All Y'all

Episode four of Once Upon a Time in Shreveport takes listeners deep into the piney woods of Mansfield, Louisiana to Rock Chapel—a tiny, stone church with a violent and mysterious past. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Rhino Coffee, Putman Restoration, Sartin Law Firm, and Sainte Terre. From host, writer and producer Chris Jay: I became fascinated by Rock Chapel while researching its origins for this article in 64 Parishes magazine. I began by reading dozens of old newspaper clippings about Rock Chapel, then by conducting my own research and visiting the chapel several times. As you'll hear in the podcast, unsettling questions persist to this day about the true identities and nature of the men who built Rock Chapel in 1891. For this episode, I was joined on a road trip to Rock Chapel by Krystle and Bethany from the Bayou Chronicles podcast, which is a true crime and macabre/paranormal history podcast based right here in Shreveport. If you enjoy the podcast, please share it! If you'd like to support the production of future episodes, you can do so by leaving Chris a tip via PayPal, joining the Stuffed & Busted Patreon, or sponsoring future episodes by contacting OnceinSHV at gmail dot com. Thank you for listening, and for supporting grassroots media in Shreveport. Like Once Upon a Time in Shreveport on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OnceinSHV). Follow Once Upon a Time in Shreveport on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/onceinshv/). Subscribe to the All Y'all podcast feed (https://www.allyallblog.com/subscribe/).

Episode three of Once Upon a Time in Shreveport _is a deep dive (pun intended) into the tale of the Elvis Presley Swimming Pool at Camp Forbing. The pool, which was paid for by funds raised at the concert where the phrase "Elvis has left the building" was first uttered, was constructed in April 1957 at a YMCA facility in South Shreveport called Camp Forbing. Host Chris Jay and guest Winston Hall explore the past, present and surprising future of "the Elvis pool" in this history-heavy episode of _Once. Listen to "Winston Hall: Look at All of the Little Black Dots," (https://www.allyallblog.com/2017/07/26/i-just-work-here-winston-hall-look-at-all-of-the-little-black-dots/) the story of how Winston became a professional piano entertainer. Want to support the creation of future episodes of this podcast? Leave us a tip via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/allyall)—even a few bucks helps! Like Once Upon a Time in Shreveport on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OnceinSHV) or give us a follow on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/onceinshv/).

Episode two of Once Upon a Time in Shreveport explores the extraordinary life and career of Shreveporter Andy Sidaris. By the time he began producing and directing low-budget action movies in the late 1970s, Sidaris had already concluded a decades-long career in sports television. He won an Emmy (presented by Joe Namath) for directing live television coverage of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, helped create ABC's Wide World of Sports, and directed two NASA spacecraft landings as well as a Muhammad Ali title fight. If you're a Shreveporter (especially one who listens to podcasts and/or cares about local history) and this is the first time that you're hearing of Andy Sidaris...don't you wonder why that is the case? Despite being one of the most accomplished entertainment industry professionals in Shreveport history, Sedaris has mostly gone uncelebrated by his hometown. That is likely due to the fact that he dedicated the last few decades of his life to making direct-to-video action flicks that—due to their near-constant stream of gratuitous nudity, sex and violence—have been dubbed the “Bullets, Bombs and Babes” movies. This episode features excerpts from an interview with Christian Drew Sidaris, son of Andy (who died in 2007). Also, we asked Shreveport-based comic and all-around hilarious person Molly Hiers to share their take on three of the Sidaris films shot in Shreveport, and they provided a smart, foul-mouthed take on these outrageous movies. For maximum enjoyment of this episode, check out a couple of Sidaris movie trailers before listening. Special Guest: Molly Hiers.

Once Upon a Time in Shreveport is a new comedy and history podcast from All Y'all Media LLC featuring (and making fun of) strange, true tales from the history of Shreveport, La. The series is produced, written, hosted and edited by All Y’all co-creator Chris Jay (https://www.chrisjay.org/) with original music by the Brothers Treme, original episode artwork by Nate Treme of Highland Paranormal Society (https://natetreme.com/), and graphic design by Sara Hebert (http://www.tastyshebert.com/). The first, six-episode season of Once Upon a Time in Shreveport will be released weekly during the summer of 2021, with a two-week break between episodes three and four. The first episode, “Shreveport Monkey Paw,” explores the events of Dec. 12, 2012, when the discovery of mysterious severed hands and feet caused the temporary shut-down of a dog food factory located on North Market Street in Shreveport. To discuss this bizarre incident, we corresponded with Louisiana State Representative Cedric Glover as well as Monroe-based rock n’ roll singer and funny person Billy Vidrine. This podcast would not have been possible without the financial support of three sponsors who stepped up to underwrite production by advertising: Sartin Law Firm, Putman Restoration and Sainte Terre. Want to support the creation of future episodes through advertising? Email ChrisJay318@gmail.com and let's talk! Plans are in the works for more episodes, but we’ll only make them if the first six are well-received. To receive all episodes, subscribe to the All Y’all podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts. Find links to subscribe (https://www.allyallblog.com/subscribe/). Special Guest: Billy Vidrine.

AJ Haynes, a Shreveport native and founder of the acclaimed rock group Seratones, is not one to mince words. For the sixth and final episode in our podcast series exploring the cultural impact of The Louisiana Hayride, Haynes joined All Y'all co-host Sara Hebert for a free-wheeling conversation that covers the history of Texas Avenue, racial erasure in pop culture, Shreveport music venues, the state of modern country music, and more. To Haynes, the idea of “reviving The Louisiana Hayride” sounds anachronistic, exclusionary and dull. She'd rather re-imagine the Hayride than re-create it, and daydreams of a Louisiana Hayride lineup featuring genre-hopping artists like Margo Price, Black Pumas, Sturgill Simpson, and The Suffers. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y'all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y'all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

AJ Haynes, a Shreveport native and founder of the acclaimed rock group Seratones, is not one to mince words. For the sixth and final episode in our podcast series exploring the cultural impact of The Louisiana Hayride, Haynes joined All Y’all co-host Sara Hebert for a free-wheeling conversation that covers the history of Texas Avenue, racial erasure in pop culture, Shreveport music venues, the state of modern country music, and more. To Haynes, the idea of “reviving The Louisiana Hayride” sounds anachronistic, exclusionary and dull. She’d rather re-imagine the Hayride than re-create it, and daydreams of a Louisiana Hayride lineup featuring genre-hopping artists like Margo Price, Black Pumas, Sturgill Simpson, and The Suffers. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

On the afternoon that Mr. Alton Warwick, widowed husband and business partner of Margaret “Maggie” Lewis Warwick, sat down with All Y'all and LPB to share his memories of The Louisiana Hayride, only seven months had passed since Maggie's death. For decades, he and Maggie had worked side-by-side to promote the Hayride as a potential economic driver for Shreveport. Her absence loomed large over our conversation. Maggie had been a fixture in Alton's life since his youth in Shreveport; he'd met her through his record-producing, electric guitar-playing cousin, Mira Smith, owner of Shreveport's Ram Records. Alton saw firsthand how the music industry limited the opportunities of female performers and producers like Smith and Lewis. “Girl singers were just to sing,” Alton said. “They weren't supposed to make waves, they weren't supposed to produce records. They were not supposed to lead the band. But her and Mira, they were not going to go quietly into the night. So, in Nashville and all of those places, they made a mark in a man's world.” What began as a conversation about country music history quickly became an oral history of a match made in country music heaven. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y'all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y'all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

On the afternoon that Mr. Alton Warwick, widowed husband and business partner of Margaret “Maggie” Lewis Warwick, sat down with All Y’all and LPB to share his memories of The Louisiana Hayride, only seven months had passed since Maggie’s death. For decades, he and Maggie had worked side-by-side to promote the Hayride as a potential economic driver for Shreveport. Her absence loomed large over our conversation. Maggie had been a fixture in Alton’s life since his youth in Shreveport; he’d met her through his record-producing, electric guitar-playing cousin, Mira Smith, owner of Shreveport’s Ram Records. Alton saw firsthand how the music industry limited the opportunities of female performers and producers like Smith and Lewis. “Girl singers were just to sing,” Alton said. “They weren’t supposed to make waves, they weren’t supposed to produce records. They were not supposed to lead the band. But her and Mira, they were not going to go quietly into the night. So, in Nashville and all of those places, they made a mark in a man’s world.” What began as a conversation about country music history quickly became an oral history of a match made in country music heaven. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Kix Brooks, the Shreveport native and bona fide country music superstar, was only five years old when the original Louisiana Hayride produced by KWKH came to an end in 1960. He grew up in the Highland and Shreve Island neighborhoods, graduated from Louisiana Tech University, and honed his songwriting chops at downtown Shreveport nightclubs like Humpfrees. These days, Brooks calls Nashville home, but visits Shreveport often. During one of those visits, he sat down with All Y'all and Louisiana Public Broadcasting to discuss how his hometown shaped his career in music. Brooks reminisces on his early days gigging in Shreveport, shares some incredible advice for aspiring songwriters, and sings the praises of his favorite Shreveport eatery, Herby-K's. Brooks believes in the work of songwriting. Over the course of his 40-year career, he has written and recorded thousands of songs and forged lifelong friendships with the likes of Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker. During our conversation, Brooks reflects on these friendships and the lessons they taught him. It is an intimate, inspiring conversation about roots music, life in Shreveport, and the daily habits of a working songwriter. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y'all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y'all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Kix Brooks, the Shreveport native and bona fide country music superstar, was only five years old when the original Louisiana Hayride produced by KWKH came to an end in 1960. He grew up in the Highland and Shreve Island neighborhoods, graduated from Louisiana Tech University, and honed his songwriting chops at downtown Shreveport nightclubs like Humpfrees. These days, Brooks calls Nashville home, but visits Shreveport often. During one of those visits, he sat down with All Y’all and Louisiana Public Broadcasting to discuss how his hometown shaped his career in music. Brooks reminisces on his early days gigging in Shreveport, shares some incredible advice for aspiring songwriters, and sings the praises of his favorite Shreveport eatery, Herby-K’s. Brooks believes in the work of songwriting. Over the course of his 40-year career, he has written and recorded thousands of songs and forged lifelong friendships with the likes of Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker. During our conversation, Brooks reflects on these friendships and the lessons they taught him. It is an intimate, inspiring conversation about roots music, life in Shreveport, and the daily habits of a working songwriter. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Joey Kent grew up backstage at The Louisiana Hayride—just not the version of the Hayride that you may be thinking of. His father, Shreveport media executive David Kent, launched a second installment of the Hayride after the original iteration of KWKH's influential barn dance program fell silent in 1960. David Kent's Louisiana Hayride, produced in partnership with emcee and radio personality Frank Page, moved the show from Shreveport Municipal Auditorium to a more modern venue on Benton Road and added an onsite restaurant and bar. Joey Kent often corrects those who insist that the Hayride ended in 1960. “There were so many talented musicians on my father's show,” Kent said. “Most Hayride history books tend to end in 1960, but that doesn't really do service to performers like (Nat Stuckey, Shoji Tabuchi, Micki Fuhrman, Linda Davis, and others).” Kent authored Cradle of the Stars: KWKH & The Louisiana Hayride and co-authored Elvis Presley: The Hayride Years, 1954-56. He is also responsible for donating a large archive of recordings and materials related to The Louisiana Hayride to the Library of Congress. But perhaps his most unbelievable contribution to the story of The Louisiana Hayride came about completely by accident. While clearing out an office at KWKH, Kent says that he happened upon a reel-to-reel recording wedged between a desk and a wall. That reel-to-reel turned out to contain a previously unknown recording of Elvis Presley's Hayride debut on Oct. 16, 1954. Kent tells the jaw-dropping story of that discovery, along with many others, during his insightful conversation with All Y'all hosts Sara Hebert and Chris Jay. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y'all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y'all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Joey Kent grew up backstage at The Louisiana Hayride—just not the version of the Hayride that you may be thinking of. His father, Shreveport media executive David Kent, launched a second installment of the Hayride after the original iteration of KWKH’s influential barn dance program fell silent in 1960. David Kent’s Louisiana Hayride, produced in partnership with emcee and radio personality Frank Page, moved the show from Shreveport Municipal Auditorium to a more modern venue on Benton Road and added an onsite restaurant and bar. Joey Kent often corrects those who insist that the Hayride ended in 1960. “There were so many talented musicians on my father’s show,” Kent said. “Most Hayride history books tend to end in 1960, but that doesn’t really do service to performers like (Nat Stuckey, Shoji Tabuchi, Micki Fuhrman, Linda Davis, and others).” Kent authored Cradle of the Stars: KWKH & The Louisiana Hayride (https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Stars-KWKH-Louisiana-Hayride/dp/1455624454) and co-authored Elvis Presley: The Hayride Years, 1954-56 (https://www.elvis-collectors.com/book%20review_hayrideyears54-56.html). He is also responsible for donating a large archive of recordings and materials related to The Louisiana Hayride to the Library of Congress. But perhaps his most unbelievable contribution to the story of The Louisiana Hayride came about completely by accident. While clearing out an office at KWKH, Kent says that he happened upon a reel-to-reel recording wedged between a desk and a wall. That reel-to-reel turned out to contain a previously unknown recording of Elvis Presley’s Hayride debut on Oct. 16, 1954. Kent tells the jaw-dropping story of that discovery, along with many others, during his insightful conversation with All Y’all hosts Sara Hebert and Chris Jay. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

The Louisiana Hayride was a live country music jamboree that was broadcast weekly via Shreveport, Louisiana's 50,000-watt powerhouse station KWKH beginning in 1948. The lifespan of the Hayride was brief (the original program ended in 1960) but consequential, with artists like Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, and Kitty Wells changing the look and sound of American pop music from the stage of Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. For our six-episode series exploring the lasting impact of The Louisiana Hayride, All Y'all partnered with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Over the course of the series, you'll hear from a wide range of interview subjects, including musicians Kix Brooks and AJ Haynes, historians Joey Kent and Rob Gentry, entrepreneur Alton Warwick, and this episode's guest: Shreveport native, music professor and author Dr. Tracey Laird. Dr. Laird is the author of Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River and co-author of Shreveport Sounds in Black and White. Dr. Laird joined All Y'all's Sara Hebert for an interview by phone from Decator, Georgia, where Laird serves as professor of music at Agnes Scott College. Her books are the best place to start for anyone seeking a well-researched, smart, and fun primer on the mythology, music and meaning of The Louisiana Hayride. In the first episode of our six-part series, Dr. Laird describes Shreveport as “a kind of a crossroads of cultural impulses” where music that fell “outside of the canonical understanding of country music” could find a more receptive audience. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Links: Louisiana Hayride on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River: https://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Hayride-Radio-American-Musicspheres-ebook/dp/B000WMF7FY Shreveport Sounds in Black and White: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001M4HZGA/ Like All Y'all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y'all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Growing up poor in Marthaville, Louisiana in the 1940s, Big Rob Gentry considered only four things in his hardscrabble world to be indispensable: Jesus Christ, Earl Long, the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and KWKH. The latter was brought into his home courtesy of a cabinet-sized radio that his father saved up to purchase for the family. Each morning and evening, the Gentrys would gather ‘round the radio to listen to country music, news and entertainment beamed out of Shreveport, Louisiana. His favorite program was The Louisiana Hayride. For the second episode in our six-part series produced in partnership with Louisiana Public Broadcasting, All Y’all spoke with Gentry about how the country music showcase—which broadcast live from Shreveport Municipal Auditorium from 1948 until 1960—shaped his life. Gentry is the retired editor and publisher of The Sabine Index and a Louisiana Political Hall of Fame inductee who donated a sizable collection of Hayride-related artifacts, documents and memorabilia to The Cammie G. Henry Research Center at Northwestern State University in 2014. If you’ve not heard the first episode in this series, give it a listen to hear country music historian and author Dr. Tracey Laird discuss some of the same things that Gentry brings up in this episode, including the “hooping and hollering” that set the Louisiana Hayride apart from its more hidebound competitor, the Grand Ole Opry: https://www.allyallblog.com/2020/08/10/louisiana-hayride-dr-tracey-laird/ The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Links: Louisiana Hayride on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride Shreveport Times article on the "Robert Gentry Collection" at Northwestern State University: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2014/09/18/former-newspaper-publisher-donates-collection/15858011/ Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

The Louisiana Hayride was a live country music jamboree that was broadcast weekly via Shreveport, Louisiana’s 50,000-watt powerhouse station KWKH beginning in 1948. The lifespan of the Hayride was brief (the original program ended in 1960) but consequential, with artists like Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, and Kitty Wells changing the look and sound of American pop music from the stage of Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. For our six-episode series exploring the lasting impact of The Louisiana Hayride, All Y’all partnered with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Over the course of the series, you’ll hear from a wide range of interview subjects, including musicians Kix Brooks and AJ Haynes, historians Joey Kent and Rob Gentry, entrepreneur Alton Warwick, and this episode’s guest: Shreveport native, music professor and author Dr. Tracey Laird. Dr. Laird is the author of Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River and co-author of Shreveport Sounds in Black and White. Dr. Laird joined All Y’all’s Sara Hebert for an interview by phone from Decator, Georgia, where Laird serves as professor of music at Agnes Scott College. Her books are the best place to start for anyone seeking a well-researched, smart, and fun primer on the mythology, music and meaning of The Louisiana Hayride. In the first episode of our six-part series, Dr. Laird describes Shreveport as “a kind of a crossroads of cultural impulses” where music that fell “outside of the canonical understanding of country music” could find a more receptive audience. The All Y'all podcast is supported by Marilynn's Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Please support these outstanding local businesses! Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Links: Louisiana Hayride on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hayride Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River: https://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Hayride-Radio-American-Musicspheres-ebook/dp/B000WMF7FY Shreveport Sounds in Black and White: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001M4HZGA/ Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

On June 29, the world lost someone very special. The film industry brought Jim Hayes to Shreveport, but his love of our little town is what kept him here—along with his wife, Christine, and son, Walker. Jim was many things, but first and foremost, he was an artist. Whether building props for movies ranging from Austin Powers to Mulholland Drive, painting his signature flames down the side of a hot rod, or creating interesting environments at local businesses like Abby Singer’s Bistro and Twisted Root Burger Company, Jim literally left his mark on Shreveport. After the recording of Jim and Christine’s Exit Interview (https://www.allyallblog.com/2018/06/27/exit-interviews-jim-and-christine-hayes/), Jim stuck around afterward to share the story of how a car gig for Johnny Depp secretly went totally wrong. We’re glad to finally have it out in the world today. See Jim at work in episode 2 of Moviesauce‘s series “Faces” : https://youtu.be/CmXrgoFWTpo All Y’all is brought to listeners with the support of Marilynn’s Place, Rhino Coffee and Maccentric. Like All Y’all on Facebook http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

The second installment in an ongoing series, this episode of Exit Interviews features Ashley Johnson and Ari Butler, both of whom have recently relocated from Shreveport, Louisiana to Connecticut. The Exit Interviews series features candid conversations with former Shreveport-Bossier residents about how living here shaped their lives and what lead to their decision to relocate. Ashley and Ari's conversation with host Sara Hebert highlights many of the best aspects of life in Shreveport (live music, grassroots-organized community events, a supportive LGBTQIA community) while underscoring the need for more professional opportunities. It's an insightful, revealing conversation. Want more conversations like this? Help us by sending a few bucks our way at Paypal.me/AllYall Thank you, Marilynn's Place and Maccentric All Y'all would not exist without the incredible support of our sponsors, including Maccentric and Marilynn's Place. Please support these wonderful local businesses.

Exit Interviews: Ashley Johnson and Ari Butler by All Y'all Podcast

You can tell a lot about someone from the way they treat the animals in their lives. When storyteller Cristal Willcox's beloved cat Kashmir passed away, her friends gathered for the kind of midnight funeral that could only take place in Louisiana. In another time and place, storyteller Randall Ross embarks on a lovelorn holiday acid trip during which a talking feline encourages him to commit cat burglary. It's a weird episode. All Y’all Live: Going Through It on Saturday, Sept. 28 The next All Y’all live storytelling event, Going Through It, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at LSU Shreveport’s beautiful University Center Auditorium. For our sixth annual Fidnto Award fundraiser event, we’re currently seeking true stories of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, beating the odds, and going the distance. There’ll be a cash bar and live musical interludes. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health support services for under-served communities in and around Shreveport. Purchase tickets at http://allyallblog.com/tickets Our Sponsors Are Freaking Great Seriously, how lucky are we to be sponsored by an incredibly good po' boy shop (Marilynn's Place) and the most trusted Mac service shop in town (Maccentric)? Can you imagine if, instead of talking about two badass, locally owned businesses, we were hawking MeUndies.com? That would be awful. Please support our sponsors.

Like the t-shirt says: Y’all Means All. Since our first live event, All Y’all has prioritized the inclusion of LGBTQ voices. This past June, Sara from All Y’all took part in StoryCorps’ Stonewall OutLoud project, helping gather stories from LGBTQ elders in Shreveport including Randy Moulder, Deborah Allen and David Radford. For this special episode of All Y’all, we’ve assembled a few of our favorite moments from their stories, in hopes that these excerpts will encourage you to listen to their full stories.  Here’s links to their full StoryCorps stories: David Radford: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/why-do-i-like-aquaman-instead-of-wonder-woman-i-didnt-know-what-was-wrong-with-me/ Deborah Allen: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i-look-at-their-children-and-they-are-so-full-of-love-and-empathy-and-love-my-kids-are-the-parents-i-wish-i-could-have-been-like/ Randy Moulder: Pt 1: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/if-these-people-would-take-five-minutes-to-say-hello-and-get-to-know-me-this-old-queens-got-some-pretty-interesting-things-to-say/ Pt 2: https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/if-these-people-would-take-five-minutes-to-say-hello-and-get-to-know-me-this-old-queens-got-some-pretty-interesting-things-to-say-2/ All Y’all Live: Going Through It on Saturday, Sept. 28 The next All Y’all live storytelling event, Going Through It, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at LSU Shreveport’s beautiful University Center. For our sixth annual Fidnto Award fundraiser event, we’re currently seeking six true stories of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, beating the odds, and going the distance. There’ll be a cash bar and live musical interludes. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health support services for underserved communities in and around Shreveport. New Stuffed & Busted E-Newsletter Our food and drink podcast, Stuffed & Busted, has a new, semi-weekly e-newsletter where All Y’all co-host Chris Jay publishes wild rants on topics like snow cones, farmers’ markets, food events, and more. Sign up for Stuffed & Busted’s Small Bites e-newsletter here: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Thank you, Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric All Y’all live storytelling events wouldn’t be possible without the support of our presenting sponsor, Marilynn’s Place, and our podcast sponsor, Maccentric. Please support these incredible local businesses the next time you need your Mac repaired or your belly filled.

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the All Y'all archives: Kate Archer Kent, “Keep Your Hands On the Rope.” We'll be back next week with all new stories and episodes. Thanks for letting us take a break after our wildly successful and fun evening of stories!

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A young, gay man comes of age in the Deep South, where he is the son of a pastor. If you're expecting this story to end in tears, you may be right - but they may be tears of joy. Michael Chisum's ode to the love of two fathers was a message that we very much needed to hear in this time of bigotry paraded as faith. "God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him." -1 John 4:16  All Y'all Live: Wildcard 2 on Friday, July 26 Tickets are now available for the next All Y'all live storytelling event, Wildcard 2, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 26 at RSVP. At Wildcard events, storytellers names are drawn from a hat - anyone who's drawn has to either tell a short, true story (10 minutes or less) or nominate a friend to tell a story in their place. Tickets are $15 each. There'll be a cash bar and musical interludes by Nate Treme. These events are an absolute blast, and can often feel like a combination of a house party and a live storytelling event. Tickets may be purchased at http://allyallblog.com/tickets Thanks to everyone who's already gotten tickets - y'all are the real MVPs. New, Weekly Stuffed & Busted E-Newsletter Our food and drink podcast, Stuffed & Busted, has a new, weekly e-newsletter where All Y'all co-host Chris Jay publishes wild rants on topics like snow cones, farmers' markets, food events, and more. Read the first two editions or sign up to receive future e-newsletters: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Thank you, Marilynn's Place and Maccentric All Y'all live storytelling events wouldn't be possible without the support of our presenting sponsor, Marilynn's Place, and our podcast sponsor, Maccentric. Please support these incredible local businesses the next time you need your Mac repaired or your belly filled with well-seasoned red beans.

So, let's say it's your day off. You get some friends together, make some plans, and head out for a day filled with anything - anything - but work. You know what comes next, right? Your services are required. Duty calls. Do you answer? When retired DEA agent Pam Brown took the stage at All Y'all Live: I Just Work Here in April 2017, she reflected on an unusual ethical conflict at the office ("the office," in this case, being a beachfront bar in Cocaine Cowboys-era Miami). It's a story about grey areas, moral ambiguities, and "doing the right thing for the wrong reason." Live storytelling just 2 weeks away All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice’s Bar) in Shreveport. Purchase tickets: http://allyallblog.com/tickets During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products.

If you were asked to conjure up the most American meal possible, you might dream up a Thanksgiving Dinner shared with silver screen cowboy John Wayne. Storyteller Bonne Summers actually shared a Thanksgiving with Wayne, during an idyllic American holiday that she recounted live onstage at our June 2015 live event, "Brush With Fame." Live Events and New Stuffed & Busted All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (2609 Youree Drive) in Shreveport. Purchase tickets: http://allyallblog.com/tickets. During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know or nominate someone else to do so – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Stuffed & Busted, our food and drink-themed podcast, is doing a lot of fun stuff lately. We just released a short documentary film about Kon Tiki, a Polynesian restaurant and lounge that operated in Shreveport from 1970 to 2008, and we're in the process of launching a weekly e-newsletter called Small Bites. Sign up for the newsletter: http://tinyletter.com/stuffedandbusted Watch our new short film, Kon Tiki Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsUQ9G-m6IU Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Like All Y’all on Facebook: http://fb.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

Doesn’t it seem like the harder you try to impress others, the less likely it is that things will go as planned? Anwar Fikri’s story of awkwardness, allergies and Airmen elicited many sympathetic groans - and lots of laughs - during our August 2017 live event, “The Skin I’m In.” He joined us during while serving at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City. Live Events and New Stuffed & Busted All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice’s Bar) in Shreveport. Tickets are available at http://allyallblog.com/tickets. During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y'all on Facebook: http://fb.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

Who doesn't love a good ghost story? During our November 2016 live event, "Haunted", we heard stories about personal demons, phantasmagoric chicken wings, and haunted houses. Artist Kathryn Usher ended the night with a heartfelt ode to lost love that would make Edgar Allan Poe proud.     Experience more of Kathryn's compelling storytelling in her TEDxRedRiver talk, "Folk Art in the Front Yard." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHOcNANpKMU  Upcoming Live Events All Y’all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice’s Bar) in Shreveport. Buy tickets at http://allyallblog.com/tickets During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know – it’s 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There’ll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more. Seating is limited; grab your tickets today.    All Y’all will host its sixth annual fundraiser event at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 in the University Center auditorium on the campus of LSU Shreveport. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y’all on Facebook. http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter. http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

Through her work as a diversity consultant, Roxann Johnson helps people have difficult conversations. Through her activism and leadership, she has become a recognized leader of Shreveport’s efforts toward racial reconciliation. Every community could use more voices like hers: strong, empathetic, humane, and wise. When she took the All Y’all stage, Roxann shared a disarmingly personal triptych of lessons from the life of an African American mom in the Deep South.     Mark Your Calendars All Y'all Live: Wildcard 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26 at RSVP (formerly Maurice's Bar) in Shreveport. During Wildcard events, any audience member may be called onstage to tell the best true story that they know - it's 50% live storytelling event, 50% party. There'll be a cash bar, live musical interludes from Nate Treme, and more.  Tickets available at http://allyallblog.com/tickets    All Y’all will host its sixth annual fundraiser event at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 in the University Center auditorium on the campus of LSU Shreveport. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y’all on Facebook: http://facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y’all on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Instagram: http://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

Sometimes, we get the impression that folks are embarrassed to say “we met online” when they’re unspooling the backstory of their love affair. As if “online” means anything at all, really, in the age of Fitbit and Alexa. The average person has no reason to be embarrassed about having met their boo through an app or dating site. That’s just how we meet one another these days. But Charnae McDonald’s story, a modern love story filled with catfishing and coincidences, isn’t exactly average.              A note about "Wildcard" stories Wildcard stories like Charnae's are told by storytellers who have no advanced warning that they are about to be called onstage to tell a story. The only opportunity to prepare that is given to these storytellers is the time that it takes for them to walk to the stage. Mark Your Calendars Our next event is on the books. Join us on July 26, 2019 beginning at 7:30PM for our next Wildcard live storytelling event at RSVP Event Space. Tickets are now available – come join us! Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a big-ass po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y’all on Facebook: https://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow All Y’all on Twitter: https://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/allyallpodcast

As far as nicknames go, “Catfish” is as good a nickname as any for a young, Southern fellow with charm to spare. Anthony “Catfish” Woodward was the first storyteller to take the stage at Red River Brewing Company during our fifth annual Fidnto Award fundraiser event in 2018. Like the late, great Anthony Bourdain, ‘Fish was once a line cook on the most fearsome of all kitchen shifts: the Mother’s Day brunch.     Second Helpings of Stuffed & Busted Stuffed & Busted, a podcast about food and drink in North Louisiana produced by Chris and Sara from All Y’all, will be returning with new episodes and blog posts soon. Catch up on the first four episodes, subscribe to Stuffed & Busted on iTunes, or like the Facebook page to get prepared for new episodes about farmers’ markets, thrift store cookbooks, mayhaw jelly, and more. All Y'all Live Returns on Sept. 28, 2019 We're not quite ready to spill all of the beans about our next fundraiser event, but here's what we know: All Y'all Live: "Going Through It" will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019 at LSU Shreveport's University Center. Lots more details coming soon. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a big-ass po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y’all on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allyallblog/ Follow All Y’all on Twitter:

Some folks are just born storytellers. Boz Baucum, the gregarious and bawdy chef/owner of Marilynn’s Place in Shreveport, is one of those folks. When Boz volunteered to tell a story at All Y’all’s June 2016 live event, we had no idea what an unbelievable tale of small-town malfeasance and chicken-fried chicanery we were in for. Mark Your Calendars All Y’all will host its sixth annual fundraiser event at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 in the University Center auditorium on the campus of LSU Shreveport. Proceeds from this evening of mental health-themed stories will benefit a to-be-announced organization or individual whose work in the area of mental health is deserving of special recognition. This annual fundraiser is also known as The Fidnto Award. Please Support Our Sponsors We have wonderful sponsors in Marilynn’s Place and Maccentric. Please help us thank them for their patronage by doing business with them whenever you need someone to feed you a big-ass po’ boy or fix your Apple products. Do you have a story that you’d like to tell at an All Y’all live storytelling event? Call us at (318) 582-0665 and leave a message about your story, as well as your contact information, and we’ll be in touch! Like All Y’all on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allyallblog/ Follow All Y’all on Twitter. https://twitter.com/allyallpodcast

A mourning artist confronts the spirit of her deceased husband. A young line cook has a meltdown during a Mother's Day brunch service. The hedonistic deputy sheriff of a small Mississippi town oversees the collapse of a redneck vice den. Gather 'round, because there are 10 new episodes of the All Y'all podcast headed your way beginning on Memorial Day, May 27. Live events coming this Summer and Fall All Y'all Live will return this Summer with our next Wildcard event. During these adrenaline-fueled live storytelling events, anyone who purchases a ticket to the show must be prepared to tell a story if their name is called. We'll be announcing the very cool location of this event, the date and other details soon. There'll be a cash bar, musical interludes and goodness knows what else. In the meantime, Mark your calendar for Saturday, Sept. 28, when we'll host a live fundraiser event at LSU Shreveport's University Center. One hundred percent of proceeds from ticket sales at this event will be donated to a to-be-announced organization. This will be the sixth annual presentation of the Fidnto Award. Like All Y'all on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allyallblog Follow All Y'all on Twitter: https://twitter.com/allyallpodcast Like All Y'all on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyallpodcast/ Bloop All Y'all on Bloopster (just kidding, that's not a real social media thing...yet.)

On some level, we all know that we're dying. But Coleen McKechnie, who assisted with her mother's end-of-life care - her mother was battling Huntington's Disease - at the same time that she was also diagnosed with Huntington's, is more familiar with her own mortality than most of us. Now, Coleen faces what she calls "a known and unknown future" with awe-inspiring grace.

Sometimes thoughts and feelings from the past can hit you out of the blue, like Imperial Japanese fighters on a December morning in 1941. Storyteller Luke McClung's tale of family secrets and repressed feelings is one of our favorites.

A few years ago, All Y'all friend and storyteller Maya Lau told us that we should conduct exit interviews with folks who are moving out of Shreveport. The idea burrowed into our brains, and we've reconsidered it many times since. We could build an archive of peoples' answers to the question "So, why are you moving out of Shreveport?" It's not, as Sara puts it, "a bitch-fest." It's an opportunity to hear - in their own words and voices - the folks who've decided that, for one reason or another, the Shreveport-Bossier community will no longer be their home. Our first exit interview features Jim Hayes and Christine Cox-Hayes, who were brought to Shreveport by Jim's job in the film industry. The couple put down roots and ended up staying in Shreveport long after the film industry had withered. Sara led our first-ever All Y'all exit interview with Jim and Christine on the eve of their move to Santa Fe.

The first time we met Farah Cowley, at a business networking event in Shreveport, her warm smile, Southern drawl, and friendly demeanor won us over. We'd never have guessed that Farah had immigrated to the United States from Amman, Jordan - as a 14 year-old-girl who spoke very little English - just six years prior. For Farah, the path from the Middle East to Deep South was fraught with dangers seen and unseen. Her incredible journey, and what it says about America, is the subject of this podcast-exclusive episode of All Y'all. Thanks, Sponsors! This episode of All Y'all - and every other episode and live event that we'll present in the 2018-2019 season - is presented by Marilynn's Place, Williams Creative Group, and Red River Brewing Co.

Annie Kendig is a badass. At our 2015 live event, "Ladies Night," Annie bravely took the stage to share the incredible true story of how she and her family traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to adopt their third child, Tauntine. Annie's story reminds us that all mothers are fighters - and some are action movie heroes.

For our 50th episode of the All Y'all podcast, we're proud to present a podcast-exclusive interview with a genuinely fascinating Shreveport native: Byron Wilcott, who is better known to his fans as Main Event Pro Wrestling superstar Big Daddy Yum Yum. Wilcott's career as a pro wrestler has taken him all over the world, and he's got lots of incredible stories to tell. We caught up with Wilcott before a recent match in Shreveport, where he regaled us with tales of meeting Ric Flair, dinner with a Yakuza boss, and more.

William Joyce may be Shreveport, Louisiana's most celebrated storyteller. He's won an Academy Award, several Emmys and countless other honors during his career as an author, illustrator and filmmaker. The All Y'all team has enjoyed a long friendship with Bill; but, until he shared this story, we'd never heard the unbelievable story of how his mother and father met and what witnessing their love meant to Bill as a boy. It is a powerfully personal reflection on the relationship between love and courage. "Love for another person can make you so much stronger than you ever thought that you could be," Bill says in the story. Amen to that.

This is a special episode of All Y'all, highlighting our other podcast, Stuffed & Busted. The third, and possibly final, episode of Stuffed & Busted is a long-form tribute to our favorite restaurant of all time: Lucky Palace Chinese Restaurant in Bossier City. On Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, the James Beard Foundation announced their list of semifinalists for the annual James Beard Awards, and Lucky Palace Chinese Restaurant in Bossier City was right there on the list nominated for Best Wine Program. For more info or to subscribe to Stuffed & Busted, visit http://stuffedandbusted.com

Boy meets girl: It’s one of the oldest stories in the book. But when Kyle asked for his girlfriend’s hand in marriage, a challenging road lay ahead. Kyle took the stage at our August 2017 live storytelling event to share this intimate, inspiring story of love’s ability to overcome any obstacle. Kyle's story elicited one of the most powerful audience responses that we've ever seen at All Y'all.

Luther Cox never intended to become a dance teacher. As an accounting student at Florida A&M University, he literally wandered into a West African dance class in progress and the course of his life was changed forever. Cox went on to found the Inter City Row Modern Dance Company in Shreveport's Cooper Road community in 1981. Inter City Row is now the oldest operating African American dance company in Louisiana. Cox's story gets us thinking about careers: How is it that some people accidentally wind up, through indirect routes, in roles that they were clearly born to fill? What are the chances?

Laura Crawford's father, Dr. Robert Popper, narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Nazis during the antisemitic pogrom known as Kristallnacht.  The unbelievable journey that ensues is a globe-spanning journey of courage, luck, endurance and love. Crawford, who founded the world-renowned Centenary Suzuki School, was kind enough to share her father's awe-inspiring journey at an All Y'all live storytelling event on Saturday, March 12, 2016.

Shreveport, Louisiana - where the All Y'all podcast and live storytelling series is produced - is a small town in some ways. Following the announcement that All Y'all was seeking stories of the paranormal for our November 2016 event, "Haunted," several people contacted us to insist that Clay Walker be asked to share a ghost story onstage. One friend swore that Clay told two of the best ghost stories she'd ever heard. By the time that we sat down at a table with Clay and heard his stories for ourselves, there was almost no way that they could live up to our expectations...almost. As it turns out, our friends were correct: Clay can spin a spine-tingling yarn. The fact that these true stories are drawn from a youth spent in Shreveport's historic South Highlands neighborhood at the side of his well-known grandmother, Susybelle "Duke" Lyons, makes the stories that much more wonderful. In this special Halloween episode, we present TWO back-to-back stories - one told live, the other recorded later  - from Clay Walker.

Derek Wayne Johnson was born in Carthage, Texas, about an hours' drive southwest of Shreveport, Louisiana. He fell in love with cinema at an early age, developing a special affinity for the films Rocky and The Karate Kid. Those films were directed by Academy Award-winner John G. Avildsen. Through an unbelievable series of events, Johnson wound up not only meeting his filmmaking hero, but directing a documentary film about his life. Robinson Film Center and Maccentric will present a screening of that film, John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs, on Tuesday, Aug. 8. Grab tickets to the film at RobinsonFilmCenter.org Here's the All Y'all interview with Derek Wayne Johnson about growing up in the Ark-La-Tex, meeting your heroes and what it's like to interview Burt Freakin' Reynolds.

Careers are tricky things. Sometimes, you pursue one career only to wind up in another line of work. Other times, a career sort of finds you - you take a job to make ends meet and, years later, you realize it's become more than a job. And then, sometimes, you tell the owner of the China Garden Buffet in San Angelo, Texas that you're a professional piano player (even though you only know a few songs) and - next thing you know - you're tickling the ivories.

Ghost stories can be a lot of things: visceral, frightening, unnerving. But very seldom do they drift into territory that could be described as intimate or personal. Storyteller Steven Abney took the stage at our Nov. 12, 2016 live event, "Haunted", and delivered a ghost story that was as equally suited for Ghost Hunters as it was for Dr. Phil. This spine-tingling tale of a haunted house and one man's struggle to shake loose of his demons continues to be one of the most unique All Y'all stories told to date.

Some folks are just natural born storytellers. Amy Lynn Treme, a pre-K teacher who lives in Shreveport's Highland neighborhoood, is one of those folks. When All Y'all announced that we'd be presenting a night of stories about work ("I Just Work Here" was held at the Woman's Department Club of Shreveport in April 2017), Amy was the first person to reach out with a story pitch. And, wow, it was a doozy.

On May 11, 2016, Christopher Louis Wilson published a post on his blog, From the Desk of Mr. Coach Wilson, about his lifelong love affair with Shreveport-based restaurant Wing Taxi. Within 24 hours, the post had gone viral in Shreveport, with thousands of views and social shares leading the owner of the restaurant to reach out to Wilson. As it turns out, Wilson isn't the only Shreveporter obsessed with the quirky, gypsy-like wing joint. For many locals, the taste of home is Cajun ranch lemon pepper garlic Parmesan. For our November 2016 live storytelling event, "Haunted", Wilson took the stage and shared a surprisingly personal, heartfelt story of love, loss and yearning.

During the second half of our July 2016 storytelling event, “I Fought The Law,” we featured stories from three attorneys who shared an insider’s perspective of our complex legal system. Our last storyteller of the evening, Meghan Shapiro, moved to Louisiana in 2013 to practice death penalty defense law in a place with greater need than most. From 2010 to 2014, more people were sentenced to death per capita in Caddo Parish than in any other parish or county in the United States. Meghan has almost exclusively represented poor individuals charged with capital crimes or sentenced to death, a cause to which she has been heavily devoted since her teens. This story is about her first death row client.

Hi All Y’all! Sara here with a quick update. In addition to hosting our last live storytelling event in November, Chris and I have been hard at work building a new show for All Y’all. It’s called Stuffed & Busted, a podcast that takes an irreverent look at food in Shreveport and Bossier City as well as the fascinating folks who grow, cook and serve it. I wanted to share the first segment from our second Stuffed & Busted episode, exclusively, here with you. I hope you like it and if you do, please listen to the full 45-minute long episode and subscribe by searching for Stuffed & Busted in your podcast app of choice or at stuffedandbusted.com.

Few All Y'all storytellers have ever seemed so comfortable in the spotlight as "Momma and Daddy" storyteller Dr. Jaya McSharma. Jaya had our sold-out audience in the palm of her hand from the moment that she stepped onstage, eliciting roars of laughter and more than a few tears. Her story takes us inside an Indian-American family on the cusp of gaining a new family member.