TOKENS PODCAST: S5E16
Might we all be happier if we stopped taking ourselves too seriously? After all, “we trust people we can laugh with.” But the best kind of humor is not menial and aimless; rather, it pokes fun at shared human experience in order to make us comfortable enough to be vulnerable with each other. In this episode, singer-songwriters Andy Gullahorn and Antsy McClain describe how they have made careers out of incorporating humor into their work, not because they don’t take their work seriously, but because they do.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Andy Gullahorn is a singer/songwriter originally from Austin, TX. He moved to Nashville, TN back in the 1900’s to attend Belmont University and upon graduating, he married a girl who was about to sign a record deal with Word Records. This was Andy's greatest achievement. After years of playing guitar on the road with his wife and writing songs for various other artists, he started recording his own records again and returned to the road for solo shows as his wife wanted to be home more with their beautiful children who resemble their father. Before pandemic-land, Andy would spend most of the year on the road performing at conferences, house concerts, clubs, retreats, festivals, churches and stairwells. During COVID-time, when he is not resentfully monitoring online school for those beautiful kids, he spends his time writing songs and performing online shows accompanied by a fake applause machine. He also has a healthy appetite for hobbies. His favorites include bowling, badminton, collecting used Christmas trees, creating haunted trails for neighborhood kids, and giving high fives.
His eighth and most recent record, Everything As It Should Be, released in 2018 to great fanfare (from his mom).
Antsy McClain was born and raised in an American-made singlewide mobile home that was moved to three trailer parks during his formative years, giving him a unique perspective on life, love and the American Dream.
Antsy combined his observations, his musical and wardrobe influences to create the trailer park that time forgot, Pine View Heights, where the residents take care of each other despite their differences. And they continue to provide him with endless inspiration for his songs and stories.
Nicknamed “Antsy” as a child for his boundless energy – and the unfortunate fact that his parents couldn’t afford Ritalin – young Ronnie Joe McClain observed the people around him. They would become his heroes, his anti-heroes and fodder for an ever-growing catalogue of music.
Antsy grew up and moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he now resides with his wife, Deana Lynn. He developed a stage show that blends his love of American Roots music with his trademark, “humor with heart.” The show includes Antsy’s own life observations, some social commentary and a bevy of hilarious sponsors from back home.
As a master storyteller with many PBS, NPR and countless radio and television appearances under his belt, Antsy McClain has fine-tuned the craft of getting an audience to laugh hysterically and shed a tear – often within the same song. Whether alone with his guitar or with his band, The Trailer Park Troubadours, Antsy creates an unforgettable night of music, theater and storytelling. He has made over 25 albums of all original songs and has garnered the praise of artists like Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, Lindsay Buckingham, Tommy Smothers and many more. His albums have sold in the hundreds of thousands from decades of tireless touring and promotion.
Many of his songs have been included in projects for The Blue Collar Comedy Tour guys, Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall.
He’s been called “a national treasure” (Modesto Bee), and “a creative force” (Houston Chronicle). But his favorite quote comes from his uncle Fred, who describes Antsy as “a happier, funnier Bob Dylan.” However you may think others perceive him, you will likely think of Antsy as a friend after attending one of his concerts. His word craft and boundless energy matched with his casual, approachable persona make him a one of a kind.
ABOUT TOKENS SHOW & LEE C. CAMP
Tokens began in 2008. Our philosophical and theological variety shows and events hosted throughout the Nashville area imagine a world governed by hospitality, graciousness and joy; life marked by beauty, wonder and truthfulness; and social conditions ordered by justice, mercy and peace-making. We exhibit tokens of such a world in music-making, song-singing, and conversations about things that matter. We have fun, and we make fun: of religion, politics, and marketing. And ourselves. You might think of us as something like musicians without borders; or as poets, philosophers, theologians and humorists transgressing borders.
Lee is an Alabamian by birth, a Tennessean by choice, and has sojourned joyfully in Indiana, Texas, and Nairobi. He likes to think of himself as a radical conservative, or an orthodox liberal; loves teaching college and seminary students at Lipscomb University; delights in flying sailplanes; finds dark chocolate covered almonds with turbinado sea salt to be one of the finest confections of the human species; and gives great thanks for his lovely wife Laura, his three sons, and an abundance of family and friends, here in Music City and beyond. Besides teaching full-time, he hosts Nashville’s Tokens Show, and has authored three books. Lee has an Undergrad Degree in computer science (Lipscomb University, 1989); M.A. in theology and M.Div. (Abilene Christian University, 1993); M.A. and Ph.D. both in Christian Ethics (University of Notre Dame, 1999).
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