Close Encounters of the Celebrity Kind
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Well, good day, everybody. This is the Jan Arden Podcast. I'm here with my sidekick, Caitlin Green, our engineer, Adam Karsh. I'm in Toronto. We're all in Toronto. I'm in my little condo downtown, and I'm very happy to be here. I'm satelliting.

out of my condo to do all my Ontario tour dates. So the last couple of nights, maybe a few of you listeners have been at the shows in the Maritimes, we did. And then I just did two nights at Massey Hall, the brand new Massey Hall. It's so different in there. It's beautiful. Yeah, it's crazy. I was there on...

Tuesday and Adam, you were there on Wednesday. Yes. And also there on Tuesday was, I was there with my husband and two friends, but also Marilyn Dennis was there and I saw her, I saw Meredith Shaw. I saw a couple other media people sort of kicking around and everyone talked about number one, how fantastic the show was. And number two, that the renovation is just beautiful. They have all this stained glass in there that apparently has been

covered up for 60 or 70 years. I think some of it was salvageable, but when you get in there now, it looks very cathedral-like. Yes. For any of you that have been to Massey shows, there used to be these...

like eight poles that were just terrible sight lines. And that if you were unlucky enough to buy seats that sat behind one of these poles, it was a pain in the butt because you were literally leaning one way or the other all night. But it's still a challenging room to play as far as sound goes. There's sometimes when I'm on stage and I'm just lost in bottom end. I know no one wants to hear this.

But it's just how you hear. But it's much, much better. The dressing rooms are very posh. A little green room catering room. You guys probably were in the bar areas, which looked really nice. Yeah. They had an old guitar of mine in a glass case.

Oh, that I didn't know about. There was a guitar and a case and an original lyric sheet that is on loaner from the National Music Center in Calgary. But when I wandered down there and saw that, I'm like, what the hell is this thing doing here?

So, but it felt really good to be up in front of people. And it was about one quarter masks, I would say, hey guys. I would say like 90% no masks, at least from what I saw. Did you mean when you were seated or just in general? Seated. Seated.

Okay, yeah. I'll give you that. So when people were seated, there were very few people in masks. But when they were entering and exiting the building and when they were walking around the common areas like to the bar or whatever, I've noticed quite a few people had masks on. Fair, yeah, yeah. How did you feel being at a live concert? You guys were saying, Adam, that it was your first one and Caitlin, it's been the first one you and Kyle have been to. Yeah. Yeah.

It was. Yeah, I felt great. It was. Thank you, Jan. Like, if I just may have a brief moment. Thank you for a beautiful, wonderful, incredible night. It was just magical. It was the first time that my wife and I, just the two of us, went out and had a

Date night. We went for a nice dinner. Thank you, Taroni. And then we came and saw the show. You were beautiful and brilliant. And you have an outstanding, incredible voice. And you're absolutely hysterical on stage and the banter. Like, thank you. It was just the most magical, wonderful night. And I thank you so much for that. You're so welcome. Listen, if I don't know what the hell I'm doing by now, you know, and it is, it's a lot of fun. I think there's always that.

People are still very perplexed by the kind of music that I do, which is, you know, kind of personal relationship, introspection, you know, pondering the life itself. And then on the other end of that pendulum swing, I like to make people laugh. I don't know what I like more. It's so funny. Because to see them just bending over,

Like, did she just say what I think she just said? Oh, yeah. You know, to me, that swing, that... I just, I love seeing it. I love pulling people all the way this way and then like, okay, now we're going to go this way. It's joyful to me. It's unusual. Like, it's a skill to be able to do both because... And I'm so... I mean, the friends I was with and then, you know, talking... Oh, my hairdresser, Sarah, was there too. And she's the biggest...

She's the biggest fan ever. And we were DMing after the show and we were saying that exact same thing. I was like, it's such a Swiss army knife of skills to be able to say, I'm going to make a joke about rolling my own tampons. And then I'm going to break into good mother, which then makes everyone cry. And then you were like roasting all these people who were showing up late coming to the front row, which was amazing. And so I think it's that combination that really works and almost helps with the energy during the show, because I've been,

some like sad songy shows. Like some of your songs can be kind of sad and it, you know, it's definitely a vibe and it's not necessarily an undesirable vibe. It's just different. And so when you break it up with this in-between banter and like the way you talk to the band and all that stuff and some of your, you have those great videos that play behind you during some of the songs. And so I think that's a really fun balance. Like it's just, it's just nice. And it makes the whole evening feel well-rounded. And then you kind of, I was

Like you leave and I'm like some of my other favorite artists, like they barely even talk to the crowd. Like they don't do any crowd work and I feel ripped off now in hindsight.

Yeah, I think it's just something, you know, it stems from a long time ago of playing in the bars. You know, I'd be in these terrible bands in Smithers, B.C. and Yellowknife and Churchill, Manitoba or wherever the heck we were. And we only knew 12 songs. And back in the day, guys, you had four hours. You would do 40 minutes and you'd take a break for you played from 10 till 2 a.m. That's insane. And that that was bar bands back in the day. I'm sure it's different now, but

the guys would say to me, can you just talk? Like, just say something. And literally by 1 a.m., they didn't care if we jammed the blues for 17 minutes. And I would make up lyrics to blues songs. But that's where it came from. And then I would get some laughs. I'd be engaging the wait staff and the people sitting at the table, their little checkered tablecloth, drinking draft beer. And I'd start talking to them. And then it dawned on me that

It was something people enjoyed. And those were early days. Like I was in early 20s. And it never went away. I always thought it's an important part of how I can connect because I did feel apologetic early days. I'm like, my songs are really, they're not really up-tempo. I mean, I always joke because at the top of the set, I do a couple of pretty peppy songs. And then I'm like, wow, great to get the up-tempo stuff out of the way. Yeah.

I laughed at that one. Yeah. Not kidding. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you, the thing I realized is like, you have, you, you have a set, you know, obviously you have your musical set, but you have like, it's a, you have a, like there's a comedy set also. And, and it's, it's interesting because you do Pepper Ann. Like I took, I did an open mic night once and, but it was the tail end. I know. I'm like, well, I said once. The things we find out on this show. Yeah. That's cool. And,

And I enjoyed it. It was because I took a stand-up comedy writing class at Second City, which I really liked. I'm a stand-up addict, like admitted. I would fall asleep as a kid watching stand-up comedy. Like, it just was my favorite thing. So when I did it, though, I realized and our teacher said, you better get a laugh every 15 to 30 seconds.

You have to have that built into your writing. And it doesn't have to be a huge laugh. It doesn't have to be a punchline. But if you're not intentionally getting those laughs all the time, you lose the audience every passing 30 seconds that you don't have a laugh. And I was watching you and I was like, oh, see, there's a laugh every 15 to 30 seconds. Like that's actually like I was. She is. She is. She is meeting criteria. She got them. It's I mean, whether you are aware of it or not, it's definitely something that helps with the energy in a room.

It definitely does. And I think it makes the music work better for me. And I know what you mean. I went and saw Suzanne Vega in the nineties. It was right after the wave of Luca. My name is Luca. I live on the second floor. Uh, I just love that song. And it was one of those phenomenas in phenomenons of, of, of just a hit that goes global. And the, the, um,

You know, it was a sad song. It was about a child being abused where he was living and, you know, being in this apartment building. But people were so drawn to it because it was so catchy. But she didn't say one word. I went, sorry, the Jack Singer Concert Hall. You know, I saved my money to go to the show. And thank you.

That's it? It was so, I was disappointed because I wanted to know any little morsel about her or if she liked Calgary or, you know, did she go to Banff or not? There was nothing. See, I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't, it's not for me. And I love, there's an artist named, I used to, he's revealed to be incredibly problematic in retrospect, but Ryan Adams is,

And not Brian Adams, Ryan Adams. Not Summer of 69, Cold Roses, Ryan Adams. And I liked him so much that I went to go see him play in Indianapolis. I saw him play in this little tiny town in upstate New York. Like I would travel to see him.

And he was really moody and his songs are really moody. And at one point he did a show and this was the one in upstate New York where he broke his wrist and he went on stage in a hoodie and he didn't take his hood down the whole time. And he was just a miserable guy the whole show. Like he didn't give the audience anything. And I'd seen him other shows when he's really enjoying himself and he was very different. But I just thought, what a ripoff. Like, I mean, I...

yeah, we're here to see your music, but like throw out a couple of little pieces of personality because it makes you a bigger fan. Do you know who's also a really good storyteller and talker and good banter? I saw James Taylor about 10, 11 years ago. But he's a consummate professional. Amazing. He knows...

you know, people that have had those 40, 50 year careers really do understand that they live in a place of gratitude. You know, Ryan, I, I've read lots of things about him and it's just, it's about privilege and it's about mental health. I would imagine a little bit place, but so, um, anyway, I, I'm just so grateful that people came to the shows. Um,

It was mind-boggling to stand in front of a few thousand people. It has been this last couple of weeks. But yeah, the world is absolutely shifting and changing. You can tell people's moods are better. But wow, what a great, it brings me so much joy that people can have fun and that they leave and that I see familiar faces out there. And it meant a lot to me that you guys came. So thank you for that.

Thank you. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. We've got a lot of things to talk about today, a lot of things going on in the world, and we hope you'll stay with us. Don't go away. Thank you.

Welcome back. I am Jan Arden. This is the Jan Arden Show and Podcast. I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. We're talking about celebrity encounters. That's what we've swapped into. Last week, here's a little brag coming from me to you. I was in Halifax doing a show and I had tea.

With Anne-Marie. Whoa. Come on. And her daughter, yeah. She was going to come to the show and she's like, you know, I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm heading out to wherever she was going. And I was fine. I'm like, oh my God, of course. Don't even worry about it. You're Anne-Marie. Like, I don't expect you to sit in a hockey arena and watch, you know,

But she came, she met me at the Prince George Hotel. There was absolutely nobody in the lobby. They, everything was closed down. The bar wasn't open. Nothing was open. And Bruce Allen went up to somebody at the front desk. Listen, Anne-Marie is going to come here and meet us. And can, can we get something here? Can we get a Coke or something? Yeah.

So they brought us, they brought tea and brought her own water. She goes, I don't drink coffee. I just drink water. So she had her water and she looked so fantastic. She's going to be 77 years old. Wow. She's a very quiet Canadian icon. You know, we've had her on the show and it felt like such a score. And I remember people being like, oh my God, like Jan's talking to Ann. It's Ann and Jan because she's very under the radar. Yeah. Yeah.

but she came in and she looks so Anne Murray like her hair is immaculate she just has a teeny little bit of makeup on maybe no makeup but she looks so beautiful her daughter's beautiful they just walked in like

doing their thing. And we had a visit for an hour and Ann was like, I don't think I've ever sat and talked to you for an hour before. Like she said afterwards. And a couple of weeks ago, like three weeks ago, speaking of James Taylor, um, Jackson Brown has been out with James Taylor on these tours on some of them. James is using different people. Uh, he was out with Carol King for a while, but, uh, anyway, so,

They were coming to Calgary. And it crossed my mind. I'm like, oh, God, I'm on tour. What I wouldn't have done to go see that show. Ring, ring. My phone rings. I don't pick it. Did I tell you this story? No. Keep going. So it just said, caller unknown. And I'm so reluctant to pick up that. Because if you're in my phone, I see your name. Yes. Right. It's freaking Jackson Browne that left. Jan, it's Jackson Browne.

Jackson Brown. I'm like, okay, say both your names. Oh, my God. Jackson Brown. Listen, you're going to be in Calgary? You still in Calgary? I think you are. I think you're in Calgary. Coming through. Yeah, James and I are doing a show. Where are we doing the show, Tom? Where are we doing? We're doing a show at Battle Dome. Just wondering if you're around. Love to see you. And I'm like, for Jesus sakes, I don't pick up the phone. It's Jackson. Oh, my God.

I haven't phoned him back yet. I've just been out here. I'm like, I should phone him back. Yeah, you should. I haven't phoned him back. What are you doing? Get him on the show. Yeah. I saw him perform once in 1990, believe it or not, in Cleveland. He is so good. Well, the nicest person. I mean, I met him many, many years ago. He sang on one of my songs on Living on a June, Unloved.

Graham sings his part in the show at night. My guitar player, Graham Powell, sings Unloved With Me. But yeah, I mean, I've had really great experiences. I've talked about Olivia Newton-John, who I really want to get on this show. Yeah, that'd be great. She was so kind.

I went and saw her in Vegas. My whole life, I hadn't seen her until like 10 years ago. Like eight or nine years ago, I'd never seen Olivia Newton-John. So I did. I saw her in Vegas. I've seen her a couple of times. I saw her in Nashville. But I mean, she emails me once in a while. Like she'll just pop up and like, oh, I heard this song of yours. And I just think it was really lovely. And she's the nicest person. Bette Midler's feisty and nice. I love Bette Midler. I mean, she's just like...

She's just so Bette Midler. I went and saw her in Hello Dolly in Broadway before the world changed. I mean, here's American 70s, and she's doing Hello Dolly, which is a big...

bat to swing at a very big part. She's in almost every scene. But I've had great experiences. Leonard Cohen, I'll never forget meeting him. I'll never forget meeting Bob Dylan. You met Bob Dylan? Yeah. I opened five shows for him. Oh my God. In the 90s. And he, on the very last show, his assistant came in and said, Bob would like to say hi if that's okay. I didn't go near him. I didn't want to bother him or anything. It's Bob Dylan. And

So I was just like, I was freaked out. I said, oh, I don't need, no, it's okay. I don't want to be a bother or anything. The guy's like, no, Bob would like to say hi. He wants to do this. You need to follow me down this freaking hallway. So I went in there. There was so much pot in the air. It was a gray cloud of wheat. He was, he's tiny. He was powder blue tuxedo with the tuxedo frilly shirt and

and the sleeves, and he had an acoustic guitar on his lap. And when I came in the door, he stood up, and the guitar just came off his lap and went ding, dong, dong, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So, and he sort of looked at it like, oh man, my guitar off my lap. And he comes up to me and he goes, Jan, you're a great writer. I love your writing.

And I didn't say anything. I was like, I don't know. That's Bob Dylan. I just didn't. I couldn't speak. And I did eke out a thank you for having me on the show. I don't even know what I said. And then I walked out and I'm like, you are an idiot. You were the big loser. And then.

My drummer or something in the band said, well, at least he was stoned. Like he probably didn't really remember. And I'm like, well, that's a bonus. He wasn't helping you out with like, no, you were great. He was like, well, at least he was really high. So you got that going for you.

I'm trying to think like I, there are a lot of like, I guess just because of working on the morning show, we've had a lot of celebrities that come through and it's rare that they aren't nice to be honest with you. And when they aren't nice, I think they're just tired. Like they seem like they're tired or hung over. And, and that kind of explains it. It's the small time ones who are the wonkiest. Yes. Yes.

It's the like non-celebs who want the most. It's like the people who were on, you know, those like TLC real estate shows. They like, oh, this person needs you to send them a car. I'm like, are you kidding me? You're like on like what, you know, love it or don't buy it or whatever the heck those shows are.

And I'm like, that's, you're not getting a, first of all, no one gets a limo, but like also really not you. And then don't be kind of miserable about it when you come in. We're like promoting your show for you and it's the number one morning show in Toronto. Go away. And then you get Michael Cera. He was promoting, I think it was like Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. And he was like, he's a big deal, especially in Canada. And he showed up alone.

Like I got a call from security and they said he's here and I walked to go get him and he's there and he's in like a bright orange construction toque and he's just standing there by himself. I was like, hi, do you want to come in? And then I brought him into the green room and said, do you want us to get you coffee? And I meant like, you know, we'll go, we'll send an intern to get you Starbucks or something. And he was like,

He was like, okay, yeah. And I was like, yeah, okay, we'll send her out. He's like, oh, don't send someone out. I was like, you do not want to drink the coffee here. It's disgusting. The coffee maker here is gross. Adam, you know. Oh, it's terrible. It's undrinkable. I'm not giving it to Michael Cera. And he was like, well, let's go see how bad it is. And he followed me into the kitchen and was cracking jokes about how bad the coffee maker was, but then still drank it.

and he was like no no you can leave me to make it myself i was like no i'll make it for you like it's it's not it's it's a weird system and uh and then when he came on the show he was so lovely and he said that his parents he was from from the gta area like i think oakville or something like that maybe burlington and he's like oh yeah we my parents grew up listening to chum and you guys have beat the bank and he's like they're listening right now and they were so excited and he was great like same with joshua jackson jason siegel bill burr kevin bacon like

Shania Twain. They're so nice. And you don't expect it, but they're great. And they're really, really affable. And they kind of like give you something to work with.

How can people not be nice? How can people actually, and you hear those nightmare celebrity stories all the time. I'm very fortunate to not have been disappointed by my idols up to this. Sean Colvin, I loved her so much. She was such a huge influence on me, like in the 90s. Her first record, Steady On, came out in 89, and

a few years before I had my record deal. And I was so nervous to go up to her. I saw her at the Edmonton Folk Festival. I had my opportunity. I thought, I'm going to walk up and say hi. She couldn't have been kinder. And she was riding a pretty big wave at that time. And she just was like, oh, you play guitar. Are you doing something here at the festival? I'm like, oh, I'm just on a little B stage. She goes, that's awesome. Good for you. And I just, she could have brushed me off like, yeah, whatever. Yeah.

But, you know, for the most part, you're right, Caitlin. The people that really are authentically doing well in their career are pretty cool. You're listening to the Jan Arden Con... Con... Arden? One more time. I didn't even bypassed. That's how I spoke to Bob Dylan. Listening to the Con Arden. Don't go away.

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My God, I didn't go to a movie for 20 months. I used to go to movies every week. I was going, I'm the person that would go by myself to a matinee. I'd leave midi at home and go see a movie on the road. I always went and saw movies. But anyways, we're talking about going to live shows because I am on tour right now. Caitlin, your last, your concert pre COVID was Celine Dion. Yes. And it was so good. Vegas. Vegas.

No, she was here in Toronto and she came to Scotiabank Arena and it was amazing. And the fashion and her energy and her voice and her stage presence, like we were saying, you know, about those consummate professionals like James Taylor, like people who've been doing this for a long time. And she really has that. And she gives so much to the audience. Like she tells a little story and she just, she feels like that wacky aunt of

that you want to sit next to at Christmas dinner, you know? And it's the French accent too, right? Oh yeah. And I cried for sure. This is like, I loved her and then I became like kind of too cool for Celine for a while there when I was like a teen, you know, and like in my twenties. And then I came back to her because I realized how much I loved her when I was growing up.

And I was like, what have I been doing? I've been denying myself the joy of Celine Dion for all my cool years. This is stupid. And she's such a great show. Whether you like adult contemporary pop music or not, Celine Dion...

And I've seen her, I'm going to say conservatively 15 times, but ever in Vegas, that whole residency, I would, I would go see her. Um, I remember seeing her a couple of times in a week cause I'm like, Oh, there's a, there's a ticket. I'm going to go anyway. It's 60 bucks. I'm going to go, but it's the best. She's one of the best live singers I've ever heard in my life.

Uh, she's, she's so pitch perfect that you sit there and you can't quite believe it. And I think her dedication to her craft, there's lots of rumors, you know, that people have heard over the years, but she really doesn't speak much on show days. She's very quiet. She'll whisper. And it's true. Speaking is much harder on your voice than talking is.

But I really hope she gets well. We've spoken about this on our show before, just that she's really having serious health issues with spasms and things like that. She's postponed all her shows now. They've folded into 2023. It's not. I really hope they figure it out. It's an impossible thing to sing through. But I don't.

I just have never heard anybody better. And I will put Michael Buble in that category on the male side of things of the best live vocal I've ever heard in my life. You shut your eyes and you cannot believe it is a real vocalist.

making that sound. It's just... I just love it. I love live music so much. I've been dragged to things. I didn't own a record. I didn't know who they were. All these things. And I leave... They've won me over. I'm just like, I...

Love this. Who did you bring out on stage last night? Billy? Her name's Billy Lowry. Unreal. And Billy, I believe her Instagram is B-I-L-L-I-A-N, Billy Ann. She's 15 years old. She lives in this area here in the Toronto area.

She did a cover of Simply the Best last night, but it went viral on TikTok and on her Instagram. I stumbled across her on Instagram. Somebody sort of pointed me in that direction. I sent her a DM, as you do. I'm like, listen, I don't know what you're doing in the next couple of weeks, but would you like to come and sing a song at one of my shows? And I said, pick one that's close to you. And she picked Massey Hall, and I'm like, good for you. Well played. Yeah, you did it.

And, but she is, she's so wonderful. And I love being able to give people, artists like her, an opportunity because I was certainly given so many opportunities over the years. Yeah. And I think people were shocked when she opened her mouth.

I was. That's always a fun moment, you know, when you see someone and then they start to sing and you're like, oh my gosh, what is this voice coming out of this person? Yeah. It's, it's, it feels like there are a few things that make me go like, oh, like maybe I should, you know, really get in there and study like organized religion because,

sometimes I see people like you see people just sing it open in their mouth and you're like that's a that's a god-given gift like I don't really know what that means in the context of someone who's agnostic but it feels like something otherworldly almost yeah I don't think you're wrong about that I think whether you believe in a guy sitting on a throne you know casting out

and reward, I think there's something to the universe that's quite magical to entertain without the dogma of organized religion, without the horrendous actions of human organized religion. There's a real special, I guess call it spirituality, but I think it's some kind of divine grace that people are given. I mean, you think of talents like Mozart at six years old

And his dad was in music as well, so obviously he was in a musical household and had access to a piano, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But he wrote a frickin', like a

a little masterpiece at sin and caught the attention of all the people. This was, would have been, you know, 1740 or whatever the hell. But I, I think about the divinity in that it's, it is a gift. I mean, the stuff that you see with young children playing violins at three, four, five years old that are playing pieces that are so complicated. So yeah, you, you,

And the thing about a human voice is that it is unto itself its own thing. There's nobody else that sounds like that. Yeah. And some artists, you know, and you hear them and you're like, a lot of this is delivery. Maybe they don't have the best voice or its style or its songwriting or its production or whatever. But when there are the artists like Celine Dion who just they open their mouth and you're like, time has stopped right now.

That is really something special. And my next concert that I'm supposed to see is in September, and I've never seen him before, Elton John. Caitlin, I can't even tell you what a treat it is to look at somebody, and he will probably do a three-hour show. Oh, good to know. After hit, after hit. You keep sitting there and you're going...

Oh my God. Yeah. Oh, hell yeah. And, and then he does those classics of Norma Jean or crocodile rock or goodbye, yellow brick road. I mean, when you look at an artist like that, that has been the fabric of,

billions of people's lives all over the planet. It's pretty overwhelming. I'm, it's pretty cool that those iconic, there's a few of them still performing. Yeah. You know, cause Tina Turner has stopped now. Rod Stewart just canceled his tour because of COVID. So he was supposed to be out and they just had too many crew down and too many things. Yeah.

going on. But yeah, those, those guys like Leonard Cohen's gone. Um, Whitney Houston passed away. Prince passed away. Uh, Bowie passed away. You know, George Michael, there's so many iconic artists on. So,

So to see Elton John, boy, if you have a chance to go see him, go. I have to, like I was like, I have to start seeing some of these legacy artists because of exactly what you just said. You don't know how long you have them for. I never saw Prince. I did talk to him on the phone once.

Oh, that's cool. You know how he loves, he's kind of a whimsical figure and he loves to surprise people? He loves to surprise. He would just show up at things unannounced and he would just walk on stage and he just made these cameos. So he was promoting an album and this is when I was working as an associate producer, so behind the scenes on the Chum Morning Show. And I answered the phones. And so he was supposed to be doing an interview with us.

And we knew he was going to call into the show. He was in Toronto. He had a home here. And what had happened was normally someone calls for him. Like it's a PR person. They put you through. He talks and then they hang up. I answered the phone, like the high like chum control room. And it was his voice. And he was like, hello. And I was like, oh my God. And I just was like, is this like, oh my God, is this are you, is this...

Yeah. Are you, you is this Prince? And he was, he kind of like, you could, you know, you can hear someone smiling and he was like, yeah, it's me. And I was like, this is why you do this because it brings the person who answers the phone so much joy. And then they tell the story and then it contributes to the, like the mystery and the fun of,

Yeah. He's so fun. He really, I just was so impressed by that because that's a decision, right? To do that. Yeah. And it's a kindness. It is. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. I guess this is a musical episode today. Don't go away. Don't go away.

Hello, this is the Jan Arden Podcast. We've somehow wound our way today into celebrity encounters, and I'm sure people have a lot to say about those. Adam, we have a...

You know, heard from your celebrity encounter. Let's go back in time, 1996, after the Rolling Stones concert. You're at Planet Hollywood and you see... I see John Ritter from Three's Company. Damn it. And I grew up, I've seen every episode. I loved that show as a kid. I probably watched it in reruns. Not recently, but that was my show growing up. And I saw him, I'm like, I gotta say hi to this guy. I just have to. Extrude him.

And I walked up to him and I was talking to someone. I said, Mr. Ritter, I'm so sorry to bother you. I'm a big fan. I watched you on Three's Company, blah, blah, blah. And he was so nice. Like, thank you so much. I really appreciate that. And shook my hand. And he was just, he gave me that moment and it was just so nice. And that was like not a radio station encounter. No, it says so much about their character. You know, I've spent so much time with Rick Mercer over the years and, and he's very, very big. Yeah.

like the guy can't walk down the street. Trust me. I've been around him enough to know like he, he can't do it, but he could have food in his mouth. He could have a booger in his nose. He could, whatever people come up to him like for pictures. And he's like, no problem. He never says not. He's just always extremely kind and nice. So that's nice to know. And, and, um,

But we still, we hear so many nightmare stories. So what do you, what's your take on that, Caitlin? We hear so many stories of people misbehaving. I know Justin Bieber went through a few years of... Yeah.

This craziness that, you know, him stunting in a car or misbehaving. They had footage of him like peeing in like a mop bucket backstage and stuff. And he like egged someone's house with some entourage member named like Lil Pizza or something. It was just, you know, it was a ridiculous time in his life. I feel bad for him though because honestly, if you handed me at that young age all that money and all that power and all that fame, it would...

make my brain break and then you give everyone a camera phone and they film your every interaction and then they sell it and then you're being hunted everywhere you go and it's not to say that like they didn't genuinely capture him sometimes doing bad stuff but at that age I don't know people all behave a bit wonky and hey so at internet when I was 16 17 18 I peeped garbage can outside the ranchman's club with my friends

And if that had been on camp, we were loaded. Yeah. And sorry that I just told people that, but it's true. And so none of us are exempt from behavior. I mean, think back, folks. But you can still hear. I mean, I've seen some pretty...

I'm not going to name names, but there was a very, she did really well in Canada for, you know, a long time. She was kind of riding the wave doing Letterman and Leno and all these shows. And you don't hear much of her anymore. But I just remember her being at this festival and she was in her dressing room and they had put the wrong waters in a trailer and she was chucking them out the window. And I could hear her yelling, right?

like just yelling, like this is, this isn't, this is not my writer or something like that. So you, you hear lots of stories like that. And then, but I saw that with my own eyes, but I, you know, you start thinking about what is real and what isn't real. I mean, for example, Ellen DeGeneres had a really bad run, you know, the last year with the internet and people coming forward with stories about her,

And she was known as the queen of nice, right? Right. That's also, to me, a problematic title to have because then you can't have any discrepancy from that without everyone paying attention to it and being like, you're supposed to be nice all the time. You're supposed to wake up and like poop rainbows.

And I was like, she's an edgy comedian. She's an edgy standup. Yeah. And her, her life has been complicated. She hasn't had an easy go of it. And so there's going to be some stuff there and nobody can maintain that all the time. Now I can't attest for who she is as a person, but I saw her on comedians and cars getting coffee, which is a show I love with Jerry Seinfeld. And he doesn't come across as the nicest guy on that show all the time. And she came across as,

a complex person. And I thought to myself, you know, when this whole show is over, like her TV show, I'd love for her to like not be dancing and, you know, dunking people into water tanks. I'd like to see edgy standup Ellen. Cause I think that's hiding in there and she's denied it for a long time. And I feel like it has to come out of it.

Because stand-ups, it's a different breed. Like I met Bill Burr, nicest guy in the world. But I was very intimidated because I interviewed him for a movie and his publicist because he was coming to Toronto for Just for Laughs. And she said, do you want to get tickets? Thank you so much for doing the interview. I was like, yeah. Usually they kind of just give you random tickets. I was front row. That's crazy.

That's amazing. It's crazy. It was very nice. And then she said afterwards, hey, do you want to meet him backstage? And I was like, I almost wanted to say no because I revere him so much. And he's kind of scary. And so I was like, okay, sure. And I was with my girlfriend. And so she brings us backstage and he's hanging out in his dressing room with all of his friends. It's not before the show meet and greets. This is after. He thinks he's done.

And so then he was so nice and he was like, hey, and it's like all of his friends. And I was like, hi, I did an interview with you. It was so great. Thank you. I love the show so much. Like a huge fan. And he's like, well, do you want to get a photo? And I was like, oh, you don't have to bother with that. And he's like, you're not coming backstage without asking for an effing photo. Like, come on. And he was like, get a photo. And he like insists, like puts his arm out, like whatever. Oh, wow.

And he's like, and I was leaving. And he's like, you want a beer for the road or anything? Because he has like a huge bucket of beer with all of his friends sitting there. And I was like, no, I'm okay. Oh, wow. That's so cool. Ran out of there. I love Bill Murray. He's hilarious. He was great. Mark Maron's been on the show. He was fantastic. Will Arnett, one of the nicest guys you've ever heard. And talk about a God-given voice. Like earlier, we're saying Celine Dion has the singing voice. When a microphone gets in front of him and it turns on and he starts talking, it's

you're just like, this is another level of voice. Like his voice is incredible. I mean, it's, it's, it is comforting to know that people can rise up and step into themselves, even if they've had a bad reputation, going back to Justin Bieber, who I am a fan of, by the way, I've always liked his music. I think he's really, really talented. He really seems to have redeemed himself. I mean, say what you will about being a born again, Christian, you know, he's married. He seems to have really, really,

found a way to pay it forward. I mean, he always seems to be doing good things for people and participating in his community. And he often will thank the public by, thank you for letting me grow up. Thank you for letting me redeem himself. I've heard him in many interviews talk about that. And he does talk about Jesus, which is fine. Like whatever it is that gives you strength, that helps you stand a little taller, um,

and do the work. Because I really think this is a guy that in 20 years, when all his contemporaries have gone, fallen by the wayside because their audiences outgrew them, and there's just no... I think Justin will be making music. I think he'll be one of those guys that...

that will have a 50-year career. I really think he will. And this makes me remember, too, thinking of, you know, the Canadian kind of like male singer-songwriters. Shawn Mendes is so talented and he's so nice. My goodness.

And he, this, you know, it's a miracle like, or a great team, but there's never been a negative story about him. I don't think in the press I've almost seen ever. And I, I also did an interview with him. I think it was around promoting, I think it was his second album. And it was like one of those ones where you're doing a junket at a hotel. So you go into the hotel suite and they have cameras and everything. And he's the sweetest person in the whole world. And he's,

He gives you a lot. And you know when you do an interview with someone and they're that big of a star, they don't have to do that. They can be very standoffish and give you nothing. I can get them answering the same questions all day too. I'm like, I feel like I want to go in there and be like, I know you hate this. Sorry. But he was really, really good and so kind. And he gives everyone a big hug and he looks like a Disney prince. And I just was like, this is crazy.

This is crazy that you're this nice and then you also sing like that and you're just so affable. And I was just very – overwhelmingly now that I think back, it's like all positive experiences with celebrities to be honest with you. You know, when you live in a place of grace and when you come at your life really appreciating what you have, I think –

I just think it's such an important thing for young people to remember. You know, a lot of people, when you ask them about music now, they'll say they want to be famous.

And it's always disconcerting to me because I'm thinking, what do you think is inside of that fame? Because, you know, if you do the work and if you really follow your passion, you know, that could very well be a side effect of the work that you do is being known, having people follow you on social media, all those things, having come to see you sing or, you know, read your books or whatever. I just he's inspiring to me because he's done the work.

And I don't think he ever I don't think that was ever his plan to be famous. So it you really I don't know. You have to be so mindful about what your goal is and what you think being famous is, because it's it isn't it isn't what you think.

Anyway, I'm glad that we got a chance to talk about music, live music. Thank you for listening to the podcast. We appreciate it week after week. Subscribe because it'll show up for you. We will see you next time or hear you next time you're listening to Jen Art Podcast. Totally do. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.