Passion Pod

Warren Anderson Mathis, or better known as Bubba Sparxxx recently performed on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Bubba was kind enough to sit down backstage after his performance with Chris Johnson for this episode of the Passion Pod.

In this episode we discuss new music, how he coulda been Eminem, his relationship with Timbaland, flying first class, spending $100,000 last year on DoorDash, biggest regrets, collecting Jordans, spending $600,000 on a music video, and more.

John Vesely aka Secondhand Serenade and his good friend and supporting vocalist/guitarist Will Garrett performed on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, WI and were kind enough to sit down backstage after their performance with Passion Pod host Chris Johnson.

In this interview we discuss technical difficulties on stage, how they became friends and bandmates, playing for massive crowds across Asia, most memorable experiences along the way, and more.

Dan Marsala is the lead singer for Story of the Year, and was kind enough to record this interview backstage on the Passion Pod with Chris Johnson before their performance at Reverb Music Festival 2024.

In this interview we discuss which songs are his favorite to perform, juggling parenting and touring, the resurgence of emo music, longevity in the music industry, which rockstars he still fans out on, obscure tee shirts, and more.

Anberlin's own Christian McAlhaney (Guitar) and Deon Rexroat (Bass) sat down with Chris Johnson on the Passion Pod after their performance on Saturday, August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

In this episode we discuss the band's hiatus, switching up their singer to Matty Mullins, creating new music during the pandemic, the current state of the music industry, advice for young musicians, being fully committed to music, staying grounded, and more.

Richie Murphy is the most followed D3 college football player in the country and he plays for the UW Stout Blue Devils and this is his very first podcast interview he has ever done. Richie went viral for the first time when he was only in 5th grade and has been steadily making content and building an audience ever since. He is about to start his final season as a college athlete, but he's already built his various platforms to an obvious career after college.

In this episode we share Richie's life story from posting his first YouTube video he shot in his driveway, to recently signing an NIL deal with Kwik Trip. Richie also offers us a ton of insight behind social media, content creation, strategy, tips, misconceptions, and more.

Kevin Bolger is an Olympic cross country skier for the United States. Kevin grew up skiing in Minocqua, WI where his family is originally from. However for the last decade he has spent the majority of his time living and competing in Norway and the rest of Scandinavia where the sport really thrives. Kevin started skiing in 3rd grade, but didn't start taking it seriously until he was in high school. After graduating he moved to Utah to train full time before making the US national team. Kevin's skills grew more and more until he earned his spot on the United States Olympic team and competed in the Beijing winter Olympics in 2022 where he placed in the world overall.

Kevin's career hasn't been as glorious as some might assume however. Cross country skiing certainly has it's place in the midwest culture, but the sport is still very niche in the United States. That translates to not only a more difficult road to become internationally competitive, but it also makes it much harder for a professional skier like himself to make a sustainable living. In this episode we discuss growing up in the midwest, moving to Norway to ski with his heroes, fundraising to make his career possible, vlogging with his gold medalist girlfriend Maja Dahlqvist, competing in the Olympics during the pandemic, and much more.

Beth Stelling is a stand up comedian and tv writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Beth grew up in Dayton, Ohio before attending college and pursuing comedy and theatre in Chicago. After spending 4 years establishing herself in Chicago she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of a career in comedy. Since then she has built an incredible career for herself as a touring stand up comedian numerous appearances on major networks including full comedy specials on both HBO and Netflix. She also has an extensive list of acting roles under her belt as well as writing credits for numerous tv shows including Crashing, Strange Planet, and even Rick & Morty.

Beth performed for the first time in Eau Claire, WI at The Plus on June 9th for Clear Water Comedy and was gracious enough to let me interview her backstage before her performance. In this episode we discuss California living, how her life changed after her comedy special on Netflix came out, learning from past mistakes, what it really looks like to write for tv shows, how she creates her comedy specials, what to expect when you see her perform live, and much more.

Kathy Wright is the Director of Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, WI. Kathy has worked in the music festival industry with Country Jam and others for decades and has endless stories to share. The owners of Country Jam bought a beautiful new property a few years ago and had the idea to create a whole new music festival to share the space in the summer and so Reverb Music Festival was born with 2023 being it's first year. It's 2024 and Reverb is back and better than ever. While the festival was only a one day event last year, this year it has been expanded to two days and includes a whole new genre.

Friday August 16th will features the best in throwback hip hop including Pelly, Ka Lia Universe, Bubba Sparxxx, Mike Jones, Trick Daddy, Yung Joc, Twista, Ginuwine, and T.I..

Saturday August 17th will feature another great year of emo/pop punk bands including Amber Pacific, Emery, Secondhand Serenade, Anberlin, Hawthorne Heights, Story of the Year, and Yellowcard.

In this episode we discuss what goes on behind the scenes to make music festivals possible, stories for Reverb 2023, why 2024 will be even better, what music festivals bring to a community, why live music is so important, and much more.

Emily Carriveau is a content creator based in her hometown of Delano, MN. Emily is a stay at home mother of 3 boys who has had a lifelong obsession with crafting, garage sales, and fashion. When her sons wanted to get on social media she made her own accounts to "spy" on them, but quickly found that sharing her life online was not only fun, but also a career. Over the last several years Emily has become the Midwest Mom of the internet (@smalltownme) and has gained over a million followers across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

Emily and her mom drove all the way out to Eau Claire, WI to record her first ever podcast interview on the Passion Pod. In this episode we discuss small town living, being a stay at home mom, her online origin story, finding ways to give back, going viral online, where she gets all her ideas, hiding gift cards around town, her tv show dreams, and so much more.

JamesG aka @jamesmakesmusic is a semi professional Heelyer and music artist/producer based in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. James has been making music under the moniker of JamesG since 2012, but it wasn't until he started posted videos of himself doing tricks wearing his Heelys in 2020 that his career started to take off. As his videos started going viral online his music found more success as well. These days James is self employed and living the Heelyer dream filming new tricks and making new music all the time.

In this episode we discuss the origin of his online persona, how he navigates the challenges of a life without consistent income, finding the right sponsors, the development of his music career, his music and life inspirations, and much more.