I recently had an old friend contact me.  We keep up pretty well with each other on social media, but he expressed interest in coming to town and perhaps hitting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

This is an old radio friend of mine, Brian Douglas. BD as we used to call him, was a fixture in Cincinnati Pop radio at Q102 (WKRQ).  He played many of my songs when he was Music Director there.  But more importantly, he was a friend and a great person to hang with on many of my visits to the market.  He was well connected. In fact, he was present the night I met my wife.  BD, me & Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble were out for a fun night when fate hit me right square in the heart!

Brian has been out of Radio about as long as I’ve been out of Pop Music.  But what he has done is create a second career that he is very good at: photography. Presently, he is the Main Photographer on the set of Tulsa King.  There’s much more to this than it sounds. It’s a lot of work. I bet a legend such as Sylvester Stallone knows exactly what he wants and demands perfection.  Well, Brian’s the guy for that.

I looked at the calendar and I saw a possibility.  I asked Brian to come up and shoot my Weller Whiskey Night at Chief’s on Broadway.  The plan was I’d take a couple of vacation days and show him around the trail afterwards. I mean, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.  To have a professional photographer take the time to shoot my mug. C’mon, if anyone could make me look my best, I’d bet on BD.

So off we went to Kentucky.  We made stops at Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, and Buffalo Trace. I’ll be honest. It felt like a 10 hour high school senior picture photo shoot.  Brian helped make it fun for me since being in front of a camera is not my strong suit. The initial pictures I received were great.  I was excited.  I needed some new photos to freshen up my website and social media.

We revisited the old days and talked a bit about the Music and Movie Business.  Brian has shot a bunch of movies too, and he was able to give me the inside scoop on a few things.  It was so interesting.  He also shared that the coming season of Tulsa King, a September release, will be an exciting one and of special interest to this group. Also, Samuel L. Jackson makes his entrance to the franchise and will anchor a spin off, “NOLA King.”

It was a long and exhausting day.  But a great one at that! I’ve invited he and his talents up for a weekend in the fall.  He had the idea that The Nashville Whiskey Guy should have some great shots with some Nashville landmarks. I loved the idea. Since they shoot the series just outside of Atlanta, I think we can make this happen.

Now, would it be possible to treat him and his crew to a proper tasting on the set of Tulsa King? Hmmm….I’m starting to believe anything is possible.