The Tinstreamer Podcast

Anatomy of A Mountain Town - Salida, Colorado - Introduction with Brandon and Allison

Brandon and Allison sit down in a grove of aspens outside of Salida, Colorado to reveal the guests and episodes for this Tinstreamer Podcast series, "Anatomy of A Mountain Town," - six episodes with a few of the folks that have shaped Salida into the best - adventure, beach, mountian bike, bikepacking, paddle, sandwich, spirits, delectable, place-to-live and visit - mountain town in the universe. The first four guests are revealed in this short episode:
Mike Harvey - Badfish Paddleboards and River Surfboards
Steph Perko - Oveja Negra Bikepacking 
Sarah Gartzman - Biker and The Baker & Sweetie's Sandwich Shop
P.T. Wood - Former Salida Mayor and current alchemist at Wood's High Mountain Distillery 
 

Brad Leland - Force Majeure Actor with 300 appearances in Television and Film

Brad Leland is a powerhouse of an actor. His most famous role was Buddy Garrity from the television series, “Friday Night Lights.” He played the same role as John Aubrey in the movie, “Friday Night Lights.” Brad was in Snyder, Texas (my hometown) to moderate, “An Evening With Barry Corbin.” I sat down with Brad on my high school stage, and we talked about his early days performing in theater productions at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, his childhood pet monkey, and his two most recent feature movies - “LaRoy” and “Accidental Texan”. I highly recommend both flicks.
 
Brad has more than 300 movie/TV show appearances, and he always commands the scene. His performance as Chief Royce Abbott, opposite Elizabeth Olsen, in HBO’s “Love & Death,” showcases Leland as an immersive actor who relies on exceptional listening skills to evoke action and reaction in every scene.
 
One of my favorite moments on stage with Brad was when we briefly discussed my former drama teacher. Jerry Worsham was a legend in Texas UIL One-Act Play competition, with 13 victories to his credit. Worsham was one of those special teachers that saw the best in his students and encouraged them to chase their dreams.
 
I really enjoyed this episode with Brad. He is gregarious, engaging, and very thoughtful about his craft. 
 
Full Zen Ahead

Barry Corbin - Three Time Primetime Emmy Nominated Actor - 225 IMDB Movie Credits - Down to Earth Legend

Barry Corbin is a legend on the big and small screen. He’s also the nicest human you’ll ever meet. If you’ve seen a movie, streamed a show, or watched a good old fashion network television series, in the last 48 years, you’ve seen Barry’s work. He is ubiquitous in the world of entertainment. Heck, he’s even been the voice of Harley Davidson. Barry’s first string of movies were Urban Cowboy, Stir Crazy and Any Which Way You Can. If you’re a movie buff, and you’re keeping score, that’s John Travolta, Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Sidney Poitier, and Clint Eastwood as the talent that Barry worked with at the beginning of his film career. If Barry Corbin had a pop culture game like the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” it would be the, “Three Degrees of Barry Corbin.” It doesn’t take long to list an actor connected to Barry. Better Call Saul, Modern Family, One Tree Hill, Tulsa King, Yellowstone, No Country For Old Men, Dallas, War Games, and Hart to Hart, are just a few of the shows and movies Barry has appeared in.
 
Barry performed  his one man show, “An Evening With Barry Corbin,” at my hometown, Snyder, Texas on Saturday, July 13th. My good friend and fellow Tiger from Snyder High School (class of 1989)  Melissa Hodges Rico had organized the event. Once she discovered, I’d been talking about Barry on The Tinstreamer Podcast since March, she reached out and said (on the subject of having Barry on my podcast), “I think I can make it happen.” So on the eve of Barry’s show, in the place I grew up, at my high school, and in the very auditorium where I realized that writing was my destiny, I had an hour-long conversation with one of my heroes. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.
 
This was a convergence of where I came from, and where I am now. I’m blessed by a supportive wife and friends from my youth that continue to believe in me. Justin Rex drove in from Lubbock to photograph the episode. I’m incredibly fortunate to have new friends and colleagues like Justin in my current creative universe that keep me inspired and motivated to chase down my most ambitious and fulfilling endeavors. Thank you to Barry and Jo Corbin for saying yes. I am forever grateful. Full Zen is Now!
 
Upcoming Barry Corbin 2024 Events:
Go To BarryCorbin.com for details
 
Waxahachie, TX - August 10
Kanab, UT - August 22
Marble Falls, TX - August 31
Mingus, TX - September 7
Fort Worth, TX -  September 21
Livingston, TN - October 3
Fort Worth, TX - October 18-19
Eureka, KS - November 2
Branson, MO - November 8
Arlington, TX Veterans Day Parade - November 11
Marble Falls, TX - December 14

Part 2: Filmmaker and Documentarian - Madison Walker (Producer Madi)

Part 2 with Madison Walker 
 
We pick up with Producer Madi where we left off last week. In this episode, Madi and I have an impromptu staff meeting, and we discuss how to capture the show with moving images. That’s right, soon you’ll be able to watch The Tinstreamer Podcast on YouTube. It’s a deep dive into the world of cameras and editing software.
 
Madi talks about her transition into freelancing. We recount Madi, Justin Rex and Dylan Davidson's March 2020 bikepacking trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park after that year’s Texas Tech Adventure Media class was canceled due to covid. We talk about Emma Montgomery’s epic and inspiring PCT trek, and Madi reveals which episode of the podcast she finds most entertaining.

Part 1: Filmmaker and Documentarian - Madison Walker (Producer Madi)

Madison Walker Martin is a filmmaker and a seasoned adventurer. She spent three years as a producer for the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS Show where she showcased the grand landscapes and folks adventuring in the great state parks of Texas. She is a natural born leader and gifted storyteller. Earlier this year, Madi left the PBS show to focus on freelancing. Her vision and creative ethos will produce magic in the world of film and documentaries. I can’t wait to see what she shares with viewing audiences. She is a good friend, and I our beloved Producer Madi on The Tinstreamer Podcast.
 
Madi and I chatted for over two hours, so you get a two-part episode. In this first show, we take a deep dive into Rick Springfield’s song Jessie’s Girl. (I celebrate all of Rick’s catalog.) That conversation leads me to recount my history racing shifter karts on the Texas State Circuit. Madi tells us about a very special segment she did for the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS show on the Texas Gulf Coast. We tease our next big project coming this fall with Jerod Foster, Simon Parmley, Michael Ortiz, Justin Rex, and a Texas Tech University student film crew.
 
I share my thoughts on Quentin Tarantino being  overrated, and Madi tells how her dad used Pulp Fiction to impart a very important life lesson. We close out this first part with a quick rundown of Tanner Fowler’s love of Disney Music on the 2019 Adventure Media trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park. We love you and that quarter Tanner.

A Journey to the Ancient Rock Art in Rattlesnake Canyon - Del Rio, Texas

In episode 11, I'm on assignment with photographer Justin Rex. We are near the border town of Del Rio, Texas in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, one of the most significant archeological regions of Texas. Hidden in the desert caves and rock outcroppings are hundreds of ancient rock art panels with elaborate pictographs that tell stories experts are still trying to unravel. The site Justin and I venture to was donated to Texas Tech University in the 1980s and is one of the most important rock art sites in North America - if not the world. The canyon that protects this site is encased behind a locked gate and is only accessible by traversing a meandering and undulating hard scrabble road across private land. There is no easement, so permission must be obtained from the landowner to access Texas Tech’s property and the rock art panel.
 
This episode is broken into two parts. Justin and I chat in our Comstock Motel room the night before we journey to the site and talk about our expectations. We pick up the second half of the show the next evening, after our excursion into the backcountry of the Chihuahuan Desert, and talk about the canyon and the magnificent mural inside its walls. This is an experience where I my eyes were opened to a magical world in a place, I thought I knew. This is a more subdued episode, but we do find the time to talk a bit about Barry Corbin, and we review the only restaurant in Comstock, Texas - J&P Bar and Grill. It's the burger I've ever eaten. I don't make claims like that lightly. 
 
Full Zen Ahead

Allison Workman - Chief Fitness Officer for Tinstreamer

Allison Workman is a health coach, yoga teacher, personal trainer, and Tinstreamer’s newly appointed Chief Fitness Officer. She is also Mrs. Tinstreamer. If you’ve adventured with me, you’ve most likely experienced some of Allison’s yoga and functional movement. I’ve led numerous haphazard yoga flows on the Texas Tech Adventure Media bikepacking trips, and come sunrise at camp, you’ll find me stretching and moving before a long day on the bike. For those of you that have experienced Allison’s energy firsthand, then you know how dynamic she is. There is nothing like an Allison yoga class. It is fun (never too serious), funky, and flows like a rainbow powered unicorn galloping over the sun. Every movement Allison orchestrates – either in a personnel training session or yoga flow – tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. You will be challenged and rejuvenated.
 
Allison is on the schedule for in person classes at The Rooted Soul in Hico, Texas for the month of June and will return this fall starting in September. 
This summer (2024) you can find Allison subbing various classes at Yoga Olas in Salida, Colorado - July and August. 
You can also join Allison for Zoom Yoga on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm central time. Message @bd_weaver or @allisonworkman_movehappy on Instagram and we'll email you a link. You can also message us at Tin Streamer on Facebook. 
 
We recorded this episode in Aries or beloved Airstream. (I videoed the first 30 minutes of the podcast and we’ll release that next week.) We talk about the origins of Tinstreamer, my love – hate – and then love again of Airstream, and how a compact blood hound changed our lives forever. I ask Allison what guests, she’d like to see on the podcast, and I talk about future themes for upcoming series.
 
We recorded episode 10 on the day of our 12-year anniversary. We recount our wedding day and talk about all the recreational vehicles we’ve inhabited: vans, motorhomes, and trailers… oh my! It’s also the 10-year anniversary of when we hit the road in the spring of 2014 and lived in our Airstream for nearly three years.  This was a fun episode, and I feel blessed that I can sit down with my partner for an engaging and entertaining podcast. I love Allison and know the rest of you will too after this episode. Thanks for listening!
 
Full Zen Ahead!

Emma Montgomery - Future Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist

It is graduation season, and on episode 9 of The Tinstreamer Podcast, we sit down with Emma Montgomery. Emma just graduated from Texas Tech University, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Emma is a writer, photographer, bikepacker, backpacker, and a lover of green chiles. I met Emma in 2023 at the Texas Tech University Adventure Media bikepacking trip over spring break. That year’s class bikepacked (camping and traveling by bicycle) for six days and five nights along the Monumental Loop in Southern New Mexico. I’ve written about and attended this groundbreaking program since 2019. To say Adventure Media changes lives is an understatement. It changed me as a writer, and it most definitely changed Emma’s life. Over the last four years (Covid canceled the 2020 class), I’ve had the opportunity to adventure with exceptional young people like Emma. I always walk away inspired and filled with immense hope about the next generation. Give this episode a listen and let Emma inspire you to be your best and chase that impossible dream.
 
Emma grew up on a cattle ranch in Pinon, New Mexico. We talk about how she found her way to Lubbock, Texas, and her decision to chase journalism as a major. “I don’t know why I came to Texas Tech, but I learned exactly why I stayed.” Towards the end of the podcast, we do a little improv acting scene - inspired by a couple of characters she and her good friend Hannah Hudgens conjured up during the 2024 semester of Adventure Media.
 
Go over to Emma’s website emmamontgomvery.me and peruse her writings and pictures. She is a fantastic journalist. My personal favorite is the “Dollar Store Dilemma,” for Planet Forward.
 
Corrections: I did not sing The Chicks, “Travelin’ Soldier” in episode 8, as I wrote in the description. It was this episode with Emma, that I attempted to sing the first verse of my favorite story telling song.  

EP: 8 - Lindsay Kennedy and the Power of Peer Networks and The Great Outdoors

“If you’re gonna’ be a bear, be a grizzly!” Lindsay Kennedy is our featured Tinstreamer in Episode Ocho. She is a Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications. If Lindsay is your professor, count your lucky stars because success is on the horizon. All YOU have to do is chase it with the same fervor Lindsay attacks each day. If, like me, you graduated sometime long ago, before Facebook existed, you’ll wish you had a teacher like Dr. Kennedy. Lindsay is an exceptional javelina caller, bikepacker, angler, and she packs up a tent faster than you can say… Omaha! She teaches photography, writing, and a magazine class and is the director for Texas Tech’s MILE Program which focuses on leadership and professional development for students. She is also the co-director for Tech’s Bridge Adventure Program, which removes barriers to the outdoors and facilitates adventure for everyone.
 
We sat down in the Texas Tech Ag Comm conference room, surrounded by Lindsay’s photos and talked like old friends.  We define where West Texas begins and chat about the rugged and resourceful folks of the Llano Estacado. The conversation turns to Caitlin Clark and the exciting progression of women’s sports. Billy Strings, Powers Boothe, Barry Corbin and Codi Clark all get notable mentions in this episode. Lindsay and I take some time to gush over our bond by two great outdoor companies: Oveja Negra Bikepacking and Stio.
 
The show closes with me getting 90s country megastars, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence confused. I confess to Lindsay that in 1992 I rocked a mullet that put Billy Ray Cyrus to shame. (See picture in Instagram post.) This episode has something for everyone. It’s long, so you’ll probably want to split it up into two listens. It’s worth it. I promise. Lindsay will have you Carpe Diem-ing the heck out of your life.
 
Full Zen Ahead!
 
Special note: I make a few attempts to sing Time Marches On by Tracy Lawrence and Travelin’ Soldier by The Chicks in this lyrically challenged episode. My apologies.
 
 

EP: 7 - In Focus with RJ Hinkle - A Master Behind The Camera Lens.

“Leave room for serendipity.” That’s how commercial and lifestyle photographer RJ Hinkle runs a photoshoot. His professional portfolio is vast: Walmart, Luchese Boots, The King Ranch, The Container Store (gosh I love that place), Evie Mae’s Pit BBQ (RJ is a BBQ fanatic.), Boomer Jack's -  and the list goes on. His still images are never static. The subjects are vibrant with color and emotion. They are captured in a singular moment, time has stopped, but the story always plays out in his pictures. Even BBQ on butcher paper has a narrative in a RJ Hinkle photo. 
 
Serendipity is a thread that runs through RJ’s life. The siren song of the shutter captured RJ’s attention early. He worked on the staff of his high school yearbook (or annual as we say in West Texas), and RJ never stopped working as a photographer. He pursued his passion and sometimes his passion pursued him, giving him nudges in the right direction as his career unfolded. Put yourself in the right place with a honed skill set and serendipity becomes opportunity.
 
RJ and I take a deep dive into the food stylist profession and talk about my nature trail photoshoot that happened just before the podcast. We chronicle - journeyman actor and Lamesa, Texas native - Barry Corbin’s acting career. I confess to RJ why I never realized my dream to be a helicopter pilot. RJ gives us his top five BBQ joints, and we close out the podcast with a very serendipitous movie reveal. It has nothing to do with the actual movie Serendipity.