December 12 2011

Show open: falling asleep, Fixodent, and Greyhound stories

The show opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper with the host, who introduces himself as Ben Foost, bantering about falling asleep unintentionally and being tired for a year. The group confuses denture adhesive (Fixodent) with something else before Kevin tells a story about falling asleep on a Greyhound bus. They riff on the idea of broadcasting live from a Greyhound or a party bus.

Kevin Lindgren introduced; the night's lineup

• What is the thing that has made you the angriest in your life?

The host formally introduces in-studio guest Kevin Lindgren, a returning musical guest and singer-songwriter, noting his life has changed substantially since his last visit. The host previews the night: more of Kevin's songs, a question about what has made each person the angriest in their life, Spangler joining later, and advice for listeners who ask for help.

Leftover chocolates, pressure-cooker chicken, and vending machines

The hosts warn Kevin about week-old leftover chocolates in the studio and discuss cooking chicken in a pressure cooker bought on the Home Shopping Network. The conversation drifts into vending-machine food: peanut M&M's in gumball machines, questionable donuts with 'flavor bits,' and the mysterious 'Blueberry Ugly' pastry that Double J gets from a machine.

Kevin's last visit, his online presence, and the 80-cent song gag

The host recaps Kevin's disastrous last visit, when the computer crashed 15 minutes before the end of the show and Kevin stayed until 1:30 a.m. re-recording songs so they'd have YouTube clips to post. They plug kevinlingrenmusic.com, Reverb Nation, and iTunes, then riff on iTunes pricing: Kevin jokes about charging 80 cents for a song so buyers can exhaust a $20 gift card — 'the clean-up tune.' Mike is mentioned as having raised the mop-up-guy idea.

Song: 'Jesus set me free' (written by Troy McBroom)

Kevin introduces and performs a song written by his Lamoni friend Troy McBroom, nicknamed 'The Traveling McBroom,' with lyrics about troubles, fear, and being set free by Jesus. Afterward the hosts riff theologically: real life is happening and God is still there — even in the midst of a Blueberry Ugly, 'Jesus is there,' like the whipped cream on the pastry.

Kevin's move to Lamoni: kids, faith, and two CDs

Kevin explains his move back to Lamoni, Iowa — the last exit in Iowa on the Missouri border, about 1,200 people with no traffic lights — leaving a 50-hour Des Moines job to live half a mile from his two kids. He describes doing it 'completely backwards' — quitting his job and moving before having a place to live or a new job — as a step of faith. He plans to record two CDs and return to live shows, including an hour-long Christian set at churches, playing spots like the Belinda Street Coffee House.

Song: 'Don't Let Me Stray' (world debut)

Kevin debuts a brand-new song he wrote Thursday about being easily swayed by peer pressure and outside influence despite a solid walk with God — the hosts help him land on the phrase 'peer pressure' for the concept. He performs 'Don't Let Me Stray,' a prayer asking God to bear-hug him and keep him from straying into temptation. A host connects it to the Lord's Prayer — deliverance from the evil one.

The double EP: Christian and secular albums, marketing talk

• How does a small independent artist market and sell music on iTunes?
• What are the names of Kevin Lindgren's two upcoming EPs?

Kevin reveals plans for two EPs dropping the last Tuesday of March: a Christian EP and a secular EP, with one song, 'The Crossover,' appearing on both. The group debates album names ('I love girls / I love God'), jokes about a live barn release party with a megabus, and discusses how a small artist actually sells music on iTunes, plus Spotify's 'if you like this, you might like' recommendation links.

Sideburns, Michael Bolton, and the March promo roundup

The hosts tease Kevin about the hefty sideburns in his website photo and settle the 'science' that Chris Daughtry is popular because of his raging sideburns, with Michael Bolton and Michael McDonald comparisons. They run through March events: a Newsboys show in Indianola on the 19th with a live broadcast and Double J as roaming correspondent, plus Kevin's double-album release at the end of March.

Haircuts, garbage day, and the vending-machine follow-up

Studio banter about scheduling haircuts months in advance, forgetting garbage day three weeks running, and the personal rule against going back once you've left the driveway. The Blueberry Ugly mystery resurfaces as Kevin and the hosts try to figure out what the vending-machine pastry actually is, with mini-muffins and flavor dots as candidates.

Break: Double J video promo

Before a quick break, the host plugs a Double J video from the previous week's show, promises more music from Kevin Lindgren after the break, and re-asks the night's question: what in your life has made you the most angry, PG-13 with names changed if needed.

Return: weeping prophet, promos, and mocha eggnog

Returning from break with the tagline 'honest faith, fierce grace, and sometimes donkeys,' the hosts riff with Kevin on double-album names, dubbing him 'the Jeremiah of acoustic rock' and 'the weeping prophet.' The host promotes livefromthepath.org, Blip TV, the iTunes podcast, and the YouTube channel, mentions Double J's rap involving 105 energy drinks, and the group debates mocha eggnog.

The anger question; Troy throws Trey through a wall

• What is the thing that has made you the angriest in your life?

The hosts re-ask the night's question: the single thing that has made each person the angriest, PG-13 with names changed. In-studio participant Troy — addressed by name via the chat — tells the story of his brother Trey antagonizing him until he threw Trey over the bed and through both sides of their bedroom wall into the foyer. Their mother caught the duct-tape-and-spray-paint repair immediately; Troy says he has spent years lengthening his fuse and prays to God to keep him from ever reaching that point again.

Kevin on anger: people who get angry over little things

Asked what makes him angry, Kevin Lindgren answers that what angers him is people who get angry over the dumbest little things — like a missing Blueberry Ugly ruining someone's whole day — and then take it out on everyone around them. He describes a recursive loop: he gets mad at himself for letting other people's anger make him angry.

Fridge punching, high-school football, and chat gossip

The group swaps stories about punching refrigerators and trailers instead of people, and one participant recalls high-school football as legal daily violence. The chat room teases that Troy only tells stories making himself look ridiculous, gossips about Dan wearing the same shirt two Mondays running, and notes Kevin Lindgren wore the same shirt the night before.

A host on anger: calm in crisis, stewing over petty slights

A host reflects on his own anger pattern: he handles genuinely anger-worthy situations well but stews for days over petty, ambiguous slights — an offhand comment that could be read as underhanded, or a coworker who is straight-up wrong. He illustrates with the hypothetical 'nice car dentist' insult that would haunt him for three days and admits to holding a workplace grievance for a month over the black staplers.

Dan on anger: the cheating girlfriend and the motorcycle ditch

Asked directly on air ('Dan, what about you?'), Dan tells his high-school story: after dating a girl for three years, he caught her sitting next to coworker Lloyd in a truck on Merle Hay Road. Driving home getting angrier, he suited up at 2 a.m. in his dad's army combat boots, black leather, and a tinted helmet, then flew down the road in Saylorville at 70 mph, hit a sand pile, and went off into the ditch. He walked away unhurt — a rock hit his helmet where his forehead was — and concluded nothing is worth that kind of anger.

Dan on recent anger: the surprise-party drive and getting lost cooling off

Continuing his answer — and jokingly tied on air to the correlation between 'Dan, anger, and speeding' — Dan tells two recent stories. Rushing his family to Stacey Hardkopf's surprise party for Steve, he drove 90 down I-80 fuming while everyone else played a music game, then snapped the radio off in anger. Another night he drove out on gravel roads to cool off, got lost as the sun set, and ended up mad at himself for ruining the moment: a pattern of getting mad, then mad at being mad.

Song: 'Come To Me' (from God's perspective)

To bring the room back down from the anger talk, Kevin introduces another song co-written with Troy McBroom, describing its theme: God's freedom-of-choice plan — people take their own path, make their own mistakes, and God stands there saying 'come to me,' like a picnic with sandwiches. He performs the upbeat 'Come To Me,' and the hosts react that it feels calming, almost like a lullaby.

Comedy bit: 'Silk Sheets and Rainbows'

The episode closes with an improvised rapid-fire comedy bit styled as a radio DJ show: 'Live from the Remax Studios in downtown Des Moines,' featuring characters like Slowjack, riffs about boxers and underwear left in the rain, and one-liners about Christians not having gas. It signs off as 'Silk Sheets and Rainbows' with 'My name's Ben.'