#645 - Chris Robinson

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
Episode: #645 – Chris Robinson
Date: March 11, 2026
Guest: Chris Robinson (Musician, founder of The Black Crowes)

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Overview

This episode features an in-depth, meandering conversation between comedian Theo Von and rock musician Chris Robinson, best known as the frontman of The Black Crowes. The discussion moves through themes of aging, creativity, nostalgia, the evolution of music and culture, brotherhood, sobriety, and the enduring nature of rock and roll. The pair sprinkle the conversation with wild stories, pop culture references, philosophical insights, jokes, and fond (sometimes absurd) childhood memories.

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Main Themes & Discussion Points

1. On Aging, Survival, and Artistic Legacy

• Chris Robinson on Surviving 59 Winters:
  "I'm kind of proud that I've... survived 59 winters." (01:35)
• The duo discuss not fearing age or death, referencing Jean Cocteau's line:
  "Living is a horizontal fall." (02:26, Robinson)
• Theo’s take on great quotes:
  "Sometimes I get so jealous when you hear somebody that said something or that wrote something... Now I think I just get grateful that I got to hear it..." (02:51, Theo)
• Both reflect on the vibrancy and restlessness of youth versus the value of understanding and inspiration found with age.

2. The Creative Process & The Power of the Muse

• First Lines & Songwriting:
  Chris details his fascination with the first line of a song:
  "If I could capture something in imagination or feeling...in the first few words of the song, yeah, that's... I like that with songs, too. I'm not going to wait till the third verse for some good words." (06:12, Robinson)
• Theo and Chris chat about influences, growing up dyslexic, and how being different shaped Robinson’s entry into the arts and his lifelong work in a "fucking rock band."
  (03:01–03:37, Robinson)
• The muse is described as “a very jealous entity” that must be nurtured or it will leave:
  "I can't fully remove myself from the dream place or the Muse...it will leave you if you're not... It has to have its proper place." (17:50, Robinson)

3. Brotherhood, Family, and Band Dynamics

• On Working with His Brother Rich:
  Reflecting on shared success, sibling rivalry, and years-long estrangement:
  • "We went a long time without. Seven years without speaking." (35:28, Robinson)
  • “I was ugly and mean. I lashed out when I shouldn't have. I should have reached out." (36:13, Robinson)
  • Ultimately, Chris admires his brother’s unique talent:
    "Now I can... see it more than ever because my perspective... isn’t tainted by any of my bullshit..." (33:56, Robinson)

4. Nostalgia vs. Living in the Present

• Theo on music & nostalgia:
  "I'm like a nostalgia junkie. I'm like this, I'm like a romanticist, like let's go back in time kind of guy." (12:06, Theo)
• Chris on presence:
  "I'm lucky that I'm not nostalgic. I don't really care about nostalgia. Things are the way they are when they're happening." (11:19, Robinson)
• They debate the value of romanticizing the past versus engaging with the present, in music and life.

5. Concerts, Culture, and Changing Times

• Shared memories of going to shows pre-smartphone era:
  • "Concerts were every...it was a different thing before. I mean, they can still have magical moments..." (09:51, Robinson)
  • The prevalence of phones at concerts and impact on experience:
    "It used to be like this, and now...instead of really feeling the music and hearing the music...That being said, I don't police anybody. You know what I mean? Y'all do what you want to do." (91:48, Robinson)

6. Drug Experiences, Sobriety & Humor

• Robinson’s candidness about drug use and creativity:
  • "I've always done my writing...might be a little stoned sometimes, but I’ve never did drugs to write. Psychedelics, they're in my writing, but I don't take psychedelics to write." (50:07, Robinson)
  • "I love drugs. You know what I mean? I don't do them. I'm...gonna be 60 years old this year...To do what I do, I can't do that." (51:52, Robinson)
• Theo discusses his own recovery journey and how both view the role of drugs in art and survival.

7. Wild Stories and Absurdities

• Hilarious tales of concert mishaps (e.g., a man masturbating in the stands at a Korn/System of a Down gig) (07:25–07:59)
• The hazards and oddities of growing up in the South, run-ins with flashers, and being left in strange places by semi-absent parents (43:01–45:52)
• Musings on OnlyFans, body tattoos-as-advertising, and generational changes in how people relate to sexuality and risk.

8. Grateful Dead, Influences, and the Lineage of Rock

• Robinson's relationship to the Grateful Dead and unique musicianship:
  “What made the Grateful Dead so special... it starts off as like, kind of scary, like art rock acid, heavy acid... no micro dosing... there was no cowards dose, as I call it.” (63:06–65:05, Robinson)

9. Loss, Regret, and Growth

• On the death of artist friends and musical heroes (e.g., Prince):
  "When Prince died, I was...I love Prince so much." (67:21, Robinson)
• Anecdotes about missed opportunities, like being banned from seeing Rick James due to teenage misbehavior (69:39–70:51)

10. Creation, Meaning, and the New Album

• The Black Crowes' new album, "A Pound of Feathers":
  • Conceived spontaneously in the studio, emphasizing authenticity and present-moment creation:
    "We went in the studio without any songs... wanted to do something that was more spontaneous and on the fly..." (80:45–81:20, Robinson)
  • The drive to keep creating, regardless of commercial outcomes:
    "We're not gonna sell any records. But this is what it is... We knew what was authentic and real in our hearts and what music meant to us." (81:52–82:52, Robinson)
  • On musical inspiration:
    "My poetry doesn't have to have any message other than its humanity, the connection I want through the things that I've done..." (83:38, Robinson)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On lasting relationships with the muse:
  "The muse... it will leave you if you're not... It has to have its proper place." (17:50, Robinson)

• On nostalgia and being present:
  "I’m not nostalgic. I don’t really care about nostalgia. Things are the way they are when they're happening." (11:19, Robinson)

• On the absurdity of some childhood experiences:
  "That was the days when any other... any building that was open was kind of a babysitter." (44:31, Theo)

• Brotherhood, music, and maturity:
  "Now I see like, Oh, wow. I really see it more than ever because my perspective... isn’t tainted by any of my bullshit... Whether that's my anger, resentment, ego, shit, whatever." (33:56, Robinson)

• On creative endurance in dark times:
  "I refuse to allow defeatism to rule my life. I refuse to let the fear and ignorance of the whole thing dictate my every thing...I think you have to [stay creative]." (86:33, Robinson)

• Humor & Southern oddities:
  "I'm gonna put my weights down and I'm gonna boogie a bit. You cool with that?" (25:31, Theo, recalling his brother)

• On the future of concerts:
  "I still love it. I still think there's a lot of adventure to have. There will be someone I never met... It should be fun. Playing. It's called playing music." (90:37, Robinson)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Aging & Jean Cocteau philosophy – 01:28–03:01
• The importance of the first line in songs – 03:58–06:46
• Wild concert stories (Korn/System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails) – 07:24–08:48
• Phone culture at concerts & impact on connection – 09:07–10:22
• Nostalgia vs. presence in music listening – 10:10–12:26
• On band dynamics, brotherhood, estrangement – 33:56–36:13
• Drug use, writing, and recovery – 50:07–53:09
• Influence of Grateful Dead & rock lineage – 63:06–66:08
• The making of “A Pound of Feathers” – 80:45–83:38

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Final Reflections

The conversation is as much a ramble through the cultural attic of American youth as it is a meditation on survival, creative resilience, family, and meaning. Chris Robinson brings together philosophical wisdom, musical experience, and self-deprecating humor, while Theo Von adds his signature blend of nostalgia, vulnerability, and comedy. Their dialogue is equal parts touching, insightful, and bizarre—leaving listeners with laughter, food for thought, and a desire to chase their own muse, wherever it might lead.

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Recommended for:
Fans of classic rock, music history, musicians, anyone interested in the creative process, those reflecting on aging and maturity, or just wanting a funny, thoughtful, and unpredictable podcast episode.

Transcript

[Theo Von]

I have created the most advanced AI Soldier.

[Chris Robinson]

The wait is over. Tron Ares now streaming on Disney plus. We are looking for something, something you've discovered. Give me something to believe in and some of us will stop at nothing to get it ready. The countdown is complete. There's no going back. Our directive is clear. Hang on. Tron Ares now streaming on Disney Plus. Rated PG 13.

[Theo Von]

Florida, baby. I'll be in Jacksonville this week. We've got shows Friday and Saturday. That's March 13th and 14th. One on Friday and two on Saturday evening. A few tickets are still [e-mail] T O U r practicing preparing for my Netflix special. So grateful to be down there in the great state of Florida. Today's guest is a musician. He's a founder of the legendary rock band the Black Crows. He has a new album called A Pound of Feathers that comes out March 13th. I cannot even believe. Today's guest is Mr. Chris Robinson.

[Chris Robinson]

And I like, I don't mind being decrepit a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, I've never.

[Theo Von]

It's kind of artsy. It's a little bit Tim Burton esque.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, I'm kind of proud that I've, That I'm. That I've survived 59 winters.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

You know. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I can imagine. With your, with your life. I bet. Did you feel like when you were young, like, I'm never going to live long. And then as you got. As you've grown, you're like, I guess I'm.

[Chris Robinson]

I don't. I don't.

[Theo Von]

You know what?

[Chris Robinson]

I. It's so funny because I'm not afraid of the theme at all and of course. But I never really. I mean, no, I didn't really. I've never really thought about it. I adhere to. Do you know the French artist Jean Cocteau? Do you know, he was. He's very. Have you ever seen the original movie Beauty and the Beast? Yeah, the black and white one with the hands. He directed that film. He was a French artist, intellectual.

[Theo Von]

Jean Cocteau.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. A very important figure in the 20th century in art. And I subscribed to something that he said. And he said, living is a horizontal fall. So he just like, douche. When I read that about 35, 36 years ago, I was like, that's it. I mean, what else do you need to know? I mean, it was like, perfect. Philosophic.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, that's a line. Sometimes I get so jealous when you hear somebody that said something or that wrote something, you know, not jealous, but also I guess I used to get more jealous. Now I think I just get grateful that I got to hear it or read it.

[Chris Robinson]

Of course. Of course. That's what it's all about. I mean, there's. There's a million things to inspire, you know, And I think. I think it's really sad if you get to a point and it could be anything, just whatever. I have a lot of varied interests, you know what I mean? So I'm constantly, like, interested in stuff and the world is just information, you know what I mean? Because I'm dyslexic as well. I just process it in a different way. But that's why I have been in a fucking rock band my whole life.

[Theo Von]

That's what it'll lead you there, you're saying. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. If your brain is fricking doing donuts or whatever.

[Chris Robinson]

Every artist I know, yeah. It's like, that's why we found our way to this. And the success part or whatever, that kind of aspect of it is just whatever. Yeah. I mean, that's what either happens or doesn't happen.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. I read somewhere that you, like, you have like a. I don't know if it's a fascination, but like, about the first line of a song or a. Like whenever you mentioned that thing about Mr. Cocteau, it made me think about that, like, how the first line is so important.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, it's. Well, for. It's funny that you. I did say that. I've said that before because, you know, lyrics are the. The writing songs was the first thing I thought I could do. Do you know what I mean? So I was like. I was. That's what I was into. Yeah, that was my interest. Poetry and wr, you know, that was something that I felt I had. Maybe I could get into this.

[Theo Von]

Was it a music first? Like, you were just thinking poetry, and

[Chris Robinson]

they're just poetry first. You know what I mean? Because the music part came a little later when I was kind of like, fuck, you know, like, we're going to see, like, hardcore bands in Atlanta in the early 80s at like, punk rock matinee shows and stuff, because that's the shit we could go see. Because I wasn't really interested in, like, MTV and kind of the same stuff. We were just different. My brother, too. That kind of led to the whole world of, oh, there's like all this other shit going on, but it's not on TV or it's not the. On the radio. You have to really dig and find it. And then you see some other Kid in like a Circle Jerks T shirt or something, and you're like, let's go talk to that guy.

[Theo Von]

What's going on there? Yeah. Which.

[Chris Robinson]

The world is still the same way. I think you meet the people you're supposed to meet and has nothing to do with technology. If you're out in the world traveling around.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, that's a good point, actually. I think you come across.

[Chris Robinson]

You meet people because you guys are on. People are on a. A certain wavelength. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

There's a real human wavelength that's still happening in the universe. Even though so many of us are sidelined on our devices, though, it's almost like you're on the sidelines.

[Chris Robinson]

Almost as if it's by design, too. You know what I mean? I mean, I don't really wander into those realms so much. I'm too busy with Mr. Cocktail. Just kidding.

[Theo Von]

Did you have, like. Yeah. Are there, like. Once I read that you. Once I read that you said that, I was like. Oh, yeah. I was trying to think of.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, the first line thing. But that dictates the. The. Yeah. Where, like, okay, if I. If that first thing to me is something, like, I could, in a stupid visualization, open up a page and see it and then if that would be something that. If I could capture something in imagination or feeling or where those two things come together in the first few words of the song. Yeah, that's. You know, And I find my. Like, I like that with songs, too.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

You know what I mean? I'm not going to wait till the third verse for some good words.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. To tick a little. Yeah, yeah. You want to tickle him up front like the. What's a Johnny? That Johnny. I hurt myself today.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, that one. The Trent Re.

[Theo Von]

Yes. Oh, my friend was just at. They just went to see Nine Inch Nails last night, actually. He was sending me videos.

[Chris Robinson]

They were here last night?

[Theo Von]

No, they were in New Orleans, but.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, New Orleans. Oh, that's right. That's right. He just went, wow, I saw that. My. We. My wife and I went to see them in Brooklyn over the summer. It was like a crazy week of, like, fucking gigs because we got there and corn and system of a downward playing. So we went to that and I've never seen shit like that. And that was fucking amazing with Brian Walch.

[Theo Von]

Was he playing?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, but that was the gig where a guy was, like, jerking off in the stands, like.

[Theo Von]

Oh, in Brooklyn?

[Chris Robinson]

No, this is at the stadium. What's it called? MetLife Stadium.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And it was all over The Internet. There's a guy jerking off and there he is.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's a trap beat, bro. That's 808. Huh?

[Chris Robinson]

He's really upset at that point of the. But a guy runs over and, like, smacks him. I was at that gig, but I was on the floor, so I had nothing to do.

[Theo Von]

We were down there in the recipe.

[Chris Robinson]

Maybe he was looking at me right there. You never know.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that dude's just serving a little bit of body butter. That dude's just making his own vending machine, dude.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, look, this guy's had enough of you, man.

[Theo Von]

Bro, to run up and hit a guy who's jerking off is insane, though.

[Chris Robinson]

Unless maybe he's a. That's what he wanted. He couldn't really get it together unless he got punched in the back of the skull. Maybe that was his plan all along. Wow, this guy's really on this other.

[Theo Von]

Wow. I'm so glad I can get off easier than that.

[Chris Robinson]

I was at that show. I was at Nine Inch Nails and then we went to Oasis.

[Theo Von]

Oh, amazing, huh?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, it was a great week. But I tell you, Nine Inch Nails was unbelievably good show. I mean, it was so theatrical, so visual. It was. It was. There was also, like a real human part, too. I mean, I was just so impressed.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. I heard the effects on this tour supposed to be pretty amazing. Did it just kick off now? This is the second half of it, right?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Theo Von]

They did half of it last year. Yeah. I haven't got to talk to my friend. He sent me like, four videos last night, though. So it's pretty cool just to have, like, moments from our childhood, you know, that you just like. And for like 30 seconds each time, I was like, back in these moments where you're, like, feeling something, you know?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Well, I've got. That's. I see some concerts now are less phone driven than they used to be.

[Theo Von]

Like, people want to be there more.

[Chris Robinson]

I think so.

[Theo Von]

I think you're right.

[Chris Robinson]

And I think it's funny when you see, like, when it's juxtaposed with, like, if you see some footage from, like, concerts before phones, and everyone is focused on the same thing, and it was really, you know, about some other sort of interaction.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. And you'd have a. You'd almost have a. Like a. It was like you were riding a wave during a concert. Like, you'd find somebody that had a beer.

[Chris Robinson]

Emotional.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. And then you connect with a girl, but she disappears. And then you're like, oh, Wait, I'm here with my wife. And then that's there.

[Chris Robinson]

Concerts were every. I mean, they were. It was a different thing before. I mean, they can still have magical moments, you know, people can still be involved.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, but your friend would go off to get, like. And then somebody would go off to get beverages, and you would never see, like, that person. They were gone.

[Chris Robinson]

Never saw them since. Oh, dude.

[Theo Von]

Dude. There was just something about experiences like that. There was something about, like. Like, I always feel like the best music was during my childhood, but I don't know if that stunts my appreciation for music as an adult.

[Chris Robinson]

You know what it is? I don't think it's about it being the best music. I think my wife and I were talking about this because she's like an anthropologist when, like, when she sees, like, some teenagers, like, sitting on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes, she's like, we need to study them, look at them. This has been going on forever, you know, But I say, like, let's. You know, I'll do the drawings. But I think what it is, and we talk about it, is when you're a teenager or you're an adolescent, you're so alive in a different way for the first time from the childhood alive to, like, this. Oh, this now, my. The way the world feels to me is going to be something different. And when that music comes, it's, like, imprinted on, like, this fresh, you know what I mean? There's no. No one is swollen at that age.

[Theo Von]

Before that, you're kind of pulp. And this is like. That's like the first time. But I get it.

[Chris Robinson]

But it makes sense, you know what I mean? Because I'm. That I feel that. I mean, I'm lucky that I'm not nostalgic. I don't really care about nostalgia.

[Theo Von]

Oh, you don't get into that.

[Chris Robinson]

It doesn't make me. Things are the way they are when they're happening. And yes, there could be an aspect of something like, oh, I remember when I first heard that record. But I don't listen to, like, a record. Like, I don't know, it could be anything. Even if it was from the 80s. I don't know. Something like. Let's Active. There's a band from North Carolina, Mitch Easter, let's Active. Yeah. Loved. Let's Act.

[Theo Von]

Bring them up. I want to see them.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. And. But if I hear that, I'm like, I'm not back in my. My mom and dad's house. I'm like, oh, listen how cool that guitar sound. You know, it. Music has always made it alive. The room, wherever I am.

[Theo Von]

Does it? Yeah. It's funny because a lot of music, I think I immediately go back to place. I'm like a nostalgia junkie. I'm like this, I'm like a romanticist, like let's go back in time kind of guy. And I think I miss out on probably a lot of like life and present moments sometimes like that. But I don't know if I'm that upset about it. Maybe that's just who I am on this trip.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, I don't think that's necessarily. Yeah, I mean I, I mean that's also just dreaming and. Yeah, maybe it is.

[Theo Von]

And I loved, I just love like, I think I just loved some of those.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, are you kidding? If I could like, if I could dress like a, you know, 17th century French aristocrat, I would, you know, I'd walk around with the wig, did the like pants and I would like, you know.

[Theo Von]

Oh yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And I would feel great about, I mean I would feel great about it. That's a little.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, but if they had chain me, like if you showed up to like say there was going to be people, like there might be beef at this thing.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, I mean, I think there was kind of always beef.

[Theo Von]

Yes, that's a good point. Yeah. So. So somebody that should have been chainmail was just like a dude like who showed up.

[Chris Robinson]

The richest, most powerful people are the most unhinged. Obviously. They're like, run him through, run him through.

[Theo Von]

I think we're there now, dude.

[Chris Robinson]

I don't think it's ever been any different. Yeah, I mean I, I also think the resistance is always there.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

I also, you know what I mean? I also think the moral compass will always show the way to what is right and what is wrong. And that doesn't have anything to do. That's just a fundamental. We know what's right and wrong.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

You know what I mean? And you believe that? Yeah, I do because I've seen it happen. I mean, by the way, sometimes it doesn't come without a full on struggle.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Because I've been worrying about that a lot recently. I'm like, you have to like, like we gotta believe that morality wins, you know, somehow.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, no, but, but again these things are in a constant sort of struggle that keep going and going. I mean forever. I mean, I know we like to think that.

[Theo Von]

I know it's all now. Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

It's like all our life that life was, you know, there was Victorian people and then Crocs. And airports, you know what I mean? But there's some other shit that happened in between your comfort and, you know, robber barons or whatever. But there is a. There is a constant line in it. You know what I mean? And so, I don't know, what did they say? What's that Clint Eastwood movie, where the Grit. No, it's one of. But it's like a mid-70s one. But the guy who plays like the Native American guy, he. When they're talking about the troubles, he goes, we must endeavor to persevere. And ever since I was a kid, I was like, yeah. Oh, it's the Outlaw Jesse Wales. That's the one.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I've heard of that. I've never seen it.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, it's great. Is it great?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I'm have to check that out, man. The Outlaw Jesse. Josie Wales.

[Chris Robinson]

Josie Wales, yeah.

[Theo Von]

And they just remade it, I think, actually.

[Chris Robinson]

No, don't do it.

[Theo Von]

I know. Rarely have. Rarely have they done it.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, it's weird. Why leave it alone. Just come up with something else.

[Theo Von]

I think it's just to get people that saw it once with nostalgia to go get them to, hey, come pay for it one more time. And just you, you know, it's not gonna be that good, but there's a part of you that's gonna connect.

[Chris Robinson]

I don't really love musicals, but I love west side Story.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I like Newsies.

[Chris Robinson]

I always did, you know.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And as a lyricist, one of the greatest lyrics of all time is in the Officer Krumke song when the kid goes, I'm depraved on account of I'm deprived. And I was. I was like, that's like Bob Dylan, you know, I'm depraved on account of I'm deprived. I mean, it is one of the great lyrics of all time. But then Steven Spielberg remakes West side Story. I don't get it. I want. I mean, he didn't call me. He didn't ask what your opinion, but sure. I mean, I'm sure, you know, that's Steve. He's going to do what he wants to do.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, man. Yeah. I wonder if I had made something wonderful, would I try and remake it later on? Like, I wonder what my desire would be in that.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, that. I. I don't. Yeah, I wouldn't. I don't understand that.

[Theo Von]

Is there times like that in your career where you've written, like, music that you really thought was great or that had commercial successes or something? And then later, have you ever, like, been like, I need to Try and get myself back into that space to write music like that again as. Instead of trying to be like I'm writing music from. From where I'm at. No, that makes sense.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, I hear you, but I'm not. I've. I've always found it to be. I don't know, I've always found it to be the most sort of fulfilling just to be in the moment, you know, which is difficult too, because, you know, it's hard. You know, it's hard to. I. It's hard to remain in the dream place sometimes. It's not hard for me. It's hard for everyone else because you have to deal. You know, I'm a husband. I have kids. You know, I. Pets. I have pets. So demanding. So much pressure from the pets. But the reality is I can't fully remove myself from the dream place or the Muse, or whatever you want to call it, because I. I do understand that it's a very jealous entity and it will leave you if you're not. It has to have its proper place.

[Theo Von]

What does, you're saying?

[Chris Robinson]

The muse. You know what I mean? That creative spark. It's like Quest for Fire. Do you know that movie? Ever seen Quest? Dude, we have to have a movie night. I mean, you're missing a lot of Quest for Fire I've seen.

[Theo Von]

Whoa.

[Chris Robinson]

The best. Best.

[Theo Von]

I look like I'm related to one of those people.

[Chris Robinson]

We all are. We all.

[Theo Von]

I've seen. I think the first movie I ever saw was either like Jason Voorhees, like the killer guy at the lake. And then there was the movie. It was that, the guy, the older guy, he has the Coke bottle and he throws it in Africa or whatever.

[Chris Robinson]

The gods must be crazy.

[Theo Von]

Yes.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Okay. That's a pretty. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

And Cheech and Chong, that was an early one too, that. That was like, still kind of popping. Oh, look at this guy.

[Chris Robinson]

My first movie, I remember watching my parents let me stay up and watch Lord of the Flies. Yeah, nothing could be wrong with that.

[Theo Von]

Kind of fits, you know, it's like, cool.

[Chris Robinson]

He'll like this. And I did. I did.

[Theo Von]

That's crazy, bro. Yeah, that's great, dude. Just like early influences and stuff. I love that kind of stuff.

[Chris Robinson]

But the first movie, I remember we saw Patton with George C. Scott in the drive and movie theater in my

[Theo Von]

parents car now with them.

[Chris Robinson]

Do you know that film? You know, because it has that music.

[Theo Von]

I've seen this. I have never seen the film. It's good too.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, my God, it's epic. Like Psycho General Patton, dude.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I saw.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, Psycho George C. Scott doing it. I mean, he's really.

[Theo Von]

I got to tap in then. Yeah. I'm just kind of out of touch with some films I did just. I started reading all. All's Quiet on the Western Front last night.

[Chris Robinson]

Amazing. And the original, both of the films. The original one is unbelievably good. If you've ever. You should watch it. That's the one that they remade. That was like, on Netflix or something. That was great. But that's the original.

[Theo Von]

The remake is good.

[Chris Robinson]

The remake was fantastic. Watch the original one first, though.

[Theo Von]

Okay.

[Chris Robinson]

Sell yourself short. Go to the. Go to the source.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. But now here's incredible.

[Chris Robinson]

It's incredible.

[Theo Von]

Here's a situation where they made another one and it was good. But I guess it's not like a part two, though.

[Chris Robinson]

No. And you're right. That is it. That is it. They did a good job. I loved it. I loved the. The modern one, but the original one is, to me holds, like the. The real magic of the thing.

[Theo Von]

Okay. I did see the Jury. What's that movie? The jury. It's like 12, man. It's like 12 angry men. Yes, dude. Louis C.K. told me to watch that, and he was right. Dude, it's great.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Theo Von]

I appreciate the recommendations. I don't get a ton.

[Chris Robinson]

Like, I'm lucky because I'm old enough that when. And you know, I grew up in Atlanta, we had three channels, and then we had channel 36 or whatever and TBS. And they played movies. Yeah, because later it splinters off to Turner Classic Movies or whatever. But when. When. There wasn't that. There was. There's not that much content, you know?

[Theo Von]

Oh, there wasn't much at all. Beastmaster, when that came on. On tbs. Dude, Beastmaster, the guy with those ferrets.

[Chris Robinson]

That's right, the ferrets.

[Theo Von]

Remember this? Dude, that was crazy. Some white guy from WWF tickling a couple of pets. Dude, I was like, what is going on here?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, really? All those fantasy movies are really strange, dude.

[Theo Von]

I loved times like that.

[Chris Robinson]

We were.

[Theo Von]

Ride our bikes to go get the videos at the video store, and they had like those wild west doors on, like the titty area, you know?

[Chris Robinson]

Watch it. I'm a product of, like the early 80s, you know, VHS boom. And my parents had moved. They had made the regretful decision to move to the suburbs. That's the worst blow in life, you know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

In Atlanta, if you move from the city to the subscribers.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, we had moved to Charlotte and then when we moved back, yeah, we were in town and then we moved to the sub. But my parents also, this is at the ripe time of them really being too disinterested and in my life to like edit what I was doing. So it was the great time at these stores of like the midnight movies and European movies, you know what I mean? And I had the fucking pick of whatever weird we wanted to watch. Like I remember my dad seeing us watching Eraserhead back then. He was just like, why are you doing this to yourself? What is wrong with you? I'm like, dad, it's. We would watch. We would watch David Lynch's the Elephant man.

[Theo Von]

Like oh yes.

[Chris Robinson]

All the time. You know what I mean? Like it's not a. It's. It's not a lark.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, yeah, dude, this isn't a one time like this.

[Chris Robinson]

We would like play it again, you know what I mean? Like what the fuck.

[Theo Von]

Were you like an angry child? Like where do you. Because like music usually comes from like some feeling of youth. I feel like like a lot of that blast off energy does like real music, like real like, you know, like whether you're going to become a musician or like a anarchist or a peeping tom that comes out of your childhood, you know.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Do you feel like crime and art?

[Chris Robinson]

Yes, yes.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

Vandalism and art. Yeah, yeah. There was the bad kid part of it and I think that's always been associated with rock and roll. At least in our case because we just gravitated that that was our shit. Like we were into music. So now we're in a band and let's go. How do we get in the grown up club to play? You know, we were kids, you know. How do we get in there? It's like, well get. Write some songs, you know, get better get up there, do something and. But it was. Yeah. Always the bad.

[Theo Von]

Was your brother the same? I know because you.

[Chris Robinson]

He's not a bad kid. I mean he kind of is bad and he was down for vandalism and shit too. But he's not as bad.

[Theo Von]

Down for vandalism. Yeah, that has to be going his headstone if he ever passes.

[Chris Robinson]

Down for vandalism and shit. Occasionally. Sorry to admit it. You know it gets like more of. You're going to need another stone.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, yeah. Oh dude, that'd be great. Two stones. Because you just. Because yeah. There's a little more to tell about them. Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

People don't get buried anymore though.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Did you see that stat that like they're like. Where are all the bodies going, yeah,

[Chris Robinson]

well, I mean, they're throwing them in Lake Lanier or something. I don't know.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

Where all the ashes go? Where? I want you to take me up to the top of Stone Mountain. I don't want you to throw my ashes all over those Confederate fuckers up there. All right, dude.

[Theo Von]

One of my friends works at tsa. He said that I was like, what's some of the things that have been left in the thing?

[Chris Robinson]

Ashes.

[Theo Von]

He said four times they've had people that left somebody's ashes and never came back to get them.

[Chris Robinson]

Where's Uncle Larry? Oh, is that a layover? Yeah, totally. What? I asked you to go pick up your uncle racist. Your racist Uncle Seth's ashes. What do you do with him? I left him on the plane.

[Theo Von]

Fuck. They're in Salt Lake City.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

God. But that's wild, bro, that it ends up like that. Like, I came online probably, like, as a human and maybe just like, my brother listening to stuff like Dio Gnr, Black Crows with one of the early albums that he had, you know, watching him, like, move his body. Our family could never dance well, and he would kind of like. And we shared a room, you know, and sometimes he would set his weights down and put it on and make me watch him kind of, which was the first time he and I ever, like, kind of.

[Chris Robinson]

Listen, man, I'm going to put my weights down and I'm going to boogie a little bit. You cool with that? That's never happened to me.

[Theo Von]

It was kind of crazy, but it was like, you know what?

[Chris Robinson]

This is more my. I'm going to take down this badminton set, then we're going to have some canopies, and then you're going to all watch me dance. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, a little different.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, little different. I didn't lift weights.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, he just like. Yeah, but that was, like, when I first kind of came on with music and, like, watching it through my brother.

[Chris Robinson]

And it's funny, that was the way a lot of people got. You know, I wouldn't have known about, like, my dad. We. My dad had, like, Johnny Guitar Watson records and Jimmy Reed Records and Bob Dylan, a lot of Mose Allison and all sorts of eclectic stuff, but more kind of stuff. But my neighbor up the street, his older brother, he had, like, all the Aerosmith records and shit, so we would like. And his mom was a dance teacher, so she had a stereo with this big loud speaker on it. And we would get down there and fucking. That's when I was like, oh, I like Aerosmith, you know, dude, yeah. AC dc because that's the time you're around the neighborhood pool, you know? So everyone at the pool would be like, back in black. When that shit came out, it was on the radio every five minutes, you know what I mean? And you were like, damn, dude.

[Theo Von]

Remember when the radio was like this omen and if it served you your song, it was just. It felt like a volcano had gone off just for you.

[Chris Robinson]

It was exciting.

[Theo Von]

Oh, and we all had it in common. That was one thing, too. That was one thing that I liked about.

[Chris Robinson]

And you think all the records were good, but it was really just a promo guy getting, like, hookers and, like, steaks and lobsters to the program director to be like, fucking play this record. You'll get a BJ out of this. You know what I mean? Like, all right. I fucking love this record. Oh, dude, these guys are like, back but Turner Overdrive, but even better.

[Theo Von]

And they'd have such a mix.

[Chris Robinson]

If you like. If you like bto, you're gonna love these guys.

[Theo Von]

Whoa. Yeah, dude. Well, there's so many of those radio stations. I worked as a tour manager one time for a guy. For a musician. And we would go to this guy, Josh Kelly. Actually, he's out of Georgia as well. He's from Augusta, Georgia. His brother Charles Kelly played with Lady Annabellum. And. But we would. I was his tour manager, so we would just go all around to these radio stations, and I'd have to get them, like, donuts and stuff in the morning and coffee. But you're right, they'd be like, at 11 o' clock today, we're having lobsters. Like, it's like listening. Listening for lobster. And you'd have, like, just some Muppets show up.

[Chris Robinson]

Snow tires. You know what? When the Black Crows came out, I bought a lot of snow tires. I didn't know I was buying them till later in life when they show what you paid for. Because you're the only fucking band selling, like 6 million records. You're like, who's got a new set of snow tires at WW whatever in Bangor, Maine? You know what I mean? Like, oh, they fucking played she talks to angels 150 times last week. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Dude, that was that. Yeah, that's when it was more like a music mafia kind of thing.

[Chris Robinson]

Don't get me wrong, a lot of good. A good song is a good song.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And. And there's a reason that those. You know what I mean? That those bands are those Bands you

[Theo Von]

ever had come out of the 711 or something and somebody had cracked your windshield with a cane or like a one time a guy broke our windshield with a little baby cradle. And what do you do? Well, I wished I'd had Car shield. Car shield partners with ase certified mechanics and repair shops around the country. Car shield contracts have low deductibles to prevent stress to your wallet at a critical time and to save on out of pocket costs on expensive car repairs. Thank you, car shield. Car shield provides 24. 7 roadside assistance, courtesy towing and rental car options at no additional costs. Make a decision your wallet will love with car shield. Right now, car shield is offering our listeners 20% off with the code [e-mail] visit carshield.com to lock in your 2026 protection today and protect yourself from expensive car repairs. Again, go to carshield.com and use code THEO for 20% off. As America turns 250 years old this year, we want to honor the very people behind the scenes, the American ranchers. And I want to explicitly say my partners at Good ranchers exist to protect that American legacy. Good ranchers is an American meat company that's 100% committed to America. Every cut they offer is raised on local American farms and ranches. That is the truth. From the pasture to the final seal on every box, their entire packaging and fulfillment process takes place here and here only, giving jobs to fellow Americans. Steak, chicken nuggets, bacon chicken. I'm a subscriber myself. I get my meat subscription, so my stuff's auto automatic. You know it. I've also purchased it for many of my friends and my family. The nuggets, they're good. So join me, friends, in supporting an American small business that's keeping the American dream alive. When you start your plan, you'll get to pick a free meat. Free meat that will be included in every order for life. And you'll get 25 off your first order just by using our exclusive code THEO. That's T H E O for 25 off your first Good Ranchers order. Goodranchers.com American meat delivered nuggets. Yeah, I think I'm just like going down some of that memory road of those times, you know, Was your bro were you like, it's. God, I feel like it'd be hard to do something with your brother, dude. But also kind of special. You can if you really.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, it took us, it took us a long time to get to the how special it is for us.

[Theo Von]

Who's A. Who's a better brother, do you think?

[Chris Robinson]

Well, obviously me. It doesn't even matter who's right or wrong. It's me. Of course. I mean that. What a ridiculous question. I mean.

[Theo Von]

And that's your Christmas card.

[Chris Robinson]

I'm older. I'm older. I'm Sagittarian. I'm the lead singer. It's me.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

I don't know.

[Theo Von]

I think the things you really admire about him, like my brother, I think is way better than me.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, right. I don't really size it up like that, but the things I admire about him are the same things that, like, ultimately I like, you know, he's a. He's a. Has an amazing heart inside of him and he's a really genuinely sweet person. He's very. You know what I mean? The other things I love about him, he's. And again, you know what I mean? When things are going. When you're kids and all of a sudden you're in a local band, and then six months later you're selling millions of records and. And everything's different. Everything has changed. The pressure's on now. Blah, blah, blah. I always knew my brother was talented. I chose to. We were writing these songs together. We've always been the Rich. And I's composition is the engine for whatever the Black crows are. It's been that way since before it was anything, but now I can. Especially because we made this last record and Rich plays all the bass and all the guitars, and I'm like, dude, I fucking sat in the studio, studio with him since. First time we're in a studio is 1987 or something. I've seen him do amazing things, you know, like beautiful music, inspired, dynamic things. But now I see like, oh, wow. I really see it more than ever because my perspective of what he is isn't tainted by any of my bullshit. Whether that's my anger, resentment, ego, shit, whatever.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah. Ego's so dangerous.

[Chris Robinson]

And I could see it really now so much clearer that it's like. And by the way, when I say that we live in a world, throw a. You're in Nashville. Throw a rock, Hit a great guitar player. You know what I mean? There's so many talented people, so many talented musicians, and. And that is just the way it is, you know? But I really see my brother. I see his uniqueness and I see how special he really is in his. In. In that world of guitarists. And I've got to play with some of the best music. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Yeah. No, that's cool. That's cool to hear.

[Chris Robinson]

So lucky.

[Theo Von]

That's a nice. That's a nice thought. That's a nice compliment, too.

[Chris Robinson]

I think if you ask Rich about me, he'd say, yeah, he's all right.

[Theo Von]

One of these.

[Chris Robinson]

It's pretty good.

[Theo Von]

Did. How. How tough was it during Sometimes, like, was there ever a part where you guys were like, not only are we not gonna keep playing, I mean, I know you guys have storied throughout the years. It's been like, you know, I'm sure, like, with any brothers or with any bands where it's like, things go apart, things come back together. But was there ever a part where you're like, we might not even be brothers after this, you know?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. I mean, the, like, 2013 was like the last black crossing before we. And, yeah, I mean, we went a long time without. Seven years without speaking.

[Theo Von]

No way. And would you have certain feelings sometimes, like you wanted to talk to him or sometimes did that stuff get clouded by, like, resentment and stuff? Because I. I've had moments like that with family members.

[Chris Robinson]

It was also kind of important to take the kettle off the flame a little bit, because sometimes those things and your work and your relationship, you know, and these. All of it was just, to me, like a kettle on the stove. Just. No one's going to. No one's going to flip the thing so it stops, like. But I think he needed that, too. So it wasn't. I mean, we. I was. I was. Yeah, whatever. I was ugly and mean. I lashed out when I shouldn't have. I should have reached out. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Dude. I've held resentments that were only like. And I was the only one thinking about him. Some weren't even real. That's the crazy.

[Chris Robinson]

Of course. Of course. That's.

[Theo Von]

That's the crazy.

[Chris Robinson]

You think people give a. And they don't. You know what I mean? About whatever you're doing sometimes.

[Theo Von]

Oh.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, I've been. I've been lucky, too, to just have whatever, you know, to keep it moving?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it sounds like that.

[Chris Robinson]

And I don't. I really don't like to. It's exhaust. You know, I've tried to, for better, for worse, not to be a liar in my life because the idea of telling someone a line and having to remember what the. You said that wasn't the real thing that happened or however it happened to you or. You know, everyone's truth is their own thing or whatever, but, yeah, you know what I mean? They would be the same thing. Anything kind of Fake or whatever. I'd rather I'm cool, you know, not everybody has to think I'm great, you know, like. But meaning also, I don't have to act a certain way to pretend that that's something that is. Well, it's just not normal. It's just not. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, well, a lot. I was just thinking of this as you were saying it, dude, I was like, you cut your head kind of turns into like, to like a library. I know that's kind of like a dumb play on words, but it's like, now I have to go back in the show.

[Chris Robinson]

What the fuck? I mean, I would be exhausted.

[Theo Von]

Oh, dude, that was a lot of like, you know, like, I think I was probably lying to survive. I don't even know what I was doing, like, for. I think for certain years, my child, I was like, I don't even know what's going on, but, like, I'm still alive. I'm gonna keep going. And then one day you start to kind of get a little bit better perspective of yourself and things start to adjust a little bit. Was it. Was Yalls band always going to be the Black Crows? Was there ever anything else was gonna be. I know it had different names before that.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, we were missed a band called Mr. Crow's Garden in Atlanta.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Was it ever going to be a different animal, though? It was always crows.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. I mean, maybe we. I don't really. Yeah, we didn't want to. We liked being. People just referred to your band and like, those guys are in the crows or whatever.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Chris Robinson]

So we. I mean, I don't know. We liked that. That's why we kept the E in the name. Because Mr. Crow was the guy's name in this book. Mr. Crow's garden, that this girl had in her dorm at the University of Georgia. And she showed it to me. And that's just the way it was, like. Oh, yeah, cool. It's like psychedelic and like kind of 60s and we liked that aesthetic and. But yeah, by the time, you know, I remember, we drove. There's a place called Rome, Georgia.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah, I've heard of it. I think I did a show, actually. No, maybe I didn't. I've heard of it.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, it's north, kind of east of Atlanta, I think There used to be. I don't know if it's still there, a boarding school called Darlington or whatever. My dad went there and my brother went to boarding school there, which is funny. And there was a little club there and we had A gig. And we drove up there and we had made our first album and we drove up there and I remember we all driving. You remember a van? Like, we had a van. It was probably my dad's van or something he let us use.

[Theo Von]

Fuck yeah, dad.

[Chris Robinson]

We drove up there. Way to go, Big Stan. And we said it, like, by the time we fucking roll in the park, I'll be like, we're the Black Crows. Everybody hip to that. Like, this is what it is. We're the Black Crows. That's what we are. We go in, we fucking set up our shit. We do sound check and we. We're playing Jealous Again twice as hard. Like songs that would later. You know that record, would.

[Theo Von]

Ye, sure.

[Chris Robinson]

The band, we get off stage, there's a bar down the street, we're gonna go have a couple drinks. The band that is opening for us was like a dad and, like his daughter. And they're like, cousin or some family shit. And they were like. They set up and we were like, all right. Like, weird. So we come back, we're the Black crust. We walk in the club, there's the only people there are the dad, the daughter and the cousin in the band, and they're sitting at a table eating Subway sandwiches. And I'm like, where? The Black Crows. And we played Jealous Again and they're just like, eating their sandwiches. They're like three people, four people. I was like, oh, fucking hell, this isn't going well.

[Theo Von]

Those are school. And it was at a school.

[Chris Robinson]

No, that. A club. Yeah. But just somehow they put these oh, yeah. People on. You know, the family on the bill. The only way this story could be better is if they had been a Christian group. But I don't know if that. I could only hope.

[Theo Von]

One time there was a guy that was kind of hit me up. I don't know if he was a pedophile and he thought I was young.

[Chris Robinson]

Let's hope he was.

[Theo Von]

Oh, for sure, dude. Cuz, look, look, he needed something to do in his older years, but maybe he thought I was young and Because a lot of times pedophiles are.

[Chris Robinson]

He's like, I'm so bored.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

It's time to commit a crime against all nature.

[Theo Von]

But I'm just saying that, like, because sometimes pedophiles will drive by and you'll be like, no, I'm 40. You know, like, they just don't. You know what I'm saying? Some of them don't cut your hair. Yeah. And some of them don't have good glasses. It's all types of things. It's eyewear, it's healthcare. It's a lot of stuff.

[Chris Robinson]

But the guy's not wearing his prescription. He's wearing the glasses with the big nose. Because he's on the sex offenders registry. He doesn't want anyone to recognize him.

[Theo Von]

Well, I miss the old pedophile that at least had, like, the peeping Tom. Like, the ladder hanging out of the back of the truck. Like, the.

[Chris Robinson]

The old pedophile was your family. Like, don't sit on Uncle Oscar's lap. You know what I mean? They're like, why would they invite the pedophile uncle? He's like, kids, want some quarters? Like, no, no. You know, we want. We want justice for your victims. He's like, fucking sick.

[Theo Von]

Fuck.

[Chris Robinson]

That's what we want.

[Theo Von]

He's like, I got to roll the quarters in the middle of my pants. You're like, that's crazy.

[Chris Robinson]

Who wants to dig for loose change, you know?

[Theo Von]

But, dude, those are the. Back when they had pedophile. It was just a different time. And now they have them, but now they're like rich people are doing.

[Chris Robinson]

I was thinking the other day, there's a famous character. It could be on Sonny and Cher or Maude or anything. The guy who runs over in a coat and, like, that's a character on movies and TV shows. He'd have a hat on, and he'd run over there. That's a guy. Yeah, it was a thing that was on. You just saw it as a kid on tv. Hey, there's that guy. As if he was a colorful neighborhood character or something.

[Theo Von]

Like a dude selling.

[Chris Robinson]

It's fucking horrible.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

By the way, that's a flasher. Bizarre Raincoat People, which is a great band name.

[Theo Von]

Which also.

[Chris Robinson]

We're flashing. Bizarre Raincoat People. You're gonna love us. I mean, really love us.

[Theo Von]

Well, I'll tell you this. I remember one time, my uncle was in Atlanta, and I didn't really know him. It was like, a girl. My dad had, like, a daughter from his first marriage. He drops me off over there. She had an Italian husband who was, like, semi out of work, kind of had an advertising agency and played mariachi music at night, right? So he takes me to the wine shop or whatever, because I think he wanted to go talk to a woman. So he just dropped me off in there for a little while. A flasher comes up. A lady goes. I remember this. She's like, have you seen my kitty? And I was. I'm thinking, like, I was probably 12 maybe. And I'm like, I'm in this store and I'm just like looking at these big bottles. They had some big bottles of wine and I was thinking like, I don't know. I don't think so. And then she just showed her body like that. The front of her body or, you know, couter and breasts or whatever. And I didn't know what had happened, really. I didn't know if I was in trouble.

[Chris Robinson]

Cooter and Breast, that's the new pub everyone's going to in Nashville. It's right over by Donuts and Dildos.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, there's a father.

[Chris Robinson]

We don't go there anymore.

[Theo Von]

There's a father and daughter. They're in there eating Subway right now if you pull up. But. But that was a crazy time where

[Chris Robinson]

I saw a flasher in the liquor store.

[Theo Von]

In the liquor store.

[Chris Robinson]

Good. How old were you?

[Theo Von]

I was probably 12.

[Chris Robinson]

Maybe that's the perfect place for you to be when you're 12. Yeah, well, why don't you just wander around the. Why don't you wander around the French whites over there? Yes, those are Bordeaux.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, that's a puif. We say if you.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, yeah. But you know, if you don't like the fume, it's nice as well. I'll be back in an hour and a half. Have some salted peanuts. Yeah, but fuck.

[Theo Von]

That was the days when any other. Any building that was open was kind of a babysitter. You know, like parents would just drop you off or like significant people in your life.

[Chris Robinson]

The day my parents realized, like they could split for the weekend and like rich and I probably wouldn't die, they were gone. You know what I mean? Like here they would leave, put like, this is an emergency $20 bill.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And then it would be like, there's two gallons of ice cream and steakums in the refrigerator and these things called steakums. And they were like, bring them up.

[Theo Von]

Those bitches were nasty.

[Chris Robinson]

Bring them up. Thin slices of some sort steak every

[Theo Von]

time you ate them. A dolphin died somewhere, by the way.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, hey, Post Malone, you should get stake them on your face. That would look cool. You know what I mean? Whoever who's got face tattoos.

[Theo Von]

Jelly.

[Chris Robinson]

Jelly rolled. Get steak them.

[Theo Von]

Oh, he would definitely be good for steak them.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, sliced. Get the whole thing.

[Theo Von]

He should get steak. Not anymore, you know, since he lost so much weight.

[Chris Robinson]

Steak. No, thanks.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, no thanks. Dude, that's rocking, bro.

[Chris Robinson]

At least on your neck or something. Stake ems, did you.

[Theo Von]

Oh, stake ems. Yeah. It is more of a neck thing than A face thing. I think we're getting to that place where people are gonna start renting out their body spaces for. Exactly. For tattoos. Just people to survive. We're already at the place where, you know, a lot of people are selling their bodies on only fans and over their phones and stuff like that. So it's definitely getting to a unique spot.

[Chris Robinson]

What do you mean they're selling their bodies?

[Theo Von]

Just like selling sexual videos and stuff.

[Chris Robinson]

Oh, okay.

[Theo Von]

I guess that's not their bodies really.

[Chris Robinson]

You know, I mean, it's their souls, but whatever.

[Theo Von]

I mean, actually, it might be more.

[Chris Robinson]

Just kidding.

[Theo Von]

It might be more souls.

[Chris Robinson]

Whatever. It's the oldest profession in the world.

[Theo Von]

I agree. And look, I've supported it, so I'm not, you know.

[Chris Robinson]

You know, look, I mean, it's. To you. I'm glad you have a healthy relationship with it. After the kitty lady at the liquor store when you were 12. That's traumatic.

[Theo Von]

I still try as hard as I can to remember what she looked like, and I can't exactly. I can remember the outline of her, but I can't remember, like, the end line. And that's what I think I wanted the.

[Chris Robinson]

I didn't see her, but if I close my eyes, I see the green lady from Star Trek.

[Theo Von]

Ooh. Bring her up. I don't remember her exactly, but I believe.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, I know it's your. There she is. It's her, right?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it was her. It was her, dude.

[Chris Robinson]

Sorry. God.

[Theo Von]

Dude.

[Chris Robinson]

I knew it.

[Theo Von]

But, yeah, I remember that. Trying to think of what else.

[Chris Robinson]

Kids today, they have everything at their fingertips. When we were kids, you had to wait till the green lady episode to Star Trek came on, which is probably only once or twice a year.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. You had to play back a movie to play back a movie, like, and try to pause it right at the spot where there's a part of a tit or whatever.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, I mean, it was.

[Theo Von]

You know, and you had to listen so hard for somebody coming in the front door because there's only one TV in the living room. You didn't have your own TV in your room to play touch your body to or whatever?

[Chris Robinson]

No, to put your weights down and touch your body.

[Theo Von]

Dance for your brother or myself or whoever. Oh, once we got a mirror in my room, he didn't need me anymore. That was the crazy part.

[Chris Robinson]

That's the worst.

[Theo Von]

It was. It was the wildest, dude. And we had a good to know.

[Chris Robinson]

That's a good. You know, all of it is adding up, you know, the rejection of that deep wound oh, and the beaver lady. Kitty lady.

[Theo Von]

It was there.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. And you probably. Did you ever work in a liquor store after that? You're like, this is pretty nice.

[Theo Von]

No. We did a shrimp in video, though. We had shrimp. We'd shrimp by the pound and come run a movie over there. Pat Shrimp and video and.

[Chris Robinson]

But did you have other movies other than Forrest Gump?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, 200 copies of Forest Gump and

[Chris Robinson]

one copy in the back of Foreskin Gump, which is a different movie altogether, bro.

[Theo Von]

I had no clue. You're this hilarious, dude. That's awesome. Thank you, bro. I was having a shitty.

[Chris Robinson]

I know Foreskin Gump usually isn't in the press release before I show up. I said, you know, fuck it, you're drinking Sonic and shit. I'm like, might as well, you know what I mean? After the whole foreskin thing, I'm not getting any fucking. Who's going to have me? You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Foreskin Gump. Yeah. What did we get? What did we watch?

[Chris Robinson]

I actually saw that on the spine of a porno in New York in the old Tower Records by Lincoln center up there. To be honest with you. Full disclosure, I wasn't in the porno section. I was obviously going around to the free jazz documentaries, and no, I wasn't, but I saw it.

[Theo Von]

They didn't have that guy in blackface.

[Chris Robinson]

They did it. Let's hope again. Let's hope. It's worse than we could ever imagine. But they had all the covers off of the this is before DVDs. They had all the covers off of them, but just the words in black. And there's a thousand words in my brain goes Foreskin Gump. I've never forgot it.

[Theo Von]

Dude, that's great. Yeah. I don't remember the first porno I knew my. I saw they had a stack of videos, and I remember jerking off and blacking out. I just couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle having any feelings, especially not that much at once.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

And it was like.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, they say the first time is, you know, it's all you need. Never the same.

[Theo Von]

You're never the same. Did you have. Because I know you had experiences with drugs and stuff over the years. Were there. Did you try different drugs and thinking that they would help you write or create certain music? Was there ever any of that energy or is that something that, like, musicians even do, really?

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, I. I've. I've always done my writing. I might be a little stoned sometimes, but I've never did drugs to Write, you know what I mean? I mean, I've.

[Theo Von]

So that wasn't it.

[Chris Robinson]

But you know, like psychedelics, they're in my writing, but I don't take psychedelics to write. All of it, all of it's in there, you know, I mean, I was a person. Fairly well adjusted in some ways. I never took drugs to blotto myself out. I always. I truly. And talking about my romantic relationship with drugs and. Okay, those lines can become blurry at a certain point in my life, but I always kind of knew what was going on. I was never into speed and shit. I mean, I was a coke person and, you know, hard drugs, yeah, that was my fortune in the 90s and. But speed, thank God, like only a few times I ever tried it. I was. It was just the worst feeling thing. It just didn't go with my chemistry. But I, Yeah, I've. It was. I love drugs. You know what I mean? I don't do them. I'm. I'm six almost. I'm gonna be 60 years old this year and. And I love my life and my responsibility and, and to do what I do. I can't do that. You know what I mean? You know, it's a sing and sing at a high level. Hopefully to. The workload is, you know, when you're 25, you can do that shit and get up and.

[Theo Von]

Oh yeah, dude. It's a different story as you get older. I'm in recovery now from drugs and it's like, yeah, dude, I liked it. And if they came out with a version that was better for you, they have it.

[Chris Robinson]

It's called pharmaceutical cocaine. It's just really hard to forget.

[Theo Von]

Are you serious?

[Chris Robinson]

It's. I mean, I tried it. I mean it was.

[Theo Von]

I didn't even know that they have pharmaceutical cocaine.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, it's on another. Look it up.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, bring it up, bring it up. Let's. Let's see what Bear Monsanto is up to this week, huh? New pharmaceutical cocaine. That's what we're looking for, probably.

[Chris Robinson]

Well, even the old one. I think it's better than the average. I got this at the bowling alley. Cocaine?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, I got it when it was still. The bag was still warm from somebody's hand, of course. And if you. If you didn't do it while it was warm, it was bad. It was like Chinese food. Pharmaceutical cocaine refers to purified cocaine hydrochloride used in controlled medical settings distinct from illicit street forms, is classified as a Schedule 2 narcotic controlled substance in the US due to its medical value despite high abuse potential. Yep.

[Chris Robinson]

Fantastic, huh? That's the best Yelp review I've ever read.

[Theo Von]

Dude. It makes me think about this. My favorite joke I ever heard, right? It goes, what's the last thing you want to hear when you're giving a blowjob to Willie Nelson? I'm not Willie Nelson. I don't know why. That's not my joke, and I don't know whose it is, but it's my favorite joke ever. So for some reason, I just had to share it with you right now.

[Chris Robinson]

I like it. I like it.

[Theo Von]

Thanks, man. Thanks, J.

[Chris Robinson]

All I can think about is a sea of red and gray pubic hair now, you know what I mean? That's all I will. I'll go to sleep thinking about it.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

So cheers.

[Theo Von]

I can't remember what she had. She could have had a cock on her. I have no idea.

[Chris Robinson]

You're like. You were just so shocked.

[Theo Von]

I was so shocked that somebody would do this. I couldn't understand that there was nothing under it.

[Chris Robinson]

This was in Atlanta.

[Theo Von]

This was in. Yep. This is in Atlanta. Right off a. Like, I want to say Peach Tree one. Not road. It was Road Circle, right? They're all peach trees.

[Chris Robinson]

Like, there's, like. There's a few.

[Theo Von]

Something. Civil Rights Boulevard. It was something like that. It was. It was a lot of action.

[Chris Robinson]

That's every street.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. It really was. Do you remember a time when you got the highest you ever did in your life? Like, do you remember a time where you got too high? Kind of.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, Yeah, a couple times. A couple times I got too high. One time, our old keyboard player in the Black crows in the 90s, this guy, Eddie. Harsh. Ed was older, you know, and he'd been in the blues scene. And Ed was really my drug professor, you know, and he. He taught me a lot about not just music and stuff, but especially, you know, the underground business we were in at the time.

[Theo Von]

He looks a little native, huh?

[Chris Robinson]

He's Ukrainian, actually.

[Theo Von]

Oh, wow.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. His parents came to Toronto after World War II.

[Theo Von]

Oh, Canadians are good.

[Chris Robinson]

But one night we were on the bus, and he had, like, a couple of bags of shake. Weed. And he. Ed talked like this, man. You know, he's like, man, I'm gonna go get some brownie mix at the truck stop. I'm like, all right, all right. So I fucking. I don't know, you know? He comes in the bus and he. He takes two bags of shake and pours it in this little thing of microwave brownie mix, and he mixes that shit up. He's like smoking a cigarette shit. And he put that in there. And I was like, all right. I mean, I don't know. How fucked up can we get? And he put the icing on it and he said, you eat half and I'll eat half. And I was like, I. Then I was a racer head. You know what I mean? It was a nightmarish. It was either 10,000 days or 5 minutes of complete mind ripping hell of like the. I thought, there's only death can save me. And I just. It was just dumb. I just didn't know, you know what I mean? I was like, oh, I'll eat half of it.

[Theo Von]

It was the.

[Chris Robinson]

The dumbest shit I ever did in my life. Except the only worst drug experience I ever had. I was a kid and a kid at my school gave me some red man chewing tobacco. But just like a piece like this, I fucking put that shit in my mouth. And my parents had gone out or whatever. Five minutes later. First, it felt amazing. The stars were brighter. The world had a warm glow. Thirty seconds after that, I can still taste the back of my teeth from throwing up so horribly in my parents bushes at our house in Jackson's Creek subdivision. Sounds like the worst cwt. Yeah. The worst CW show this episode. You know, Skyler gives Jasper chlamydia. You know what I mean? Where did you get it? I don't want to tell you.

[Theo Von]

I got it from Uncle Oscar.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, this week. Well, he's not my uncle. Your Uncle Oscar. This week on Jackson's Creek.

[Theo Von]

I could totally see it. Dude. Bro. Yeah. There was something about being in the neighborhood. There was something about doing drugs. Dude, I loved it.

[Chris Robinson]

I remember I was scared of drugs so long, I didn't start till I was older.

[Theo Von]

Dude. I remember one time doing some. Somebody gave me something supposed to be cocaine or something. And I. I knew it was like a performance enhancing drug, right? And this is the second time I'd ever. This is the first time I'd ever gotten it for myself. I done it twice, like out in Tucson. I was working as a bus boy. And people said it was like a performance enhancer, right?

[Chris Robinson]

And you will be able to clean these tables so much better than you were doing for. Wait, you dropped a fork.

[Theo Von]

100. Yeah, right. 100 though. So I did this. I'm down in Baton Rouge and I just start. I was like, well, I'm going to go for a good run. I'm going to get a strong run in. So I'm running, I'm stopping and doing this Shit. And at a certain point, I was. I just got. I got really squirreled out. Like, I was afraid to run, right? But I was wearing umbros. Remember umbro shorts? I was wearing umbros and shoes and no shirt, right? And I was like, oh, man.

[Chris Robinson]

It's typical Louisiana menswear. I get it.

[Theo Von]

Typical twink on the train tracks type of energy. Okay?

[Chris Robinson]

You're like, okay.

[Theo Von]

So I'm running right through, like, tiger land, which is, like, right around LSU campus. And there was, like, a fence. And so I jump in these. I jumped over this fence. I was like, I can't be. It's. Too many people are out here driving by. Jump over this fence, and I'm in a. Kind of like, a backyard area. And they had a. Like a little bird bath or whatever. And I remember I was drinking out of that bird bath when the people came outside. Like, what the are you doing? You know?

[Chris Robinson]

You're like, I'm trying to get a tapeworm. What does it look like I'm doing?

[Theo Von]

What do you think I'm doing? I'm just stopping.

[Chris Robinson]

I'm ingesting water and bird feces, so mind your own business. Yeah, I'm having an episode.

[Theo Von]

I'm having a Hurricane Katrina martini.

[Chris Robinson]

I was in Baton Rouge a few years ago, and I just. We went to, you know, get some Cajun for. Get some food, some good food. It was a little bit out of town, and at the time, I was with Camille and I. My wife. We weren't married yet, but I had a Prius at the time. I don't know the shame, but I remember eating in the. Looking out in the restaurant, and I was like, man, I haven't seen a Prius since I got into Louisiana. Fucking trucks and fucking more trucks and shit. I was like, if we pulled in here in a Prius, they would fucking kill us.

[Theo Von]

They would. It'd be. Yeah, it's not.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, this was a while ago.

[Theo Von]

It's frowned upon. No, Maybe.

[Chris Robinson]

Maybe the Prius stigma's over there or something, or they don't even have them anymore.

[Theo Von]

It would still be kind of frowned upon a little bit, but it'd be understood.

[Chris Robinson]

Maybe, you know, I had one because I. I wanted to know what erectile dysfunction felt like.

[Theo Von]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

So I got one. Yeah. And then I was like, this isn't so good. This isn't.

[Theo Von]

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[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

And you've played with some of their musicians.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, I spent a lot of time in the old realms of the gds. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Did you go to Bob Weir's funeral?

[Chris Robinson]

I did not. I did not. I wasn't.

[Theo Von]

Or were people even invited to it? I don't even know how to say that, actually.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, I'm sure they had a private service for him and then they had a public thing. Yeah, I mean, I was super. I mean, I'm super lucky to, you know, rise to the ranks of so many musicians that I. That I've respected and loved. And, you know, we were talking about Bob today, and I was like, bob's great. His great gift is his truly unique, truly outside the box musician. Somebody who just his whole. That's how he was, you know, I mean, just very unique. Bob Weir, you know, like, no one thought like him or played like him or, you know, and that's again, when you look at the world of music, full of unique characters, full of unique voices, full of. Of talented people, sometimes troubled people. What. You know what I mean? Just the. And then you have someone like Bob who really stood out. I mean, that's what made the Grateful Dead so special. It's funny how things that start off like that and then become sort of so popular with, you know, it starts off. I mean, the Grateful Dead start off as like, kind of scary, like art rock acid, heavy acid. You had to be pretty brave, I think, to go see the grateful dead in 1968. Yeah, that's a good point, because you were coming out on the other side. You know what I mean? Like, there was no micro dosing, you know, back then. You know, there was no cowards dose, as I call it. Like, guess what? A guy at Columbia University said I could take mushrooms. I'm like, what?

[Theo Von]

Yeah, read this article.

[Chris Robinson]

What about all of us in the trenches for years? You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

What about us all over here?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. What about all the brain damage we have? You know what I mean? I could have told you that. Oh, dude, no brain damage. I'm just.

[Theo Von]

No, but, like, what but see that

[Chris Robinson]

you, you know, you said you like Chicha chong. Think about it. Now we're talking about. I took a microdose. Good. I'm happy, by the way. Don't. Don't take my.

[Theo Von]

I know.

[Chris Robinson]

Being. Being sarcastic. Wrong. I'm. Whatever it takes to get you through the night to have a nice life and deal. I'm. I'm happy. But, you know, like in Chicha Chag, when he's like. He goes, that's the most acid I ever saw him and take. He's like, oh. And he's like. He's like laughing at her like, that's the drug scene we grew up in. Like, go ahead, man. I hope you have like a month. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Look at him right there. Play it I want to see this, actually. This is great. Work your way up to these goddamn bananas.

[Chris Robinson]

Finkelsteam kid. Son of a.

[Theo Von]

I'll start you off with the strawberries and work your way up.

[Chris Robinson]

He goes.

[Theo Von]

What does he say?

[Chris Robinson]

Bend and scoop.

[Theo Von]

Hey, man, am I driving? Okay,

[Chris Robinson]

that's in Malibu on PC8.

[Theo Von]

Is it really?

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, I think we're parked, man. Yeah,

[Theo Von]

that's perfect. People don't even realize how much that scene has been used in other movies since then because of that scene. Right? It kind of goes back to, like, what we're talking about.

[Chris Robinson]

It's false advertising that I always. My favorite in the whole movie, though, is the thing when he's like, yeah, these are waiter uniforms. He's like, yeah, man, we want to look the same, but different, you know, like a band, you know? Like a. Anytime, you know, someone's like, yeah, they. They look like a band, you know? It's. Yeah, I know Curtis, man.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I don't even remember that. My brain's a little bit bad sometimes. I think I had an amnes or. I don't know what it's called. Good. At least it took away whatever it's called.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Kicked in the head by a mule. Is that what it's called?

[Theo Von]

Wherever your brain does it, something's wrong with it. I think I got that, bro.

[Chris Robinson]

You're like, yeah, something happened to my brain. I got kicked in the head by a mule.

[Theo Von]

Was there. Was there an artist death over the years that. I mean, I know that's a weird question. What was it like? Was there. Yeah, Was there, like, an artist death that you feel like, had the most effect on you as a musician? Kind of, or just as, like, a human being? I guess. I don't know.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean. Yeah, I mean, but probably my personal friends passed away who are great musicians, have always affected me. Todd Schneider passing away. Dear friend, bring up a picture of him. Special. Special person. Freak. Freak in the world. Lovely, lovely person. I had a very special friendship with him. Very sad, but, like, big people that I don't know or whatever. Like, when Prince died, I was. Dude, because I grew up. I mean, I love Prince so much.

[Theo Von]

Prince hurt a lot of people. Like, I remember a lot of my friends being a lot more shocked than I thought they would when. When Prince died, I thought Prince would

[Chris Robinson]

have got a little more murals and T shirts, but it looked like David Bowie got all that, you know? And I love David Bowie, too, but I was like. I just. I mean, Prince. Ever since I. You know, I grew up in Atlanta, When I was a. Like, before, I got into like rock and like sort of punk and indie rock scene. I played a little high school basketball and I was obsessed with funk, P. Funk records, George Clinton. But I was there like Zap, Gap Band, SOS, Slave, Prince, the Time, Vanity 6. That was like, Rick James. Fuck, dude. I loved Rick James, man. As a matter of fact, I have a scar under here. Rick James was playing the cool jazz festival at the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. And my dad knew a DJ at V103FM, which was like the funk station. So this is kind of all before, like rap music takes over. And I had tickets to go see Rick James and Cameo, who. I mean, Cameo was the other one that I loved. And Frankie Beverly and Maze was on there, a bunch of. Bunch of R B bands. And my friend had got a bottle of vodka and we got so up. The day before that, I jumped in this. My parents found me in the neighborhood swimming pool in the shallow end with my. I jumped in and my chin was cut open. I was bleeding in the pool. And people like, get the out of the pool, man. I was 15 years old. I was like, I'm gonna have the fucking pool. You get out of the pool. I mean, I'm out of my mind. And I look up and there's my mom and dad or my brother, and I'd miss basketball, like spring basketball practice or whatever. My dad's like, what the fuck are you doing? Why are you bleeding in the pool? I was like, what? And I got in the car and I was just like, hey, another thing. You guys know that Rick James had a hovercraft? He fucking does. I mean, I'm pretty sure he does. Whatever. I'm just drunk. My brother's like, you need to fucking smell like booze and you need to shut the fuck up. I'm like bleeding. I go get stitched up, I go home, I pass out. My dad fucked kicks me awake at like 5 in the morning. I have a full grown up hangover. It's five in the morning. He's like, we're going for a run. We run three miles.

[Theo Von]

Stan.

[Chris Robinson]

It was like the great Stan, Teeny. We run three miles. I didn't throw up or anything. And we got to like the last 50 yards. And he was like, man, you know you're not going to that concert today. I was like, damn.

[Theo Von]

He said, no.

[Chris Robinson]

He said, you up yesterday? What do you think? What do they do? Guilt me? What do you think your mother thinks? I mean, she's probably happy that I'm safe at home, bro.

[Theo Von]

They never let you enter.

[Chris Robinson]

What? God is done, father.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, they never let you in, so.

[Chris Robinson]

I never saw Rick James.

[Theo Von]

Did you? That is a. That is a bad one. Oh, dude. One of the first shows I ever went to Smashing Pumpkins, actually, my buddy and I had a PDF file that dropped us off at Marilyn Manson. We were underage. We're probably, I think 14, 15. He dropped us off at Marilyn Manson at the Rendon Inn over there in New Orleans. Which is pretty wild. But the first cont.

[Chris Robinson]

You had like an exorbitant amount of pedos in your neighborhood. You know that, right?

[Theo Von]

I mean, well, we were kind of kids who were like, looking for like people to be around. And so I didn't.

[Chris Robinson]

Who's around are like creepy dudes. I'll take you guys. Yeah, yeah, totally.

[Theo Von]

So it's always like, oh, we. You know, and you don't realize there guys a Peter, you think he's just a cool guy. Then you get older, you're like, oh, that guy was 37, hanging out with us, you know, smoking pot and you know, trying to.

[Chris Robinson]

He'll wait for you guys in the parking lot.

[Theo Von]

Trying to tickle everybody. Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

Horrible, crazy dude.

[Theo Von]

The craziest part was though, my best friend Scott, I used to. His dad knew the guy who was like the pedo guy. This one guy, Mr. Richard. So I would write letters from Mr. Richard to my buddy Scott and mail him to his house all the time.

[Chris Robinson]

That's up. And his stepdad, that's good too. I get it. I like the, you know, you're just.

[Theo Von]

That's the. I love, bro.

[Chris Robinson]

Just the psychological torture. Yeah, I get it.

[Theo Von]

And his stepdad would be like, oh, you still talking to this? And he'd come in and just throw the mail right at him. And they already had the worst relations now, right?

[Chris Robinson]

No, yeah. He thought it was the real guys.

[Theo Von]

No idea, dude. I'd send him like four Christmas cards every year from this dude, bro. Because when you're a pedophile. But they love Christmas, I bet.

[Chris Robinson]

You know, I mean.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, because it's just an old dude stopping in and getting and relating with children. That's all it is.

[Chris Robinson]

Dude, we see. Look at the old Christmas pictures. Your parents took you down to some guy, some drunk in a beard, and you sat on his lap, he's like, you know what I mean? I'm sure if scub. Boycott Boy Scout guys are pedos, then the Santa guys, there had to be one. One or two. It's like, oh, we Went to the Easter Bunny. I know the Easter Bunny had an erection. You know what I mean? How could you tell? I could just tell, you know what I mean? And it wasn't about pagan rabbit. This was real.

[Theo Von]

No, this is real.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

God given.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Blood to muscle erection.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. The science of the thing.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Somebody's a Peter Pollen and their friend is just the scientific science of the thing.

[Chris Robinson]

You know, It's a scientific thing.

[Theo Von]

You got an open and have, have opened for you like so many amazing groups. Is there like a tour or a part of like, like your music or I guess even maybe your musical life that you would go back to and, and redo if you could kind of. I know you said you're not a go back guy.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, it is what it is. You know what I mean? Like again I. And I've had the opportunity in life if I've made. You know what I mean? If I, if I, if there was something that, that I felt what that, that I was involved in when that was rude. I don't know, whatever. I've had the opportunity to tell people, man. So that was fucked up.

[Theo Von]

You know what I mean?

[Chris Robinson]

Whatever. I mean, I mean it, I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, but I don't care to change anything.

[Theo Von]

Right.

[Chris Robinson]

You know, they say, what would you. What's your letter to your younger self? I'm like, I. I don't know if that would have meant anything.

[Theo Von]

That's a good point. What younger self would give a fuck?

[Chris Robinson]

You know, it's funny because I was saying the other day, like, I love Steven Tyler. He's been supportive. He's a friend. I'm always there for him. And I was telling the story when we sold a lot of records. On the first record he called me and goes, save your money, man. And I was like, I'm 24. I'm like, I'm not saving my money. Like I love you and I appreciate the wisdom. Cause you've been through it all in this business. I've made one record, you know what I mean? Like I, I appreciate, I did appreciate the advice, but I was also like, I'm a. I. No way am I. No way is this. I'm not just made the first record and had this success and now's the time to play it safe. You know what I mean? I was like, that doesn't make any sense to me.

[Theo Von]

That's a good point. Did you get something? Do you ever get something that was pretty Wild, kind of like something cool. No, like a skull or something. Like a human bone or whatever.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, someone gifted me a human skull later that was through. Weird Grateful Dead stuff. It was no members of the Grateful Deads.

[Theo Von]

It was like at a parking lot. Like a trade, like one of those.

[Chris Robinson]

No, somebody gave it to me, but.

[Theo Von]

And was it a fan or something?

[Chris Robinson]

My extravagance has always been the same. I like clothes and I like travel. I like to travel. I'm obsessive. I'm obsessed with food. I'm obsessed with cuisines from my travels and around the world.

[Theo Von]

Grapes and stuff like that.

[Chris Robinson]

Food. Just the food. You know what I mean? Yeah. A lot of my downtime when we travel is based around food. So that's a bit bougie. But really all I spend money on truly is books and records. You know, I've been collecting records Since I was 12 and books as well. So it's just a giant clusterfuck of, you know, I moved out of my parents house in 1987 with just cases of records and boxes of books. And it's still the same thing, kind of.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

But yeah, I'm not a car guy or.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

I don't have like rare guitars and shit. Yeah.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. I don't really, like. I don't really spend money on almost anything. I kind of. I care about it. But I guess you're right. Like, getting to go places, I'm realizing, is a little bit more important. I. I was just in. Have you been to Oahu?

[Chris Robinson]

No, I was in Kauai once.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I went to Oahu. They had like a surf competition going on. It's like. Like a real one, you know, not

[Chris Robinson]

like the Brady Bunch.

[Theo Von]

Right. But yeah, they had this competition was going on.

[Chris Robinson]

Amazing thing.

[Theo Von]

But it only happens if the weather permits. So like each morning you kind of have to get there and see if it.

[Chris Robinson]

And hope that the conditions.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, and hope that the conditions are cool. But it was pretty incredible.

[Chris Robinson]

Just when I go to the ocean, things. What do you go to? Jamaica. I have a lot of.

[Theo Von]

You ever see Diplo down there? I think he has a house down there.

[Chris Robinson]

I've never been invited.

[Theo Von]

I'm gonna tell them I'm kind of

[Chris Robinson]

in the country too. I. A place called Bluefield. It's been very.

[Theo Von]

Bluefields, Jamaica.

[Chris Robinson]

Bluefields Bay. Yeah. In Westmoreland. In. In Westmoreland, there's Bluefields. Yeah. Actually I stayed at that place. The second one to the left. Yeah, I stayed at that place.

[Theo Von]

No way.

[Chris Robinson]

A Long time ago. Wild. But the hurricane was brutal there. Brutal, brutal. It was really sad. But Jamaicans are incredible people.

[Theo Von]

So that's your place if you choose to go to a beach at your spot.

[Chris Robinson]

I like to go to Jamaica.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

I like Jamaicans. I like Jamaican food and bananas and meat. Yes. Sweet sop and sour sops and I. There you go. Oh, that looks good. We have a Jamaican dog that's named Bami. Because in Jamaica we eat a cassava root that's kind of deep fried like a hash brown. It's called Bami. There's a piece of Bami. So that's kind of the color of our dog. When we found her, she was a street dog in Jamaica, man.

[Theo Von]

Oh, did you ever meet that guy down there? McAfee, that virus guy? You ever meet that guy?

[Chris Robinson]

I kind of. When I go, I've been going for years. We always just take off to the country, you know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Just chill.

[Chris Robinson]

I like my. I have, like, really close people there. They're most soulful, incredible people. And we just play dominoes and laugh. And there's Mammy Long face. Oh, it's our Jamaican dog.

[Theo Von]

That's a nice animal, huh?

[Chris Robinson]

She's the best. She has another name. The perfect one.

[Theo Von]

You always been an animal lover?

[Chris Robinson]

I. I like. Yes. I like. I'm a. I. Yeah, we have a cool cat, too. Yes. I love. I love pets. I love having pets. But I didn't have, like, rabbits and, you know, guinea pigs and horses.

[Theo Von]

You ever own? No,

[Chris Robinson]

I love horses. I don't ride, but I love, love them. Yeah, my wife's a horse girl.

[Theo Von]

I'm not good on them.

[Chris Robinson]

I've done it. I mean, it's fun. I like to. I like. I would be. I wish I'd grown up. We didn't do in my house. That's why I was busy watching all these weird movies and getting weird and listening to records, you know what I mean? I mean, I did play little league football and I did martial arts when we were kids and played basketball, you know what I mean? I did shit like that. And when I was a kid, you know what? I like to fish when I was a kid.

[Theo Von]

Oh, fishing is fun.

[Chris Robinson]

I haven't done it in like, like 40, 50 years. I don't know.

[Theo Von]

Really have nothing that long.

[Chris Robinson]

No.

[Theo Von]

Who took you fishing?

[Chris Robinson]

My racist Uncle Bruce.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Because my dad didn't really give a. About fishing.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, sometimes.

[Chris Robinson]

But I didn't know he. I didn't know he was like that then, but I liked it because we would go down to Florida and do saltwater fishing. And then being in Georgia, we would do bass fishing and stuff. It was fun when I was a kid, but I haven't done shit like that forever. Yeah, sometimes I'm too busy reading Jean Cocteau.

[Theo Von]

One more question about music, and then I want to hear a little bit more about your new album and the new album, it's called A Pound of Feathers.

[Chris Robinson]

The band made a record called A Pound of Feathers. The band in this case was just me and Rich and our drummer, Cully. We. We went in this record, we went in the studio without any songs. You know, we just had some ideas and riffs, and we wanted to do it that way. We wanted to do something that was more spontaneous and on the fly, really, and see where that took us, you know, so we ended up. My joke with friends was we could have done it in five days if we had written any songs, but it took eight or nine days or whatever

[Theo Von]

for the whole album.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah, it was beautiful. You know what I mean? We were on a roll. We. I mean, Rich has parts, and I'll go and have like five or six notebooks full of ideas, but that doesn't mean anything either, because a lot of times I'll just pull things out of the sky or whatever. No matter what, the world changes, you know, we're talking about buying snow tires and blowjobs for program directors and rock radio stations or whatever.

[Theo Von]

The good old days. Reagan Arms.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, when you can sell some fucking records. Records, too. For us, it's always like. That was just a part of, like, the. The. The. The business that was adjacent to what we loved and wanted to do, playing in a band. And it's funny because all these years later, we realized that making records, you know, we're not gonna be. We're not gonna have. We're not gonna sell Marion Records. We're not gonna sell any records. But this is what it is. But for us to get in there and to know, you know, and to feel that way and to realize, like, look, man, when we got started, we didn't know shit, except we knew what was authentic and real in our hearts and what music meant to us. And if we're going to join, you know, when our first record came out, I'm like, dude, we're in. Look, you go in a record store and there's Black Crows Records, but there's John Coltrane Records. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Brian Adams, Leonard Cohen.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, right. And other Canadians as well, but. Or whoever, you know, the Multitude of things that. That we loved and the time, you know, how important record stores were. That we're a part of something meant something to us. It still does. And that we can still have a vibrancy about what it is we want to do and say that we can have those moments where I'm sitting there and we're writing these songs and it works, and I don't care if it works again in another construct. It works for me and my brother, because this is. We started writing some songs at mom and Dad's, and, you know, here we are.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

And now our songs are in people's lives and that kind of thing. But that. It's still energy that I like, that I can look around and this darkened time that we're in and muster the vibes to make something and feel. This is what I want to say. You know, My poetry doesn't have to have any message other than its humanity, other than, you know what I mean, the connection I want through the things that I've done, the things that I am, the things that I dream of up my imagination. You know what I mean? I. I always laugh because I. Do you. Do you. Have you ever seen Barton Fink, the movie? Barton Fink, the Coen Brothers movie?

[Theo Von]

No. I might, actually. I think I tried to watch it. Let me see a picture of it.

[Chris Robinson]

It's black John Turturro plays this guy who goes to la. It's a movie about writer's block, but

[Theo Von]

it looks just like a racer head.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. But there's a scene in the movie with a writer. He's friends. He befriends another writer who's a Southern guy, and he's kind of, I guess, based off on, like, William Faulkner or something. Was in California, I don't know. But he has this real. Barton Fink's really passionate. You write for the common man. And how do you. You know, how does.

[Theo Von]

How.

[Chris Robinson]

Where do the words come from that you could communicate like that? And he. And he's drunk, the other writer, and he's from the south, and he goes, well, Barton, I like to make things up. And I was like. I was like, that's it. You know what I mean? Like, it kind of is what it is, and it's the same things. I don't have a toolbox at home, but I like to write, and I like to, you know, I like to dream. And this is a dreamer's paradise. I've made my own reality out of my limitations as a, like, fully functional, like, person. Because of whatever. The way my mind works, works. And it helps if you sing good, whatever, you know what I mean? And you like to get on stage and keep people interested and. And you know, there's a bit of the old. It's like Bob Dylan says, I'm a song and dance man. You know what I mean? So I'm. I'm that as well.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, it's a dude. The other night, a girl was talking to me about her music for so long, then she got up and sang for me. And it was some of the worst stuff I'd ever heard. And I'd like, for 70% of our time together, I was there with her. And then it fell apart in that last 70%. So I think the sharing, like, how you share it is right. But I do think it's interesting. Like, it is a dreamer's paradise. And one thing that you don't want to lose, like, no matter how like bleak times seem or how dark certain things are that are going on, is that we have to stay creative. Right? Like, we like as much as it hurts or as it's tough or it's like it's not. It's not easy to sit and do, to think of, like, oh, I can be creative right now, I think if we lose that, then that's. Then. Then that's going to be really bad, you know?

[Chris Robinson]

Agreed. Agreed. I mean, and that's again, I think the inspiration of all of these things we are seeing have all been played out before we've seen it. And the reality of that is we see who you know, we'll see this come to some sort of. Look, like I said, who knows between then and there? But I refuse to. I refuse to allow defeatism to rule my life. I refuse to let the fear and ignorance of the whole thing dictate my every thing. You know what I mean? Because I don't know, because I think like you said, you have to. And I'm.

[Theo Von]

And we can get addicted to the new. You get addicted to that stuff and then it takes over your time, it takes over your life, and it takes your flame down and it takes your fl. And you're like, what am I doing here?

[Chris Robinson]

It might be. I mean, it's not even escapism to me because I need to. When we were talking earlier about how I have to keep my head or I have to devote myself to whatever the thing is, it's the muse that keeps my creative energy where I want it to be and what it means in this, in the exact same respect if these things, these things cycle through people, you. Yeah, it's proven again, you can't stop. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

And

[Chris Robinson]

I don't know, I. I feel, I. I feel like. I feel like I.

[Theo Von]

We.

[Chris Robinson]

You can't. Again, I'm not. I don't want to put my head in the sand because that's. That doesn't help.

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

But I do realize that we're on the beach. Oh, yeah, Well, I do realize too that there's a lot of footprints on the beach. You know what I mean? People have been coming to this beach for a long time and we just kind of have to remember that as well.

[Theo Von]

That's a good point.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, you know, people romanticize and they. In any time in history, tyrants and people.

[Theo Von]

Oh yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

Kings who have become deranged and, you know, the abuse of power and ego and all these things and you can see what happens. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Right?

[Chris Robinson]

You see? You know what I mean? It goes for a while, but then it's over. Because humans don't play that.

[Theo Von]

You know, if there's like a song that we use when we ride in a battle, say, this has to happen. Right? And we won't put you on a horse. Or me, you. I'll be out in the back. I'll be.

[Chris Robinson]

The catering would be better for me

[Theo Von]

at least.

[Chris Robinson]

Can I still get a medal? You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

At least, you know, the catering will be like very enjoyable.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. You know what I mean? Sorry, sorry. El Camodante. That's the wrong white wine with the branzino.

[Theo Von]

Do we. What song do we listen to when we ride into battle? Do you think Thing? Maybe it. It doesn't be like the perfect song, but what's a good one, huh?

[Chris Robinson]

Well, it's definitely not Onward Christian Soldiers. That doesn't have a good beat. I don't. I can't dance to it. What song, I don't know, would it be? It's a Long Way to the top. If you want to Rock and Roll by acdc. That might be a good one.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, play that real quick. I want to make sure that I'm on the right one of that.

[Chris Robinson]

If you added.

[Theo Von]

I did.

[Chris Robinson]

Okay.

[Theo Von]

God, dude, so many things. Immediately I'm back in my bedroom, dude, watching my brother dance.

[Chris Robinson]

Good sounding guitars.

[Theo Von]

Hell yeah. That's good, man. Thank you so much. What about your new tour? Can you tell us? Like, obviously it's tougher touring now. What's. So is there anything that's super different about it?

[Chris Robinson]

There it is.

[Theo Von]

Is Whiskey Myers. That's right. I saw you guys at Ascend, I think, like, two years ago, and then I saw you in New Orleans. Like, I think it might have been the 90s, probably, or no, maybe 2000s.

[Chris Robinson]

I mean, many times the same. This tour is going to be super fun, you know what I mean? They're a little bit country and we're a little bit rock and roll. And we're a little bit country. They're a little bit rock and roll, too. Got to work on that chorus style. Johnny and Marie. What the. Yeah, I mean, touring, you know, I still love it. I still think there's a lot of adventure to have. And it's same kind of some of the things we were talking about. There will be someone I never met. There will be, you know, we have a good time. It should be fun. You know, touring's fun. Playing. It's called playing music. It's fun. I, I, I. It's hard sometimes when you get older and the crowd is, you know, telephone, people's phones put up, sometimes a wall between what we want to put out and what we want y' all to pick up.

[Theo Von]

Oh, that's a good statement, you know,

[Chris Robinson]

because now it used to be like this, and now it's, you know what? Oh, yeah. Or oh. You know, instead of really feeling the music and hearing the music and seeing where that could take you. That being said, I don't police anybody. You know what I mean? Like, y' all do what you want to do. I'm so happy that you are bought a ticket. No matter how you get there, what you do, when you get there, that's up to you. I'm just saying that as a guy who's spent this fucking lot of time on stage, you know, and I'm the type of performer who. I need. I need the. I need it. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Yeah.

[Chris Robinson]

I need something back. It feels good. That's when stuff ceases to. It just flows all together, you know? And those are the. Those are the shows and the moments that are. That aren't hard. You know what I mean?

[Theo Von]

Yes.

[Chris Robinson]

And those are the ones where just like, oh, this is beautiful. This is. This is everything. And that we have that more than we don't.

[Theo Von]

Yeah, but I know what you're saying. Even I, I noticed how to even stand, even when I've done that, and I notice how it feels. I went to see Aerosmith on there when they were playing Las Vegas when they had the. This is like maybe three, four years ago.

[Chris Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah. Their residency There.

[Theo Von]

Yeah. And there was one time when. When Steven Tyler came right over by me and I was, like, trying to get my father and I, like, like, missed this moment. I still just feel bad. I still think about, man, what was I doing? You know? Like, what was I doing? So instead of.

[Chris Robinson]

You just should have let the quicksilver that is Stephen, like, envelop you as he went by.

[Theo Von]

Oh, I still. Yeah. The best, dude. Chris Robinson, thanks so much, man. I appreciate it.

[Chris Robinson]

Thank you, man.

[Theo Von]

I appreciate your time. Thanks for all the excitement over the years. Yeah. Just the time to get to come see you. Me and my brother still talk about the crows, so we still listen to it together, so. Thank you so much, man.

[Chris Robinson]

Thank you, man.

[Theo Von]

Yep.

[Chris Robinson]

Tell your brother I said hey.

[Theo Von]

I will, dude.

[Chris Robinson]

Does he have big muscles?

[Theo Von]

No. No. But he's a smart guy and he's kind of like your brother. I think he's. He's probably the sweet. I think he's like the sweeter one of us. Or this. He's a sweet guy, but like a. Just like, he's. He's a nice guy. So. Tell Rich I said hello.

[Chris Robinson]

I will. Of course. He'll love it.

[Theo Von]

Thank you, brother.

[Chris Robinson]

Cheers. Now I'm just floating on the breeze and I feel I'm falling like these leaves I must be cornerstone oh but when I reach that ground I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones but it's gonna take.

[Theo Von]

Lifelock.

[Chris Robinson]

How can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.

[Theo Von]

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[Chris Robinson]

What do I do? My refund, though. I'm freaking out.

[Theo Von]

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[Chris Robinson]

I'm so relieved. No problem.

[Theo Von]

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