Tablet Pharmacy: Ever find yourself waiting endlessly at a big box pharmacy, feeling like just another number? There's a better way. At Tablet Pharmacy, they provide the personalized service you deserve. Check their competitive prices online at tabletpharmacy.ca before you even leave home. They offer free delivery and blister packaging options to make managing your medications easier than ever. With convenient locations in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and now open in Nanaimo near The Brick, Tablet Pharmacy has been serving Vancouver Island since 2019. Stop being just a prescription number. Experience the Tablet Pharmacy difference today. Visit them online and check their prices at tabletpharmacy.ca.

Rockin Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Dave Graham: Welcome back to the Pulse Community Podcast, where we explore the rhythm of life on mid Vancouver Island. I'm Dave Graham. The other guy is Peter McCully.

Peter McCully: Yes, we are following the ebb and flow of island life, checking in weekly with the stories and people especially of interest to those of us in this particular spot of paradise.

Dave Graham: I went for a walk yesterday.

Peter McCully: All by yourself? Well done.

Dave Graham: I spotted a trail of ants and I followed it as it paralleled the path I was on, and at either end, it ran further into the forest than I could see. But I paced it off. I actually backtracked where I went. Went back to the start where I could find it, and it was over a hundred meters long, this trail of ants. And I saw a number of ant hills along the way. Generally, I saw more ants than I'd ever seen before, and it got me thinking. If they were ever to get organized against us, we'd be in trouble.

Peter McCully: It's okay, Dave. Dozens of horror movies have proven that they'll never succeed.

Dave Graham: Oh yeah. Alright, well, okay then. There's no arguing with that kind of logic. Coming up, Joe Straka is here to tell us about an instrument lending program for students and a music scholarship program. Joe is the Vice President of Oceanside Classical Concerts. They've created a new program that will see Oceanside Classical Concerts live stream to seniors facilities in the PQB area.

Joe Straka: Through our other programs, we spoke with music teachers and they provided us with convincing proof that the schools simply cannot afford to provide enough instruments for their music programs and for all the kids who wanted to participate in music classes. And so a number of kids walk away and they're disappointed. There are many, the teachers tell us, who can't afford to either buy or even rent an instrument. That convinced us that a need was identified. And so a plan was built to loan students instruments at no cost to them or their parents or the schools.

Peter McCully: The Heels is an all-BC female band composed of members Bobbi Smith, Brittany Dominelli, and Kyla Rawlins from Qualicum Beach. They have two BCCMA awards. They've been busy in the Mid Island area this summer with gigs that included the Concert Under the Stars with Aaron Pritchard and the Coombs Fall Fair.

Brittni Fiddler: We're very grateful to be surrounded by a circle of such successful people in the industry. They're absolute legends in their field and it's really inspiring because it's allowed us to go out on the road and open shows for Alabama. It's allowed us to take part in CMA Fest. We've opened for Lone Star. So there's been a lot of big opportunities that the team has brought towards us and even things of just meeting their circle. We got to hang out with Dolly Parton. We got to go to her album release party, but we sat on a couch with her, sang her songs with her. So it really does offer you an incredible range of contacts, I would say, when you have a big team and a team that has been in the industry for so long and they're so well respected.

Dave Graham: On a future edition of The Pulse Podcast, we'll chat with James Vickers, the 15-year-old blues phenom who will be playing Parksville as part of the Salish Coast Music Festival.

Peter McCully: We'll also talk with Robert Held and Brian Middleton, who returned to the McMillan Art Center in their joint show "Tripped the Light Fantastic," using multiple digital projectors and screens accompanied by an original musical score.

Dave Graham: We're also headed to the beach to talk with visitors to Vancouver Island about where they're from, what they do there, and what they're doing here.

Peter McCully: We have a new contest for you for the month of August. It's the Pulse Podcast Grill, Chill, and Fill Contest.

Dave Graham: We are giving away a Paderno portable propane grill, an Igloo cooler, and a $100 Smile Card from Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Peter McCully: Enter either through the website, thepulsecommunity.ca, or our Facebook page, The Pulse Community.

Windsor Plywood French Creek: The Pulse Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Windsor Plywood in French Creek, specializing in hard-to-source interior and exterior home finishing products. Including flooring, doors and moldings, and exterior project materials such as yellow cedar, Windsor Plywood French Creek carries high quality, responsibly sourced products and are committed to providing outstanding value and personalized one-on-one service to all of our customers. Homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, renovators, builders, designers, craftsmen, and contractors. Regardless of the type or size of your project, Windsor can help you bring your vision to life from start to finish. Let Windsor Plywood in French Creek help you with your renovation, new build, or building project. Visit them online or call 752-3122.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with Re/Max Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally, as well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both Re/Max International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Dave Graham: So Peter, I guess you've heard about how every year we swallow eight spiders in our sleep. Urban myth, Dave, it doesn't happen. Yeah, but do the spiders know this? Besides that, you know that a certain maximum content of bug parts and rodent hairs is allowed into our food.

Peter McCully: Beyond being icky, do you have a point?

Dave Graham: There are an estimated 200 million insects for every person on earth. What does that mean? Is this a threat or a source of protein? Who's to say? These questions need to be asked, but not at this moment. For now, we need to bring on our first guest. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Joe Straka is the Vice President of Oceanside Classical Concerts who have created several outreach programs, including an instrument lending program for students and a music scholarship program. A new program this fall will see Oceanside Classical Concerts live stream to seniors facilities in the PQB area.

Dave Graham: Joe, thanks for being on the podcast. Let's begin with perhaps your background and your role with Oceanside Classical Concerts.

Joe Straka: Thanks for inviting me. I am a geologist. My wife and I retired from Calgary in 2006. About 2014, although we were involved in other arts things before then, Classical Concerts was incorporated. Pam and I were on the board from the beginning and we've been there ever since. Nobody wants to volunteer to relieve us. However, if anybody out there wants to, please give me a call.

Dave Graham: The organization has grown tremendously over the past decade. Congratulations to you on that. What drew the organization to focus on the scholarship and instrument lending programs specifically?

Joe Straka: Thanks for that question. That's the very beginning of everything. When we set up the organization to begin with, you have to, of course, make a constitution and mission and bylaws and everything, and part of our mission was to bring renowned national and international musicians to play for our audience. The second part of that, at that point in time, we were thinking about scholarships and we wanted to award scholarships to Grade 12 students who were going on to establish a career in music. That was the criteria. A recent amendment to our constitution broadened our scope into more community initiatives, and the instrumental lending program was one of those initiatives.

Dave Graham: Let's get into the early years program if we could.

Joe Straka: None of our youth programs or our outreach programs focus on classical music. The intent is to introduce students in this case, or even adults later on, into all manner of music, all genres, by creating, by playing, by understanding it, listening to it, appreciating it. For example, one of our most early years programs. When we started the feasibility study early this year, it addresses children three to five years of age where they interact with a musician and listen to instruments being played by that person. They can hold and they can try to play, they can fool around with the instruments, and then they wind up asking all kinds of questions. Of course kids are really curious. We find that we've captured their attention at least by them listening and playing around with the instruments.

Dave Graham: The concerts and workshops for youth program brings professional musicians directly into schools. Can you share some memorable moments or feedback from teachers about how this impacts students?

Joe Straka: We've been presenting this program in local elementary schools and high schools for three years at no cost to the schools. Several of our concert performers each year have agreed to visit the schools and perform, and others that come to play for us actually have their own in-school concert programs. And so we present them as well. Presentations are arranged with the school principals and the music teachers, and in some cases, special school assemblies were actually held so that all students in the schools could attend the presentation. The musicians often talk about their instruments. They talk about their careers or the details of the music they just played, and they answer questions from students. The students have been very attentive during the program, have asked many, actually, I'm surprised, in-depth questions of the musicians, and they have enthusiastically clapped at the end of each session. This is good feedback about their engagement for us in the performance and performers. The music teachers also have been enthusiastic about the quality of performers, and they are willing to share their experience and the fact that the performers are willing to share their experiences with the students. Most teachers have encouraged us to continue the program and have invited us back.

Dave Graham: Let's move on to the instrument lending program. Getting supplies for children's extra interests, regardless of their pursuit, can often be a financial barrier for families. What was the catalyst that made you realize that this was needed?

Joe Straka: Here, through our other programs, we spoke with music teachers and they provided us with convincing proof that the schools simply cannot afford to provide enough instruments for their music programs and for all the kids who wanted to participate in music classes. And so a number of kids walk away and they're disappointed. There are many, the teachers tell us, who can't afford to either buy or even rent an instrument. That convinced us that a need was identified. And so a plan was built to loan students instruments at no cost to them or their parents or the schools. We have moved on and now are fully into the third year of our instrument lending program.

Dave Graham: As I walked into your home, I couldn't help but see a pile of instruments alongside the entry hall and those, you tell me, were the rejects there. There's obviously a process of receiving the instrument and stages between that and getting it to the child. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Joe Straka: Actually, what you saw was a few of the rejects. There's about a 20% reject factor most of the time because the instruments may be sold, they're not actually repairable and brought up to standards to play. So you've seen most of them in the hallway. What you haven't seen is the good instruments in my spare bedroom or in the storage locker down by our beauty storage. There's a ton of instruments there. We would give them to our instrument repair specialist locally, and they would evaluate them for us. Tell us, yes, these are really good instruments. We'll repair them. They'll be perfect, especially for children to play. We said, okay. Now we're building an inventory. We will go ahead and announce to the schools, through the music teachers, the program that we have in place about loaning these out for free. The response from the teachers were overwhelming. Actually, in the first year, we actually had more requests at that time than we had inventory, so we would take their requests, fulfill the best that we could, and deliver the instruments to the teachers who would then give them to the students. When we presented this whole idea initially to the instrument repair specialist, they were thrilled and they were on board. They were happy to see that there was actually a plan in place to use used instruments to make the program work. Initially, we had a grant from the Hamburg Foundation in Vancouver, the City of Parksville, and the Parksville Qualicum Community Foundation, plus a generous anonymous donor. So we had enough cash to begin to work on repairing these things and storing them and things like that.

Dave Graham: The information before me says you've received over 150 instruments so far. About a third of them are loaned out. What kinds of instruments are we talking about? Which ones are most in demand?

Joe Straka: Actually, of all the instruments in existence, the only ones that we don't have in storage or in inventory are a bassoon and an oboe. Other than that, you can imagine the variety of instruments, including we have the fox hunt bugle, that's a real antique. We've actually received more than 200 instruments, and about 20% of those were not up to standard for use by children. And by far, trumpets and saxophones are our most in demand. And alto saxes are the highest in demand. And so if anybody out there has some, we surely could use some alto saxes to increase our inventory.

Dave Graham: I'll root around in my closet, see what I can find. Can you speak of an individual story that sort of illustrates what's at the heart of all of this? So someone that you've connected with and you can talk about.

Joe Straka: Very early in the program, a First Nation support person from an elementary school gave me a call and asked if we had a guitar because she said she had a third grade young person who has a very difficult time focusing in school. I don't know how she figured it out, but she saw that this young person would settle down when she heard guitar music. So we scratched around and we found a child-sized guitar and gave it to the young woman. All reports say she's been turned into a better student, a calmer student, and I like to believe that the guitar had a lot to do with that.

Dave Graham: I think most among us can attest to the healing power of music to one degree or another. The scholarship program supports students pursuing any genre of music, not just classical. How important was that inclusive approach to your mission?

Joe Straka: Part of our mission statement originally was set up to recognize that music is a very prominent mechanism of healing, of entertaining, of inspiring, uplifting, communication. We set it up as our purpose in life. This includes classical music, but it is not limited to classical music. It includes all genres of music. So all of our community outreach programs are spawned by this commitment. We are proud of the diversity in our scholarship programs. We have supported four teaching and performing arts vocalists, a jazz saxophonist, a violinist, and a cellist. This is a stellar group of young people from the mid island who will go on to inspire, uplift, and entertain future generations.

Dave Graham: So how about that for being impressive, the talent level being so exceptional. You awarded three scholarships rather than one. Can you talk about the process of coming to that decision?

Joe Straka: Our live auditions are held in public, of course, and anyone is invited. But they're judged or adjudicated by professional musicians, and we get them every year from different sources. This year, two were from the University of Victoria and one was from the Victoria Conservatory of Music. They sit through the performances, as does the audience, and then they depart to a room and decide who would be the likely winner of the scholarship. They decided after a long discussion that three of the four candidates were exceptional, and after much more discussion because they couldn't decide which one to pick, they agreed that one of the three was more musically mature than the other two. She was a 17-year-old girl, but played the cello like a 34-year-old cellist. So they awarded her finally the $3,500 scholarship. But last year we were lucky enough that an anonymous donor had donated a gift of $3,500 to the scholarship fund. The timing was perfect. The judges, after the award of the $3,500 scholarship, decided the other two are so exceptional. They deserve some recognition as well. And so what they decided to do is to take the $3,500, split it down the middle, and award $1,750 to each of the other two. That's how we wound up with three. It's not a normal occurrence, and you know, we have $3,500 scheduled every year out of our budget, but we were very lucky by a generous donation to be able to satisfy all three.

Dave Graham: Funny how things sometimes work out like that. The newest program I want to talk about is for seniors—live streaming concerts to assisted living facilities. That sounds like a big, complicated technical mess to me, but you want to talk about how that comes together.

Joe Straka: We're a subscription, not a ticketed organization, and each year during renewal time, we would have a number of people that were not renewing. And on questioning them, they said, we love the concerts, we want to come back, we want to experience it, but we hate driving through the winter rain and we hate driving at night. So we thought long and hard about that, and knowing that they really wanted to participate, we thought would it not be a good idea to stream our live concerts into the seniors residences like Berwick and the others that are in the area at no cost. Again, our performers for this coming season, again picked up and they really love the idea as well. We have some fine tuning to do, but we should be able to be up and running for our first concert in October.

Dave Graham: As students head back to school this fall and your programs ramp up again, what are you most excited about for the coming year?

Joe Straka: There's a couple of programs that I'm really excited about. One is, of course, increasing the number of schools and students that are involved in the instrument lending program. So far it's been up and running for three years. We've lent to somewhere around 50 or more students in 15 schools, but in our catchment area. There are 55 schools, so we only have 40 more to go. And that's the exciting part of this year is to get all the schools with instruments. It was to me, very uplifting to hear about the three to five year olds who were so engrossed in playing with the instruments and listening, and I want to see more of that, and I know we plan to do more of that this year. So that's going to be exciting to see. More, and not only the Montessori schools, the regular public schools as well. That's where we plan to go. I'm also looking for full implementation of streaming into the seniors residences. We've been working on this going on two years to try to get everything up and running. Interfacing with Knox audio visual system has been a challenge. We already know it's working. We just want to fine tune it and it'll be a launch in October and that'll be a big thrill for me.

Dave Graham: I've been hearing possible need for assistance through our conversation the last few minutes. If someone hearing this figures, Hey, I can help out with, fill in the blank here. Financial or an instrument, or volunteer time, whatever it may be, how can they reach you and make that happen?

Joe Straka: That is the best idea you've had all evening! There are a number of ways. Of course we have a website. It's www.oceansideclassicalconcerts.ca. I know that's a big, long thing to remember, but that's our website. Or call me directly (250) 738-7138. If I can't answer your questions, I'll direct you to one of our board members who can and believe me. All questions, comments, instrument loan requests, whatever have you are welcome. We'd love to hear from you. Thank you very much, Dave, for your time and interest in OCC's community outreach program continued.

Dave Graham: Good luck to you, sir.

Peter McCully: Sounds like a fantastic program. The instrument lending program, I wonder if they have an extra Scottish bass drum hanging around.

Dave Graham: I wonder if people know that banging a drum is something that you actually do?

Peter McCully: Well, I've been in a band or two.

Dave Graham: And marching bands no less, so you could probably walk and chew gum at the same time.

Peter McCully: It's a skill, Dave.

Dave Graham: I don't think there are many insect parts in chewing gum. Now, peanut butter, on the other hand...

Peter McCully: Dave, some people may find that talking about eating insects is distasteful, so to speak.

Dave Graham: It's too bad we're so hung up on bugs. You know, other cultures have no problems cooking with bugs, and I think it's the way of the future really, compared to raising cows. Bugs need hardly anything at all. Bug protein, I tell ya. Look at...

Peter McCully: There are other stories that we could be following and we're always open to suggestions to reach us. Click on the contact link in our website. You may use our Speak to Us option to send us a voice message. If you have an event to announce, a comment or a topic to share, you know, a story we might be interested in. Speak to us.

Dave Graham: Or simply type your message, whatever works. The Pulse homepage is thepulsecommunity.ca. And while you're there, we invite you to sign up for the Pulse Community Newsletter and gives you advanced notice of contest opportunities and upcoming guests.

Back Porch Banjo: Hey there, Vancouver Island. Dave Haggbald here. I'm the upright bass player for Back Porch Banjo, an energetic five piece bluegrass band with members from all around the mid island. I came to bluegrass music later in life and to the upright bass even later than that. But my enjoyment from holding down the bottom end while singing lead and harmonies shows that sometimes the best discoveries come when you least expect them. Plus, the band thinks it's a bonus that I'm always finding bluegrass classics that are completely new to me, which keeps that sense of wonder and excitement alive in every performance. The band's upbeat banjo melodies, old time fiddle tunes, soaring three part harmonies and a driving backbeat will have you toe tapping and singing along before you know it. We play right at the crossroads of bluegrass and old time acoustic roots, heartfelt songs about love, heartbreak, hard work, and good times. We've been playing all over the mid island this year, the Memorial Park in Parksville, the Chemainus Bluegrass Festival. The Errington Farmer's Market. Railway Days at the Parksville Museum with our collection of bluegrass train songs, and even put on our own concert up in Courtenay. And now here's something special. Come out and see us at the Highway 19, a music festival on Monday, September the 15th from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. We're playing at Fowler's Garage at 215 Lions Way in Qualicum Bay. It's gonna be a fantastic afternoon of music and community spirit. You can check out the schedule and buy reasonably priced tickets at routenineteena.com. Come out and listen. Come out and connect with us and let Back Porch Banjo remind you of why our island community is so special. We love playing music just as much as you'll enjoy listening. Back Porch Banjo continues that wonderful island tradition of bringing neighbors together to music. Check out our scheduled performance and availabilities at backporchbanjo.com.

Thrifty Foods Parksville: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

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Dave Graham: Peter, I have a very important question to ask.

Peter McCully: Okay, Dave,

Dave Graham: I've been thinking about this whole bug thing and well, did you know, for example, that if you were to weigh all the bugs that spiders eat in a year, the result would be more than the combined weight of all humans on earth. What does that say about our precarious position in the food chain? Huh? And that's not even taking into account what might happen if, say, I don't know, a butterfly were to be bitten by a radioactive spider ole heck might break loose.

Peter McCully: We all know that's the stuff of comic books and speaking of kid stories, we just happen to have something for the kids. With our Skookum Kid stories, we have two series of stories and new ones coming out regularly about Gracie, the Eskimo dog and the Mellow Submarine. They feature local and familiar places and events and you'll find them at thepulsecommunity.ca, skookumkids.com, iHeart, Amazon, Apple, and YouTube.

Dave Graham: I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with three young ladies who have high level motivating forces behind what they do. Their music is to entertain and to heal. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: The Heels is an all BC female band composed of members, Bobbi Smith, Brittany Dominelli, and Kyla Rawlins, who is from Qualicum Beach. The trio's mutual love of singing led them to join forces at a North Vancouver cafe, co-owned by Kyla, where Brittany worked behind the counter, and Bobbi was a regular. The Heels released their 2017 debut album, Love Heels and Lead Single Come Around, which garnered them two BCCMA awards. Dave Graham spoke to the Heels recently in Qualicum Beach.

Dave Graham: Brittany, can I impose upon you to tell the origin story how it began with the three of you?

Bobbi Smith: We all met in North Vancouver. Kyla has cafes in North Van called Bootiful. At the time I was working there as a barista, and Bobbi was a customer. We would get together after hours and play music just to feel good and heal ourselves through what we were going through in our personal lives, and it started working. It started snowballing and it turned into a band, and we called ourselves the Heels because it had the healing powers of music. That's our story in a nutshell.

Dave Graham: Maybe I could spring from that and Kyla the Heels due to its spelling. Double E. Yes. Has a clear secondary meaning, care to expand at all.

Kyla Rawlins: So we decided that HEAL was healing, but also more marketing would be to spell it, HEEL. It was just more appealing for promotion. We thought, why not change it up? We like to wear fancy heels. Bobbi used to come into my cafe wearing high heels, like the highest heels you ever seen clicking her heels. So it just was a natural fit.

Dave Graham: So Bobbi, as you can see, I'm an alien, just new to Earth. Could you please describe for me being in total innocence what the Heels are about? Give me the elevator pitch as to the nature of your group.

Brittni Fiddler: I would say the elevator pitch of the Heels would be that we write and record music that makes you feel good. Anything that is empowering or helps you grow through whatever you're going through. We're a sisterhood of harmonies. We're very West Coast, we're country, but we're also a fusion of sound from all of our different backgrounds. So we bring a lot of pop, rock, soul, R&B. A number of different influences and we fuse them together to make something that we think is pretty unique.

Dave Graham: Between the three of you, how would you describe what you bring to the party?

Brittni Fiddler: I was the country music influence. I would say country was what we all had in common, but country music has always been the genre that I sat in my entire career. Whereas Brittany and Kyla had other genres that they were working in, and country music was something that we were all fans of in the way that the songwriting and the storytelling, the festivals. The whole show of country music was something that really appealed to us. But I would say I bring the country music. I also love creating, we all write songs. We're all songwriters in our own right.

Dave Graham: Brittany, if I could ask the same question of you as to what you provide to this trio.

Bobbi Smith: I was influenced by pop and rock, classic rock and soft rock, and what was current on the radio growing up is what my parents listened to. So I listened to that. And then I was really into pop stars growing up, and then I got into country into my teenage years. So I would say I bring the more pop feel I feel like I bring.

Kyla Rawlins: The extra, they call me extra mile Kyla. So whatever that means to whoever hears this, that's what I bring. I started off with country, I'm a prairie girl, and from Alberta and then I moved to BC so I discovered that there was other music other than country. After moving to BC and I went into rock, jazz, musical theater, opera, I've pretty much done every genre because I get bored really easy and I've gone full circle back to country. I did musical theater, so I had a lot of theater background training. So improvisation for me is something I could, I could just do a whole show of improv and I would be happy. I think I bring the extra of whatever comes out in the moment.

Dave Graham: Kyla, if I could pose this one to you. You're managed by the same powerhouse team behind Alabama and Randy Travis. Can you explain how that happened and its impact on where you're going?

Kyla Rawlins: They discovered us. Arne Granite was actually the first person that saw us, and it was a music video that he saw Holy Coast, and he doesn't normally press play. And he said, for some strange reason, I don't think he ever has pressed play when somebody sends him something and for some strange reason, he pressed play. And within the first 10 seconds he said he just knew he had a feeling and he always goes by his feelings and he said it's never let him down. Then he introduced us to Tony Conway, who's from Entourage Management. And he manages Red Clay Strays, Alabama, just some of the biggest artists in the world. And then we also have Kristy Thompson, who's joined our team, and she's Canadian. She actually lives close to Brittany in the Seashell area. She's just been a huge part of helping us get to the next level. So we have three managers, one for each of us. We're extra like that.

Dave Graham: How do you feel about being managed by these folks and the others that they represent being within that group, that company?

Brittni Fiddler: Oh, it's something that we don't take for granted. We're very grateful to be surrounded by a circle of such successful people in the industry. They're absolute legends in their field and it's really inspiring because it's allowed us to go out on the road and open shows for Alabama. It's allowed us to take part in CMA fest. We've opened for Lone Star. So there's been a lot of big opportunities that the team has brought towards us and even things of just meeting their circle. We got to hang out with Dolly Parton. We got to go to her album release party, but we sat on a couch with her, sang her songs with her. So it really does offer you an incredible range of contacts, I would say, when you have a big team and a team that has been in the industry for so long and they're so well respected.

Dave Graham: I've been associated with in a peripheral since the radio, uh, with the music industry for 40 years. And obviously it didn't happen just by pure luck. You earned this opportunity, right?

Bobbi Smith: Yeah. Part of it was luck with the timing of Arne clicking the link and watching, but then he called us right away and wanted to meet us. And he brought his friend Tony, and we happened to be playing a sold out show at the Bluebird a few days later. So Arne flew in, Tony was in Nashville, and they came and saw us and obviously it went well because they wanted to continue working with us. They took us out for dinner, they introduced us to some major agents and we felt lucky that we were prepared in the quality of shows that we had to show them. And we happened to be in Nashville at the time. So all the timing was really great. But yeah, we have worked really hard for a lot of years, so we definitely are prepared. It's just when timing and luck adds up, everything happens at the same time.

Dave Graham: Congratulations Country Group of the year at the BC CMAs. When these kinds of events happen, speaking also of the management connection, do you feel like, yes, this is what should be happening? Or is there a little bit of, holy crap, look what's happening?

Kyla Rawlins: I think it's a little bit of both. It depends on where we are in the world and then how busy we are. Sometimes you get so busy that you feel a little bit overwhelmed. You're in Nashville one day and then you're in BC the next day, and then you're back in Texas. We're flying everywhere. We're driving a lot. We're Canadians. We're used to driving. But every day for us is exciting and we are definitely doing what we love and we're doing it together. We're having a great time. So I think every award show is a gift to us and to how hard we work because I do feel like we are one of the hardest working bands that I know, and I'm very proud to be part of it.

Dave Graham: Whether it's a younger version of yourself or other aspiring young female performers. Any tips or just thoughts or whatever you may have to share?

Brittni Fiddler: I would say anytime you follow what feels like your passion and your purpose, it will always unfold in a way that's gonna work for you in your favor. I think there's a lot of different elements in life that people can chase for reasons that might not be truly authentic to ourselves. And when we do that, we can hit a lot of roadblocks and we can wonder why things aren't working out. But then when you really just hone in on what gives you that joy and who you're with and the situations that you're in when you're feeling your best, things will just keep working out. To what Kyla had said, we're always having fun and we try to allow everything that we do to be fun and we say yes to almost anything. We believe that anything that comes into our bubble is brought there for good reason. We really try to give everything an honest chance and give it our all. Every time we do, we play a number of different shows when we're on the road that really contrast each other in some ways. We're opening for Alabama, for example, and then we're playing at a truck stop. But we always bring the same level of show, the same level of glam, the same level of professionalism, and I think that's really important too. To be consistent and just never give up on any opportunity because you never know who might be there in the crowd or the reason why you were doing that, or the person in the crowd that you might touch and change their life. So there's just so many different reasons why we do this, but I would say for anyone that is going out and taking the chance on themself to absolutely do it, if it's your passion, because it's so rewarding.

Dave Graham: Brittany, has there been a moment or a show or an interaction with a fan, anything like that, that you care to talk about where, in a moment where you felt really touched and this whole thing that you're doing is truly having an impact on people?

Bobbi Smith: There's been so many significant moments. Kyla just mentioned high heels on we, during the pandemic, we released an album, and the first song on it was called High Heels On, and that one really took off on TikTok over in Europe, in this community about being a fearless woman. And it was all about domestic violence. And then through that we learned about the silent pandemic. When everyone had to stay in lockdown in their houses, they were stuck in abusive situations and they couldn't get any help.

Bobbi Smith: We learned a whole lot through that. And we connected with a lot of people over in Europe. A lot of women who were very grateful for that song. They were making videos of it themselves. So that was a really big moment. I feel like we have so many, we could all probably list off a few. I feel like just our experience in general through what we have to say, connects with so many people. And because individually we're all so different, we connect as a group with so many different people, and then we get people coming up to us individually and sharing their stories with us and. It's really cool to experience.

Brittni Fiddler: All of our music, we have three albums of music available, plus singles, plus holiday music, and it can all be found at the heels music, or you can go to the heal music.com. Everything is linked there, but following our social pages really helps us. We're an indie band and the number of followers that we have really does impact the opportunities that we get. So anybody that wants to give us a follow and engage with our content is just really appreciated. So thank you.

Peter McCully: The Heels have been playing around the island this summer and recently helped raise money for Ronald McDonald House at the Concert Under the Stars with Aaron Pritchard. That event is an annual fundraiser organized by Oura and Kymon Giamouaksis at the Extreme Eatery.

Dave Graham: And a quick note of recognition for their recent supportive firefighters by supplying meals. Well, Peter, this is the time we get to go see Mabel in the cafeteria.

Peter McCully: I recommend a bowl of roasted grasshoppers as a snack. Or if you're hungry, Dave, you might want to try the grasshopper pizza.

Dave Graham: You know how to get me to eat bugs?

Peter McCully: How's that?

Dave Graham: Don't tell me I'm eating bugs.

Peter McCully: Well, how about some ice cream?

Dave Graham: What kind of ice cream?

Peter McCully: Don't ask. Oh, I get it.

Dave Graham: Ice cream, huh? Okay, I'll bite.

Rockin Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Peer and Dave. They're on the mics all right. Join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.