep.
So there's a robust process in Wisconsin state law, um, for making sure people are, are treated fairly and, and our goal, you know, we, we want to treat people in the environment with respect.
Um, you know, there's a process in state law, but we want to work with people individually to minimize impact, right?
You know, they're routing and citing decisions.
that we can make, especially if they come to us early, that can minimize the impact to where the assessment might not be so much and everyone can be happy, right?
But the more people engage with us, the more we can make those decisions earlier on.
Especially once the state approves the final line, there is less room to move.
Yeah, I mean, you can't zigzag like the old zigzag sewing machine, though.
I mean, you can't, oh, it can't go here.
I mean, it's gotta be a straight line, I presume,
right?
Mostly.
Yeah.
Um, and, and that is part of the challenge.
Um, and that's why when, you know, when we set a date like September seven, it's so we can go in and we can de-conflect all of the comments that we've gotten because, you know, sometimes a decision over here can impact the decision over here.
And sometimes you can make one change that fixes both of them, right?
Or other times if you have one, then you have to make an adjustment on, on the other side.
I mean, you know, it's an iterative process.
We're still really early in it.
Um, so we really want, want that feedback from people so that we can make informed decisions.
When will the next meetings be in the area, Brian?
We haven't found dates yet, but it'll be later this year.
We've had late fall as kind of our marker.
Brian, another thing about the line is the fact I've heard that there are fewer polls.
And is that the case?
Yes.
Yes.
So our span is going to be about a typical span of about 1200 feet.
So it's going to be, you know, four, five poles a mile.
And that allows us to make routing and siting decisions to potentially, you know, span critical habitat and make those sorts of decisions.
So that's part of our planning process.
And it's part of why the feedback is so important so that we can get a full picture of what's on the ground and what we're working with so that we can make decisions that minimize impact.
There are more poles with like a 345 line than another.
words,
right?
Yes.
Yep.
Yeah.
So these towers, um, you know, as I mentioned earlier, they're a little bit taller.
So with that height comes with the ability to span a little bit wider.
So taller towers means fewer poles.
How many wires on each pole then?
Um, so there'll be three sort of conductor sets and then it's a bundle of six wires, six wires.
Okay.
Anything else you want to add in terms of maybe some things that we don't know or some things, some, some fallacies about the
line.
No, I think that people have engaged with us thoughtfully.
We've tried to address.
There are some people who've come in and thought that we heard that the tower is going to be 200 stories high.
It's not.
It's about 175 feet high is the typical structure.
But really the main takeaway I want people to have from this and every interaction they have with me and my team is that we want to hear from them.
We value their feedback.
So our website is mgs-projects.com forward slash b-e-c-i.
We have comments on there.
We have a hotline on there.
want to hear from people.
Their feedback is important to us.
It's valuable.
We take it seriously.
We've gotten thousands of comments that we're going through the process of addressing our teams working on it today and every day ahead of the open houses we're going to have later this year.
Keep us posted on those because I know they're important to get people there and you know that kind of thing and in terms of down the road I mean if somebody can put a maybe a temporary pause on it could you see it being pushed back a few years.
I don't know.
We have our timeline.
We're working towards our filing early next year, but we're looking to collect all this information, and we have to make sure that we are filing a complete application to the Public Service Commission, and that's what we're in the process of doing right now.
As of right now, we don't see any delays.
We have time for a robust public engagement strategy.
We're in the process of working on it.
Like I said, we're sifting through thousands of comments.
We value every one of them, and that's where we are right now.
Great.
Well, we appreciate you taking the time making the effort to come down here to see us in person and not on the phone.
So
no,
we we appreciate that.
And again, thank you for your time.
And maybe we can have you back on again when things become a little bit clearer.
Yeah, that'd be great, Phil.
Thank you.
I really appreciate your time.
You bet.
Brian Raday joining us from Midcontinent Grid Solutions on this portion of the morning show.
Jay Arnst is joining us and we're looking forward to Church of Cass coming to Richland Center on the 25th of September.
Jay, can you tell us a little bit about where all of the guys are from that are in the band?
Of course, we have
A couple of Minnesota guys, but what's most importantly, I have a Wisconsin guy in the band and he is an incredible player.
His name is Bronson Bergeson.
He comes from Colfax, Wisconsin.
And I tell you, he's one of the best guitar pickers in all the land.
Awesome.
That's good.
So we've got one Packer fan and three Vikings fans or something like
that.
Yeah, it's a little bit lopsided, but you guys have more rings than we do.
That's
all right.
Let's talk about the band instead.
How about, uh, how long have you guys been together?
The Church of Cash has been together for 16 years now.
We started in Hawaii.
I used to live in Hawaii and I started the band there.
And that's when I first realized that people love and want to hear the music of Johnny Cash.
They don't just want to put on his records.
They don't want to just listen to him on the side.
They want to celebrate his music.
So I started the band The Church of Cash in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2000.
and 10 and then I moved back to Minnesota, my, my original land.
And then I started here and we've been growing it ever since.
And now we tour all over the United States and abroad.
We tour Europe and we're very excited to bring the acts back into Wisconsin.
Over the years, have you kind of changed the playlist up a little bit?
Or you do, you always have to play, you know, some of the standards for Johnny Cash.
Well, Johnny Cash has written 1500 songs.
So that's a lot of songs for me to learn.
With that being said, we know over 200 songs right now, which is still a lot of songs.
That's 17 hours straight, Johnny Cash means it's way too long.
Of course, there's the standard songs that you pretty much have to play every night.
They got your Folsom Prison, your Ring of Fire, Ghost Riders, Jackson, Sunday morning coming down one piece at a time, Boy Names Suit, you know, the big, big hits.
But we also pepper in some of the lesser known songs, some songs that Johnny Cash covered from other artists that maybe people didn't realize that Johnny Cash did.
But our main point is that we're celebrating Johnny Cash music together and that we make it a great time.
It's not a history time.
This is time for us all to come together and celebrate Johnny Cash's music.
I cannot think of another artist that crosses all genres and also all ages, Jay.
I'm sure you see all ages at your shows, don't you?
Absolutely.
I'll see some seven-year-old kid singing every single lyric with me and on the same time I'll meet somebody's grandma and they're saying she's celebrating her 97th birthday today and has it and all in everywhere in between people are fans of Johnny Cascio because of the message that he had and the lyrics that that stays with you for your whole life that you could pretty much sing today.
so take us back to your youth and when did you first realize uh... you know the music of johnny cash
well my old man is a huge johnny cash and i grew up in on a farm southern minnesota and it was always playing in the tractors those always playing in the shop and my old man has a low voice kind of like i do and he would sing the ring of fire the ring of fire which is even lower than johnny cash does so i was always listening to his music since i i could remember
To me, he was the soundtrack of my life.
And you've played all over the world.
Is there a more popular cash song overseas, so to speak, than there is here in the U.S.?
Yeah, it was a funny story.
You know, when you play Ring of Fire in the States, people go bananas.
People love the Ring of Fire.
I remember playing in Belgium and we played the Ring of Fire and we got a golf clap, like a participation clap, if you will.
And I didn't really know how to take that.
I guess it just was not a hit.
over there, but there are other songs that were hits over there that weren't hits in the United States.
For example, the songs San Quentin from his 1969 record live at San Quentin, and also Green Green Grass a Home, which Johnny didn't write, but he also did perform it, but that's such a gigantic hit across the sea.
A funny story for me growing up, I had the prison albums, you know, San Quentin and Falsum Prison when I was a kid.
And I always thought, wow, would it be really cool to be in that audience?
And I realized I would have been in prison if I was in that audience, you know?
But those albums really catapulted him into superstardom, didn't
they?
It was controversial at the time.
And when, when they pitched it to the record label, he's on Columbia records at the time.
Columbia Records was not behind it at all, but it took Johnny Cash and all of his musical weight and which he had a ton.
He was one of the best-selling artists of all time during the 60s there.
He said, like, this is what we're going to do, and you guys are going to have to be aboard with it.
And they were.
And I think everybody was surprised, maybe including Johnny, how successful that record actually was.
Have you ever had any contact with the Cash family or been on the same stage with some people that knew him?
Oh, yeah, I'm I'm good friends with Cindy cash.
It's Johnny cash's daughter from his wife Vivian So everybody knows Roseanne cash and then there was Kathy Cindy and then there was Tara those four girls that Johnny had with a Vivian and Her and I became good friends.
I was just on the phone with her yesterday by the way We've been on stage a handful of times what I love about Cindy is she's a storyteller She's not she's not I guess a singer She can sing some songs but her real talent is storytelling and the wonderful thing about her is she was
tell stories of who Johnny Cash was through the eyes of a daughter, which is a different perspective than I've ever seen when it comes to documentaries or people writing books about him.
It gives a whole different light of who the man was.
And to hear who he was through the eyes of a daughter, I think is the most insightful way you can find out about a person.
From what you've heard and some of the stories you've been told, anything that you've learned that you didn't know, maybe you were kind of surprised about concerning the life of Johnny Cash.
Well, I guess to tie it in with Cindy, we all remember the famous photo of Johnny Cash given the middle finger.
It's everywhere.
It's on the billboards, it's on t-shirts.
Everybody's seen it on a poster.
Now,
how that story came along.
This is deep inside baseball here.
This is not even written down anywhere.
So Johnny Cash was at his home.
Cindy was hanging out.
Rick Rubin, who went on to produce Johnny Cash's last records, his famous producer, he was appalled by the record label's decision to drop Johnny Cash after 30 years of playing music on their record label.
I guess it was some young record executive that wanted to make some kind of impression, but you don't fire Johnny Cash from a record.
Are you kidding me?
So Rick Rubin called up Johnny Cash said, Johnny, I can't believe this is what they did to you.
I found this picture that you did during the San Quentin photo shoot backstage.
And so you given the middle finger, I'm thinking about taking a, the fold out of the billboard magazine and having, you know, that's what.
two-and-a-half feet tall of you doing that middle finger and on the top it'll say thank you Nashville music industry for all the support and Johnny Cash given the finger which is a big middle finger to the whole Nashville music machine Johnny Cash was on the phone he's he said I don't know I don't know Rick I don't know I don't know I just don't know what to think how about I'll let you talk to my daughter Cindy so Cindy picks up the phone and she says yes Rick
Oh, really?
Okay.
Yes, Rick, run it.
And it was Cindy's decision to let Rick run it in that paper.
And after that, that photo became so famous with Johnny Cash.
Almost part of his, almost identity is wrapped up in that photo too.
And it was at the behest, the decision of Cindy Cash, cause she happened to be in the office that day with her dad.
Tell us about the fact that you're a part of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
Oh, very much.
Yes.
I feel very honored to be part of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
I toured all over the world for many years, but made a lot of records, and I finally got recognized for the efforts I've put forward to create effects in this music industry.
I remember being inducted.
It was just three years ago.
It was very much an honor to be read off some of the accomplishments I have, but I think the biggest honor is to be
on a same piece of paper as Bob Dylan and Prince, some of my hometown polka heroes like the Six Fat Dutchman and Whoopi John Wilford, some of these guys that I've known my whole life, let alone the replacements and all these other wonderful, fantastic and iconic Minnesota artists.
I guess it's a real pleasure and it's something that I feel like I still owe too.
The, uh, the club, the agency is to keep producing music and keep entertaining because, um, that's what I got recognized for.
And so I'm going to continue to do till I fall off that stage.
Well, Jake, tell us about the rest of the band, uh, church of Christ.
Yes.
Well, the rest of the band, they're, um, we got Jonathan to beast on drums.
Him and I have been playing music.
27, 28 years.
We're like brothers.
We've been playing music forever and he also sings back up.
So we're,
Utterly locked in as anybody that hangs out with each other for 30 years.
Of course, we have Bronson Burgesson, as I mentioned earlier, one of your Wisconsin-owned on-guitar.
He's an excellent picker.
He toured all around the nation, lived in Texas for a long time.
On many country records, this guy is a country picker.
Unreal, probably the best in my opinion, one of the best.
Not only in Wisconsin, but in the upper Midwest.
Hands down, fantastic player.
and then on the base i got my good friend eric strew from rochester i'd like to say he's a test tube baby from the mayo clinic but in actuality he is born of flesh and blood to a mother and father and uh... he holds down the band on the base and together we form church of cash johnny cash tribute show can't wait to play some music
awesome and the base uh... drums pretty important in those johnny cash songs right
well you know that it not not only do they support
supply the music underneath Johnny Cash, but the whole band supplies that boom chicka boom sound, which is what the Johnny Cash band discovered and maintained through his career.
And before you even hear Johnny Cash play after the song is starting to roll, you might just might think, hey, isn't this a Johnny Cash song because you understand and can recognize those tones coming from the band.
And that's what this band is
can faithfully recreate.
Before I even start singing Johnny Cash, you know that is the music of Johnny Cash.
What song, uh, do you never get tired of singing from the repertoire that you guys play?
Oh, that's a good question.
There's a song called the highway men.
And if you remember in like 1985, 1986, Johnny Cash got together with his good buddies, Whalen Jennings, Chris Christopherson, Willie Nelson, and they created a super group that called the high women and they,
Sing the song aptly named the highwayman and all four of them sing it and Every night when I get to sing that song it's it's just a thrill for me I think it's got wonderful lyrics The music is comforting and wonderful and my favorite part is when I look out in the audience and I start singing these songs and I can start I see people from time to time basically singing along with me that just means that
These songs mean something very very special to them and we're having a moment together.
When Johnny Cash sings the part I fly starship I still get chills when I hear that one.
I know it just, it just feel like he's going on into the incident and that he'll be with us forever.
Well his music certainly is.
Anything else you want to add about the show here in Richland Center Jay?
We put a lot of time and effort
to make these songs sound good.
And not only that, but we want to make this show entertaining.
Some folks might be thinking, well, I only know two Johnny Cash songs.
Well, realistically, when you come and hear it, you're going to know 10.
And I'm going to play 20.
And the rest of those 10 that you don't know, I'm going to make so dang fun that you're going to walk away saying, hey, that was a great concert.
We've been doing this forever.
And we are considered the best Johnny Cash tribute show in the world.
So I'm happy to bring it to you.
and we can celebrate his music together.
And all ages, as you said, bring the family, bring the kids, right?
Bring the family, bring the kid.
There's nothing more wholesome than a Johnny Cash show.
So I hope to bring the whole family, bring Grandma and Grandpa, bring the kids, bring the nieces and nephews.
We're gonna have a great time together.
Well, I don't know if they've told you, but it's the oldest auditorium in the state of Wisconsin.
Now they've done a restoration.
They've done amazing things with it.
And I think the music of Cash is gonna be pretty fitting in that, that old venue.
I think it's going to resonate alongside all the music that's ever been played there for over a hundred years.
So I'm excited.
All right, Jay, we'll see you soon.
Thanks a lot for joining us.
Thanks Phil.
Appreciate it.
You bet Jay earns representing Church of Cash.
Again the show comes up at the City Auditorium in Richland Center September 25th.
It starts at seven o'clock.
Tickets $25 again all ages and you can find that more ticket info at the Richland City Auditorium website through Eventbrite and you can also contact Mick Cosgrove at AmeriPrize locally for more information.
Lacey, Stephens joins us.
We're talking about the upcoming Hub City dirt drags, which keep getting bigger every time they're out there.
Lacey, you're excited.
I know you were back when we talked to you in the spring about the fall thing.
And here we are almost ready to go.
Yeah, absolutely.
So the Hub City, we call our fall events our diesel truck challenge because it has that big event in it where we limit it to 40 trucks.
They're going to compete for the chance to win $20,000 by drag racing.
They're going to be on the dyno and new for 2026.
They're also going to be competing flood pulling on Friday night.
Wow.
Tell us a little bit more about that.
How does that work?
Yeah, so we've got a limit of 40 trucks.
I believe we have 39 registered.
So probably one spot left in the diesel truck challenge.
This is the fifth year of the diesel truck challenge.
Um, and it draws in competitors from all across the United States.
Um, you know, buying to get that spot in the first place for the city diesel truck challenge.
So right now it's kind of timely that you're on because I know you have some, some local ticket specials, don't you?
Yeah, so we always want to make sure that this event is super attainable to everybody.
So we are offering $10 off a weekend pass if you purchase your tickets locally.
So those tickets can be purchased at the Tesnik Power Sports, Jones Chevrolet, and Chet Speed & Seed.
And then that's $30 for the whole weekend.
And you need one of those tickets for anybody who's 12 or older.
So 12 and under is a free admission.
but 12 and older will need a ticket.
So that's $30 for admission for both Friday and Saturday.
We always talk about the amount of impact that events have in our area.
This one has as much impact for tourism as any.
What was the attendance like in your most recent one earlier this year?
Any idea on the numbers?
Yeah, you know the numbers are a little a little fuzzy, but I can tell you that we filled not only the overflow parking across on AA From the grandstands, but we actually moved into the parking lots off of industrial court So we completely filled the fairgrounds property and then moved into some of the city's property to fill up for spectator parking and off-site trailer parking so
We anticipate that this fall will probably be a very similar crowd.
You know, if mother nature works with us, but this event does happen rain or shine.
Yeah, it does.
What about some volunteers and civic groups that may want to be a part of it?
Absolutely.
So we always have room for groups specifically, but if we have individuals who are also looking to just help out.
For our groups, we do offer, typically if it's a four or five hour shift, we'll ask for six or eight people and then we do compensate the group up to $500 per shift.
So we do have some spots in parking still and at our gates where we're charging for admission.
So if you have a group or an organization that's looking to raise some money,
We would love to have you reach out to us, either through our Facebook page or the website, and we can find a spot to put you in our volunteer schedule.
All of those volunteers also do get free weekend admissions.
So even if you're volunteering on Sunday to help us clean up, you can come out on Thursday and we'll get you passes for all of your groups so they can come enjoy the show and then volunteer on Sunday.
So this will take over the fairgrounds that weekend, a Friday night and Saturday night, a Saturday and Saturday night.
Could you go over the schedule a little bit with us, Lacey, and kind of let us know what it looks like?
Yeah, we're actually going to be onsite as early as Wednesday this year because we have completely funded our Save the Grand Stands for the Bleacher projects.
So we'll be out there working with Richland Co-op as well as some other local co-ops to get that Bleacher project completed on Wednesday.
Thursday night, we're going to have a meet and greet for the community.
So if you're part of the chamber or the business community, or just interested to see what's happening out at the fairgrounds, we would love to have you come out on Thursday night.
We'll be doing some test passes.
We've got some live music.
So that's kind of like our community welcome.
And then our events will kick off on Friday.
We start right away in the morning with our challenge trucks on the dyno.
And then the big show will kick off at 6 PM.
So we're going to do
two sessions of truck and tractor pulling, one at 6 p.m.
Friday night and then at 11 a.m.
on Saturday, we'll be doing four of our big classes of trucks, so they're gonna get two hooks out there.
So we heard that the community really wanted to see some more truck and tractor pulling, so we thought we'd throw in two sessions of that.
And then at three o'clock on Saturday, we will kick off with our diesel truck challenge, which not only includes our challenge class,
our series that we've been running all summer, as well as 13 other drug race classes.
So that'll go well into the evening on Saturday night.
What excites you the most about the weekend, Lacey?
Oh, golly.
You know, I think the experience that happens on the ground.
So one of the fun things, just a little sprinkle on the ice cream that we're doing, we just signed a contract with a face painter.
So on Friday night, we're going to have free face painting for the kids.
So we've got some checkered flag designs.
We've got our Hub City logo.
So that's super fun.
We really want to create an environment that's very family friendly.
It's always going to be there.
There's always that risk.
We're out of motor sports events.
So things might get wild for a minute.
But creating that safe experience.
So we've got face painting.
We have a gal that's coming that will be branding doing custom brands on boots and truck seats.
We have tons of food vendors that are coming, so I think 13 food trucks will be on property.
So really, for me, it's about the experience.
The racing is great, the burnout road is fun, show and shine.
We have plenty of room there yet, but the experience that everybody, all of our guests get to experience when they come in, they see all the action and then get to eat the yummy food and maybe play some carnival games while they're watching the drag racing.
Coming up in October, that again is the coming up the 9th and the 10th, and it's a little ways off.
But again, now local people can get the special deals on tickets, Lacey.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yep.
Visit our local partners to get $10 off your weekend admission.
And you have lots of other sponsors and volunteers as well.
Anybody else that you would like to recognize?
I hate to start recognizing them by name because I'm always going to leave one out.
So I just want everybody to say who has been a contributor to this event to help make it happen.
We're super grateful for everyone's support.
The Richland Center area has welcomed us and we look forward to hosting another great event this October 9th and 10th out at the Fairgrounds and hope to see everybody out there.
Sounds good, Lacey.
Thanks for joining us and we'll talk to you again soon.
Thanks Phil.
Lacey Cephas joining us representing Hub City dirt drags coming soon to the area.
Jay Arnst is joining us and we're looking forward to Church of Cass coming to Richland Center on the 25th of September.
Jay, can you tell us a little bit about where all of the guys are from that are in the band?
Of course, we have
A couple of Minnesota guys, but what's most importantly, I have a Wisconsin guy in the band and he is an incredible player.
His name is Bronson Bergeson.
He comes from Colfax, Wisconsin.
And I tell you, he's one of the best guitar pickers in all the land.
Awesome.
That's good.
So we've got one Packer fan and three Vikings fans or something like
that.
Yeah, it's a little bit lopsided, but you guys have more rings than we do.
That's
all right.
Let's talk about the band instead.
How about, uh, how long have you guys been together?
The Church of Cash has been together for 16 years now.
We started in Hawaii.
I used to live in Hawaii and I started the band there.
And that's when I first realized that people love and want to hear the music of Johnny Cash.
They don't just want to put on his records.
They don't want to just listen to him on the side.
They want to celebrate his music.
So I started the band The Church of Cash in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2000.
and 10 and then I moved back to Minnesota, my, my original land.
And then I started here and we've been growing it ever since.
And now we tour all over the United States and abroad.
We tour Europe and we're very excited to bring the acts back into Wisconsin.
Over the years, have you kind of changed the playlist up a little bit?
Or you do, you always have to play, you know, some of the standards for Johnny Cash.
Well, Johnny Cash has written 1500 songs.
So that's a lot of songs for me to learn.
With that being said, we know over 200 songs right now, which is still a lot of songs.
That's 17 hours straight, Johnny Cash means it's way too long.
Of course, there's the standard songs that you pretty much have to play every night.
They got your Folsom Prison, your Ring of Fire, Ghost Riders, Jackson, Sunday morning coming down one piece at a time, Boy Names Suit, you know, the big, big hits.
But we also pepper in some of the lesser known songs, some songs that Johnny Cash covered from other artists that maybe people didn't realize that Johnny Cash did.
But our main point is that we're celebrating Johnny Cash music together and that we make it a great time.
It's not a history time.
This is time for us all to come together and celebrate Johnny Cash's music.
I cannot think of another artist that crosses all genres and also all ages, Jay.
I'm sure you see all ages at your shows, don't you?
Absolutely.
I'll see some seven-year-old kid singing every single lyric with me and on the same time I'll meet somebody's grandma and they're saying she's celebrating her 97th birthday today and has it and all in everywhere in between people are fans of Johnny Cascio because of the message that he had and the lyrics that that stays with you for your whole life that you could pretty much sing today.
so take us back to your youth and when did you first realize uh... you know the music of johnny cash
well my old man is a huge johnny cash and i grew up in on a farm southern minnesota and it was always playing in the tractors those always playing in the shop and my old man has a low voice kind of like i do and he would sing the ring of fire the ring of fire which is even lower than johnny cash does so i was always listening to his music since i i could remember
To me, he was the soundtrack of my life.
And you've played all over the world.
Is there a more popular cash song overseas, so to speak, than there is here in the U.S.?
Yeah, it was a funny story.
You know, when you play Ring of Fire in the States, people go bananas.
People love the Ring of Fire.
I remember playing in Belgium and we played the Ring of Fire and we got a golf clap, like a participation clap, if you will.
And I didn't really know how to take that.
I guess it just was not a hit.
over there, but there are other songs that were hits over there that weren't hits in the United States.
For example, the songs San Quentin from his 1969 record live at San Quentin, and also Green Green Grass a Home, which Johnny didn't write, but he also did perform it, but that's such a gigantic hit across the sea.
A funny story for me growing up, I had the prison albums, you know, San Quentin and Falsum Prison when I was a kid.
And I always thought, wow, would it be really cool to be in that audience?
And I realized I would have been in prison if I was in that audience, you know?
But those albums really catapulted him into superstardom, didn't
they?
It was controversial at the time.
And when, when they pitched it to the record label, he's on Columbia records at the time.
Columbia Records was not behind it at all, but it took Johnny Cash and all of his musical weight and which he had a ton.
He was one of the best-selling artists of all time during the 60s there.
He said, like, this is what we're going to do, and you guys are going to have to be aboard with it.
And they were.
And I think everybody was surprised, maybe including Johnny, how successful that record actually was.
Have you ever had any contact with the Cash family or been on the same stage with some people that knew him?
Oh, yeah, I'm I'm good friends with Cindy cash.
It's Johnny cash's daughter from his wife Vivian So everybody knows Roseanne cash and then there was Kathy Cindy and then there was Tara those four girls that Johnny had with a Vivian and Her and I became good friends.
I was just on the phone with her yesterday by the way We've been on stage a handful of times what I love about Cindy is she's a storyteller She's not she's not I guess a singer She can sing some songs but her real talent is storytelling and the wonderful thing about her is she was
tell stories of who Johnny Cash was through the eyes of a daughter, which is a different perspective than I've ever seen when it comes to documentaries or people writing books about him.
It gives a whole different light of who the man was.
And to hear who he was through the eyes of a daughter, I think is the most insightful way you can find out about a person.
From what you've heard and some of the stories you've been told, anything that you've learned that you didn't know, maybe you were kind of surprised about concerning the life of Johnny Cash.
Well, I guess to tie it in with Cindy, we all remember the famous photo of Johnny Cash given the middle finger.
It's everywhere.
It's on the billboards, it's on t-shirts.
Everybody's seen it on a poster.
Now,
how that story came along.
This is deep inside baseball here.
This is not even written down anywhere.
So Johnny Cash was at his home.
Cindy was hanging out.
Rick Rubin, who went on to produce Johnny Cash's last records, his famous producer, he was appalled by the record label's decision to drop Johnny Cash after 30 years of playing music on their record label.
I guess it was some young record executive that wanted to make some kind of impression, but you don't fire Johnny Cash from a record.
Are you kidding me?
So Rick Rubin called up Johnny Cash said, Johnny, I can't believe this is what they did to you.
I found this picture that you did during the San Quentin photo shoot backstage.
And so you given the middle finger, I'm thinking about taking a, the fold out of the billboard magazine and having, you know, that's what.
two-and-a-half feet tall of you doing that middle finger and on the top it'll say thank you Nashville music industry for all the support and Johnny Cash given the finger which is a big middle finger to the whole Nashville music machine Johnny Cash was on the phone he's he said I don't know I don't know Rick I don't know I don't know I just don't know what to think how about I'll let you talk to my daughter Cindy so Cindy picks up the phone and she says yes Rick
Oh, really?
Okay.
Yes, Rick, run it.
And it was Cindy's decision to let Rick run it in that paper.
And after that, that photo became so famous with Johnny Cash.
Almost part of his, almost identity is wrapped up in that photo too.
And it was at the behest, the decision of Cindy Cash, cause she happened to be in the office that day with her dad.
Tell us about the fact that you're a part of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
Oh, very much.
Yes.
I feel very honored to be part of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
I toured all over the world for many years, but made a lot of records, and I finally got recognized for the efforts I've put forward to create effects in this music industry.
I remember being inducted.
It was just three years ago.
It was very much an honor to be read off some of the accomplishments I have, but I think the biggest honor is to be
on a same piece of paper as Bob Dylan and Prince, some of my hometown polka heroes like the Six Fat Dutchman and Whoopi John Wilford, some of these guys that I've known my whole life, let alone the replacements and all these other wonderful, fantastic and iconic Minnesota artists.
I guess it's a real pleasure and it's something that I feel like I still owe too.
The, uh, the club, the agency is to keep producing music and keep entertaining because, um, that's what I got recognized for.
And so I'm going to continue to do till I fall off that stage.
Well, Jake, tell us about the rest of the band, uh, church of Christ.
Yes.
Well, the rest of the band, they're, um, we got Jonathan to beast on drums.
Him and I have been playing music.
27, 28 years.
We're like brothers.
We've been playing music forever and he also sings back up.
So we're,
Utterly locked in as anybody that hangs out with each other for 30 years.
Of course, we have Bronson Burgesson, as I mentioned earlier, one of your Wisconsin-owned on-guitar.
He's an excellent picker.
He toured all around the nation, lived in Texas for a long time.
On many country records, this guy is a country picker.
Unreal, probably the best in my opinion, one of the best.
Not only in Wisconsin, but in the upper Midwest.
Hands down, fantastic player.
and then on the base i got my good friend eric strew from rochester i'd like to say he's a test tube baby from the mayo clinic but in actuality he is born of flesh and blood to a mother and father and uh... he holds down the band on the base and together we form church of cash johnny cash tribute show can't wait to play some music
awesome and the base uh... drums pretty important in those johnny cash songs right
well you know that it not not only do they support
supply the music underneath Johnny Cash, but the whole band supplies that boom chicka boom sound, which is what the Johnny Cash band discovered and maintained through his career.
And before you even hear Johnny Cash play after the song is starting to roll, you might just might think, hey, isn't this a Johnny Cash song because you understand and can recognize those tones coming from the band.
And that's what this band is
can faithfully recreate.
Before I even start singing Johnny Cash, you know that is the music of Johnny Cash.
What song, uh, do you never get tired of singing from the repertoire that you guys play?
Oh, that's a good question.
There's a song called the highway men.
And if you remember in like 1985, 1986, Johnny Cash got together with his good buddies, Whalen Jennings, Chris Christopherson, Willie Nelson, and they created a super group that called the high women and they,
Sing the song aptly named the highwayman and all four of them sing it and Every night when I get to sing that song it's it's just a thrill for me I think it's got wonderful lyrics The music is comforting and wonderful and my favorite part is when I look out in the audience and I start singing these songs and I can start I see people from time to time basically singing along with me that just means that
These songs mean something very very special to them and we're having a moment together.
When Johnny Cash sings the part I fly starship I still get chills when I hear that one.
I know it just, it just feel like he's going on into the incident and that he'll be with us forever.
Well his music certainly is.
Anything else you want to add about the show here in Richland Center Jay?
We put a lot of time and effort
to make these songs sound good.
And not only that, but we want to make this show entertaining.
Some folks might be thinking, well, I only know two Johnny Cash songs.
Well, realistically, when you come and hear it, you're going to know 10.
And I'm going to play 20.
And the rest of those 10 that you don't know, I'm going to make so dang fun that you're going to walk away saying, hey, that was a great concert.
We've been doing this forever.
And we are considered the best Johnny Cash tribute show in the world.
So I'm happy to bring it to you.
and we can celebrate his music together.
And all ages, as you said, bring the family, bring the kids, right?
Bring the family, bring the kid.
There's nothing more wholesome than a Johnny Cash show.
So I hope to bring the whole family, bring Grandma and Grandpa, bring the kids, bring the nieces and nephews.
We're gonna have a great time together.
Well, I don't know if they've told you, but it's the oldest auditorium in the state of Wisconsin.
Now they've done a restoration.
They've done amazing things with it.
And I think the music of Cash is gonna be pretty fitting in that, that old venue.
I think it's going to resonate alongside all the music that's ever been played there for over a hundred years.
So I'm excited.
All right, Jay, we'll see you soon.
Thanks a lot for joining us.
Thanks Phil.
Appreciate it.
You bet Jay earns representing Church of Cash.
Again the show comes up at the City Auditorium in Richland Center September 25th.
It starts at seven o'clock.
Tickets $25 again all ages and you can find that more ticket info at the Richland City Auditorium website through Eventbrite and you can also contact Mick Cosgrove at AmeriPrize locally for more information.