The Real Boone Podcast

Pressley Laton is a singer-songwriter and bandleader based in Boone, NC, who traded a six-year career in higher education at App State to bet on music full time. She grew up singing in church in Stanley County, taught herself guitar in high school, and spent years thinking about pursuing music before finally diving in during 2022. What started as random cover gigs at Booneshine with Ray Edmonds turned into the Pressley Laton Band, a tight-knit group that won the Merle Fest band competition in 2024 and is now preparing to release their debut album, Wondering Kind.

In this episode, Pressley walks us through the leap from admissions counselor to independent artist, the moment she stopped introducing herself by her day job, and what it was like to stand on the Hillside stage at Merle Fest thinking there was no way they'd win. We talk about the business side of running a band, how live performances and merch sales sustain the operation, and why she's building something local instead of chasing Nashville. Pressley gets honest about imposter syndrome, the perceived judgment from people who thought she was crazy for leaving a stable career, and how winning Merle Fest gave her the first real wind in her sails.

We get into songwriting, storytelling, and the craft of turning a single overheard phrase into a full song. She shares the inspiration behind Traveling Time, the song about her grandfather's Alzheimer's that she can't perform without crying, and Wondering Kind, the title track written about the people who believed in her when the path felt ridiculous. We also talk about what makes the High Country music scene unique, the gap between Boone Saloon and App Theater, and her vision for more country music to take root in a region that loves bluegrass and folk but hasn't fully embraced the genre she's building her life around.

From King Street to the Grand Ole Opry, from self-doubt to sold-out shows, this is a conversation about small business, storytelling, and the courage it takes to stop waiting and just start.

Support local stories from the High Country—follow and share!

🔗 Pressley Laton Music (https://pressleylaton.com)

🌐 Real Boone Studios (https://www.realboone.com/)

📸 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realboonestudios)

💬 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Lisa Cooper is the CEO of Mast General Store, a fifth-generation family business that has become a cornerstone of mountain retail across the High Country of North Carolina and beyond. Lisa didn't choose this path at first—when her parents sold everything they had in Florida to buy a shuttered 100-year-old general store in Valle Crucis in 1980, 11-year-old Lisa cried herself to sleep on the third floor wondering what they'd done. But somewhere between cleaning out old coolers, working the candy counter, and learning the art of buying from scratch, she fell in love with the store and never left.

In this episode, Lisa walks us through the unlikely origin story of Mast General Store—how her parents took a leap of faith in their early 30s to reopen a historic building in the middle of nowhere, how they asked the community what they wanted and brought back the post office for a dollar a year, and how they built a business on the foundation of treating customers like they're walking into your home. We talk about Lisa's own journey from reluctant kid to candy buyer to fashion buyer to learning open-to-buy systems by hand with a pencil, and eventually stepping into the CEO role when her employees told her it was hers to lead.

We get into the realities of running a 500-plus employee, 11-location retail operation—how they weather financial storms, why every store has creaky wooden floors by design, and what it takes to ship same-day orders from every location. Lisa shares the story of surviving the 2020 pandemic when they went from 580 employees to 38 overnight, how Hurricane Helene knocked their sales down to 10% of projections in a single month, and why their Employee Stock Ownership Program has created a culture where people stay for decades. We also talk about the power of nostalgia in retail, why Charleston Chews and Charles Chips still matter, and how Lisa is bringing Bats of Boone to life as a new downtown scavenger hunt for families visiting the High Country.

From Valle Crucis to Boone to Waynesville to Chattanooga, this is a conversation about legacy, community, creaky floors, and what it means to sell stuff so you can do good stuff.

Support local stories from the High Country—follow and share!

🔗 Mast General Store (https://www.mastgeneralstore.com)

🌐 Real Boone Studios (https://www.realboone.com/)

📸 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realboonestudios)

💬 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Steve Marks is the Executive Director of Watauga Long-Term Recovery Group and the Fire Chief of Cove Creek Fire Department. With over 40 years in firefighting, a Master's in Emergency Management, a Master's in Divinity, and a background in storm chasing and meteorology, Steve has spent his life responding to crisis. But two years after Hurricane Helene devastated the High Country of North Carolina, his work is far from over.

In this episode, we sit down with Steve on the eve of Helene's second anniversary to talk about what long-term recovery actually looks like, why 200 households in Watauga County are still receiving active support, and the misconception that we've moved on. We get into the first 10 days after the storm when communications went dark and volunteer crews operated without radios, the stories of water rescues and neighbors clinging to trees in floodwaters, and the quiet leadership of a community-driven recovery group that has become a model across Western North Carolina.

Steve walks us through his origin story as a firefighter, tracing it back to 1972 when his parents bought a fire scanner and drove him to watch the big fires. We talk about his years chasing tornadoes across the Great Plains, punching hail cores with National Weather Service forecasters, and the moment in Spencer, South Dakota, when storm chasing lost its appeal after witnessing the human cost of severe weather. We also discuss his unexpected and reluctant calling into ministry, his time as a hospital chaplain learning to sit in silence with people in crisis, and how God kept pulling him into roles he never wanted but couldn't refuse.

From emergency response to seminary, from disaster preparedness to centering prayer, this is a conversation about showing up, listening, and making space for what matters. Steve's vision for the High Country is simple: that those who have would care for those who have not, and that we'd all move from just living to flourishing together.

Support local stories from the High Country—follow and share!

🔗 Watauga Long-Term Recovery Group (https://wataugaltrg.org)

🌐 Real Boone Studios (https://www.realboone.com/)

📸 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realboonestudios)

💬 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

David Ray is the Executive Director of Blue Ridge Conservancy, a Boone-based land trust working to permanently protect natural resources across seven counties in the High Country of North Carolina. With a law degree from the University of Georgia and over two decades in conservation work, David made the leap from environmental law to land protection—a career shift that finally aligned his work with his values.

In this episode, we talk with David about what land conservation actually means and why it matters—from protecting wildlife corridors and water quality to preserving scenic views and creating public access to nature. We get into the mechanics of conservation easements, how land trusts operate in perpetuity, and the complex logistics behind major projects like the Middle Fork Greenway and the Northern Peaks State Trail.

David walks us through some of Blue Ridge Conservancy's biggest wins: the decades-long effort to finally protect Howard Knob and open the Knob Boulders and Nature Park, the expansion of trail systems connecting Boone to Blowing Rock and beyond, and ongoing work to safeguard land around Grandfather Mountain. We also discuss the rare amphibolite geology that makes the High Country's mountain ranges ecologically unique, the community support that makes forever conservation possible, and what it takes to raise millions in private funding to close on critical land deals.

It's a detailed look at the infrastructure, strategy, and long-term thinking behind saving the places we love in the mountains of North Carolina.

Support local stories from the High Country—follow and share!

🔗 Blue Ridge Conservancy (https://blueridgeconservancy.org)

🌐 Real Boone Studios (https://www.realboone.com/)

📸 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realboonestudios)

💬 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Watauga County Schools has nine schools, and Dr. Leslie Alexander knows every one of them. She's the superintendent here in Boone, NC — an App State alum who came up through the classroom as a high school English teacher, spent nine years as a principal, and took the top job in the High Country of North Carolina in 2023 because it was the only opening she wanted. In this episode she talks about her rural Kentucky childhood and what it taught her about what school should be, the long road from teacher to principal to central office, visiting every school in the district before she ever had the job, leading a mountain system through Hurricane Helene, and the decisions families never see her make — from snow days to facilities planning decades out.

In Boone, NC, nobody checks the weather app — they check Ray’s Weather. Dr. Ray Russell is the founder of RaysWeather.Com, the most trusted forecast in the High Country of North Carolina, and he's entirely self-taught. He spent three decades teaching computer science at Appalachian State University while a backyard weather station and a few snow forecasts posted to his faculty page quietly grew into a regional institution. Today it's read daily by families, schools, businesses, and emergency crews across northwest North Carolina.

Gray Shipley of Shipley Farms joins us to talk about why real food has gotten so hard to find — and so hard to eat. Gray runs sales, marketing, and finance for his family's fifth-generation cattle operation in Vilas, just outside Boone, NC, where the Shipleys have raised pasture-raised, hormone-free beef since 1872.

We get into the state of the American food system, what changes when you eat food raised the way it used to be raised, and the real infrastructure behind running a farm as a business — from processing and distribution to keeping a 150-year legacy financially viable in the High Country of North Carolina today.

Support local stories from the High Country—follow and share!

🔗 ⁠⁠Shipley Farms

🌐 ⁠⁠Real Boone Studios⁠⁠

📸 ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠

💬 ⁠⁠[email protected]

Eric Woolridge is the President of Destination by Design, a Boone-based planning and design firm that helps small towns across the U.S. plan, build, and market themselves as destination-quality communities. With over 20 years of experience and work across 150+ local government jurisdictions, Eric and his team blend land use planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, and place branding into one shop.

In this episode, we talk with Eric about what it actually takes to transform a small town — how tourism tax dollars get prioritized and deployed for projects like greenways, mountain bike parks, and downtown revitalization. We get into the business of running a firm like Destination by Design, the gap between a town's potential and its execution, and what the High Country of North Carolina gets right (and could do better) when it comes to planning for growth.

🔗 ⁠⁠DBD

🌐 ⁠⁠Real Boone Studios⁠⁠

📸 ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠

💬 ⁠⁠[email protected]

Amy Lowrey is the owner of Tiny Hands Pottery, a handcrafted ceramics studio based in Boone, NC. Amy calls herself an accidental potter — she spent her adult life in the nonprofit world, building homes in Mexico, traveling to 40+ countries, and helping underserved students access college funding. Then in 2015 she took a pottery class, fell completely in love, and eventually made the leap to full-time artist.

In this episode, we talk with Amy about that pivot — what it takes to walk away from a life of service work and bet on yourself as a creative. We get into the realities of building a handmade goods business from scratch: selling wholesale, doing shows, teaching lessons, and finding your people. Amy shares what she's learned about making things with intention and why she believes beauty and creativity have the power to light the world up.

🔗 ⁠⁠Tiny Hands Pottery

🌐 ⁠⁠Real Boone Studios⁠⁠

📸 ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠

💬 ⁠⁠[email protected]

Singer/songwriter John Lucas has built the kind of career most musicians only imagine—over 40 million Spotify streams, songs licensed by Google, MTV, and Freeform, and a loyal following grown over more than a dozen years. Now putting down roots in Boone, NC, he joins us in the High Country of North Carolina for a honest conversation about what success in music actually looks like from the inside.

We get into the numbers most artists won't say out loud—what Spotify really pays per stream—along with the rise of AI-generated music and what it means for working songwriters. And underneath it all, the more personal question: how John feels about the music he's made, and what it's like to keep creating when the industry keeps changing the rules. It's a candid look at art, money, and meaning from one of Boone's most accomplished creatives.

🔗 ⁠⁠John Lucas⁠

🌐 ⁠⁠Real Boone Studios⁠⁠

📸 ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠

💬 ⁠⁠[email protected]