My guest today might be one of the funniest men I’ve ever talked to. Sonny Melendrez is a voice actor, motivational speaker, radio personality and he even hosted his very own show on Disney. 

He’s won a national award from Billboard Magazine and embodies his motto of ‘intentional enthusiasm’. 

He’s here to tell me about life as an impressionist - how he got into doing impressions, how he broke his way into the entertainment industry, and the tips he has for anyone looking at a similar career. 

From Walt Disney to Warner Bros, and even being one of the voices on The Jetsons, Sonny knows what it takes to be successful at doing what you love.

He seemingly can’t go ten minutes without whacking out another one of his impressions and has me in fits of laughter throughout. So if you’re wanting a chuckle you’ll love this episode… 

”There’s a child within us all and if every day you let that child come out and play, you can have the joy of a 3-year-old.” - Sonny Melendrez  

 

Craft beer accounts for over 25% of the $116 billion dollar U.S. beer market. But what’s it like for the people running these breweries? How do they make these beers and what makes them so good?

Today, I’m joined by the owner of LBK Brewery Mike Ngheim and his master brewer Sally Taylor.  We delve straight into the world of craft breweries. They tell me how they started their own brewery and share some tips for anyone thinking of doing something similar. 

They explain how each process affects the taste of the finished product, even down to whether you choose to store it in a can or bottle. As Mike explains, LBK's success is partly due to them brewing high quality craft beers and partly due to the environment they’ve created. 

Visiting his brew pub is an intimate experience where you can get to know the bartender, meet the brewers and learn a thing or two as well. 

Finally, they explain what makes a beer ‘good’ and tell me what they think of some of the popular mass produced beers that are out there...

”Beer is like a beauty pageant, it’s subjective. Does it taste good, does it make you happy? Then that’s a great beer regardless of who made it.” - Sally Taylor  

 

Today I’m joined by one of the Original Latin Kings of Comedy, Alex Reymundo. Not only is Alex a comedian, but he also runs and owns his tequila business together with Ron White called ‘Number Juan Tequila’.  I have a bottle for the show, planning on having a shot or two. But it’s so smooth, I keep on sipping away and end up drinking a good deal of it!

We have a real laugh as we chat about Alex’s life as a comedian, the state of comedy, cancel culture, and how he ended up in the tequila business.

We’re both from similar backgrounds, so the chat naturally moves to what it’s like being a Latino in America, and Alex even tells me about his time working with Cheech Marin...

”If you want advice from me about standup, be original, record every show so you can study it. And the third rule I tell everybody? Don’t suck.” - Alex Reymundo  

 

Believe it or not, this is the first episode ever of the Lone Star Plate solely about barbecue! My guest is Leonard Botello IV, the owner of Truth BBQ, and he uncovers the secret of why barbecue in Texas is like no other.  

Truth BBQ is based in Houston, and it has been recently featured as #10 in Texas Monthly's list of Top 50 barbecue places in Texas. Just to give you a quick backstory, they started as a roadside outpost in Brenham, Texas in 2015. Leonard took a used Klose pit and a small building on Highway 290 and turned it into a bbq hotspot bringing in people from Austin, Houston, Brenham, and after a while, all over Texas.

In this episode, we discuss the differences between barbecue in different states, and we get into Truth BBQ's process - what makes them so good, what it is that they do with briskets, ribs and sausages that leave the customers crave for more. 

We also talk about the pandemic, how it's affected Truth BBQ and why they feel grateful for the way barbecue works and how it's consumed. 

"Fire is such a delicate way of cooking. Once you figure out the temperature, you’re unstoppable" - Leonard Botello IV

 

 

Today we are taking a turn and discussing atheism on the show. 

My guest is Aron Ra, an author, atheist activist and regional director of American Atheists. He had previously served as president of the Atheist Alliance of America and ran as a Democratic candidate for Texas' District 2 Senate seat.

Aron dispels the myths of what atheism is and how people act as atheists. He is very well read and knowledgeable on the subject, so we go over the terms such as theism, atheism, anti-theism or agnosticism to explain what they mean. We also talk about politics and religion, and the loss of 'American Dream.'

Now, we are in the 'Bible Belt' here in Texas, so being an atheist is not a popular opinion amongst everybody. I would even describe myself as an atheist, but sometimes talking about atheism makes me feel uncomfortable for fear of being judged.

Although there are some points on which I don’t agree with Aron, I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I'm excited to share it with you guys. Enjoy! 

“If I read Tao Te Ching before I saw the Star Wars, then I would have identified as a Taoist, but I saw Star Wars first, so that made me a Jedi.” - Aron Ra

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We have a special episode today folks! I'm joined by two country music stars, Rudy Gatlin and George Ducas to chat about music, life, Texas, dogs and just a tiny bit of politics. 

Both Rudy and George were our guests earlier on the show, and we thought it would be great to invite them together, so they get to know each other in person, as they belong to two different generations of country musicians. 

The conversation turned out to be super fun! We talked about music of course, George showed us his guitar collection, Rudy told us stories of his beginnings in the country music industry, and they both reveal how they've been handling making a living from music today.     

Finally, we wanted to play "Bye, Bye Love" by The Everly Brothers live on Zoom. Tune in to hear what happened! 

We would like to dedicate this episode to The Gatlins' father who recently passed away, William Wayne “Curley” Gatlin. Our hearts go out to his family during this time. 

 

 

My guest, journalist Alex Hannaford, has interviewed murderers, serial killers, and even wrongly convicted felons who are on death row. He conducted these interviews for the 'Dead Man Talking' series of his true crime podcast 'Huddled Masses.'  Today, I’m interviewing him. 

What’s it like coming face to face with a serial killer? Does going to death row change your views on the death penalty? How does this work affect your personal life? 

Alex describes his experience of talking to the people that society has classed as ‘evil’, and how easy it is to humanise them when seeing them face to face. 

We also talk about the justice there is in the death penalty, and whether it is a desirable law enforcement measure. 

Finally, we discuss the recent election and the way it turned into some kind of Trump referendum...

“For every ten people executed in America, one person is freed with evidence of their innocence. That’s one in every ten.” - Alex Hannaford

 

And as you all know, we pride ourselves with having differing opinions on the podcast and this was no different.   We have a very intense episode today! My guest is attorney Jennifer Fleck, and this was the first time that the guest abruptly cut the interview short, hanging up mid-interview and mid-sentence. And we have done over 100 episodes.   From running for office to running from the law. Jennifer Fleck is a licensed attorney in the state of Texas who ran to represent the 47th district in Texas’ House of Representatives only to claim widespread fraud coming from the Travis County Clerks office, specifically Dana DeBeauvoir, the County Clerk, who has been in office since 1986. Fleck accuses Dana of being an “operative” in a larger conspiracy that is pushing socialism and working for a higher power who is feeding her orders, and having Dana and her staff fraudulently count votes and suppress poll watchers. She also claims that Austin will be burned down in two years if things don’t change.   Fleck makes these claims with zero proof, nor does she provide any evidence for her allegations besides three photos which she illegally obtained and show nothing.   In her latest attempt to bring to light what she believes is a rampant fraud, Fleck was arrested on November 3rd, the Election day at the Travis County Clerks Office for criminal trespassing after disobeying several orders from a police officer. In her vigilante style and still a licensed attorney, she claims it’s ok to break the law to expose what you believe is wrong.   My intention for this conversation was to let Jennifer get her peace out, and that we enter into a discussion, as we usually do on this podcast. It’s interesting to hear people say things without any evidence and throw around accusations, so that is why I pushed back on Jennifer. But it seemed that she didn’t expect I would challenge her on her claims, so she walked away from the interview.    Please let me know in the comments if you think I was too aggressive. Either way, we do our very best to not let misinformation get out on this show.   Enjoy this half-interview!

 

 

Texas Hill is a supergroup consisting of The Voice and American Idol alums.

Casey James was the 3rd place finalist of the American Idol's Season 9. He was also our guest in episode 50, and I've been wanting to bring him back on with the band ever since. Craig Wayne Boyd was the winner of Season 7 of The Voice. Adam Wakefield was the finalist of Season 10 of The Voice.

These guys are a powerhouse group and they don't want to be known just for singing in the talents competitions. They are making their own music, blending voices in a wonderful way. Their new self-titled EP has just been released, and they have some live shows scheduled in November.

They perform three songs live on the show, and one of them hasn't been recorded yet, so you get to hear some exclusive stuff on The Lone Star Plate!

So if you want to forget about politics for a while, here is some awesome music for you!

 

Today I’m talking to Mark Davis, a conservative radio host and host of the popular podcast ‘The Mark Davis Show’. 

Mark’s articulate, intelligent, and respectful, and talking to him is a real pleasure. 

Both working in media, we talk about his career in media and how the way people consume media is shifting and changing. 

The chat then moves onto politics, how the virus has affected the election, and why today's election is such an important one. 

Finally, we talk about Trump and how he’s changed the landscape of America’s politics and highlighted some serious flaws within our society...

“The best sign of a presidential character is telling the voters the things you’re going to do, then doing them.” - Mark Davis