EP 58: From Mob Legacy & Addiction to Music Redemption - Frank Annunziato’s Story
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EP 58: From Mob Legacy & Addiction to Music Redemption - Frank Annunziato’s Story

being a musician
and singer, I have great admiration

for people like a mechanic.

Is that a carpenter? No.

If I were a carpenter and you were a lady,

I'd marry you anyway.

Right.

I'll tell you sometimes some of the best
conversations are when we're off.

Oh, we're on camera now.

Oh, right.

Hey, welcome to another edition
of What's Good with John and Joyce,

available on all the streaming platforms.

I'd like to say a big
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I'm John Cadillac Seville from iHeart
radio and John Seville Entertainment.

And you?

I'm Joyce Logan, and I'm going to tell you
what I'm grateful for.

Yeah. What are you grateful for
today, Joyce?

You're going to be grateful for it.

I'm grateful that I got a tax return.

And I love my CPA Dave to Dave.

Dave.

That sounds like a really hip hop name
Dave the bass Dave the bass.

Like Sir mix a lot. Right. Right right.

Yeah.

Database is, you know, Patti and I,
Richard Deuce, thanks to you to him.

And he's also helping us out as well.

You kind of like our,
our official account, isn't he?

When you say he's mine.

Well, he's big o, you know,
and he's be is becoming ours as well. Yes.

I want to do a show
that's not even a Dave Dave bass.

We do, we do. That's what's good today.

And of course, we have our moonshots.
Coffee.

You know, I had my moonshots coffee
a little bit earlier,

and we'd like to thank him
and all of our sponsors.

We're so grateful for, but very grateful
for this gentleman who's in the studio,

talking about overcoming adversity
and challenges

and battling, you know, demons,
addictions, and let's face everything.

And the thing is, every one of us
has an addiction to something, right?

And, you know, my addiction
is peanut butter, but this is.

But, you know, whatever it may be,
but it all comes from the same place.

But to be more serious about this.

I really admire this man in so many ways.

Such a talented singer, great musician
with a band called The Mediums

and they're awesome.

Does the best version of I Put a Spell on
You I've ever heard, ever heard.

But Joyce, you won't have the honor
of introducing this amazing man.

Well, you know, I'm going to

touch upon this because the whole show
is not going to be about this.

Yeah, but,

Wait, did you say Frank Annunciato.

So how did you meet Frank?

I know his brother Sal. To who?

Who's just a phenomenal human
being as well.

But we kind of met through,
you know, Facebook, Instagram, reputation.

Actually, I don't remember this,
but I was a common ground.

We met, we were over it.

I was by the creamer area.

I swear to you.

Wow. You were like,
good morning and open up.

But, you know, we were like, oh,
we have a blessed day.

And I'm like, this dude,
he got something going on.

And I did a little research
and I think I might have text you or said

something about your show or
something like that, and we just clicked.

Yeah, we did, we did, and we met
and we had coffee at moonshots after that.

And this story,
you actually felt this energy?

Absolutely.

I did as I did back in 83.

Joy Joyce. Wow.

Uncle John is a power of positivity.
You could feel it. Yeah.

He has sunshine and above,

like, message in a bottle of the police.

Right. Okay. Yeah.

All right.

But, when I, when John told me you work,
you were coming on,

and I thought, oh, I know that name.

So my father had a gas station
at Fairhaven

and Ferry Street.

Yeah.

And I remember stories.

I just remember Mitch Reynolds.

Mitch Reynolds. Yeah.

And that he was, a snazzy dresser and

and and I could hear, like,
my parents saying he looked like Edward G.

Robinson.

Is it 100% right?

So he was well known.

And then my sister said to me recently,

she said, I'm
going to send you some articles.

It was like this.

These articles that were like five,
you know, like sections of it.

And yeah.

And it was and she wrote, I never knew

we were like at the hub of the mom,
though.

Wow. Did not know that.

Yeah.

But they said, well, you know, so or not,
your grandfather, that was my grandma.

And you grew up with that? Yeah.

You didn't even know that wasn't.

No. Say normal.

Well, yeah.

You know, because you grew up in it.

You sound like it was.

No, that's one thing
we knew, you know, but,

looking back on it, you know, obviously.

Was it normal?

You know, but it was classic,
you know, pretty much classic.

Like, you see, a movie was The Sopranos
was a Goodfellas and was exactly that.

You know, you growing up, you see all,
you know, follow mobsters around.

Or on Sundays,
there's 50 people at your grandmother's

house, see meatballs and, and, you know.

Yeah, a lot of that, a lot of that.

But, you know, I got I want to put this
out there because this is important.

You know,

that whole lifestyle Sopranos godfather,

you know, like,
people were enthralled with that stuff.

But if I'm being honest,
it kind of ruined our lives.

You know, I mean,

it's it's it's hard to like, you know.

Yeah.

People like old school like my grandfather
pretty much where,

you know, you, you live by the sword,
you die by the sword.

Yeah.

You know, it's honor, it's loyalty.

And that's what they chose.

So they don't have a problem with it.

You know, if if you come up missing,
they're pretty much at peace with it.

But the family suffers. Yeah.

My father died at 40.

Oh. From alcoholism. Drug addiction.
Yeah.

You know, is it
just a very tough way of growing up?

You know, but that, you know,
people are kind of, like,

enthralled with that whole thing
where, like, you know, the bankroll.

I mean, sure.

Well, look at John Gotti.

I mean, he was revered in his community.

People.
People loved the guy in his community.

And you're
and you watch a lot of these movies, too.

And there's an honor. There's a code.

It's like honor among thieves.

And it's true.

And, you know, listen,

I was talking to someone two days ago
about it, and it's crazy.

Is that lifestyle is,
I have to say, the truth that, you know,

there's there's
not many people around like that anymore.

At least not around New Haven. Very few.

But you know, those guys,
that's what they lived for.

It was about honor, loyalty.

And no matter what,

you know, you they're okay
doing the crime, and they're okay

with doing the time and whatever
that consists of, even if it means death.

That's
what they take an honor for the oath.

Well, you know, like,

not many people around

today are going to say like,
okay, I'm going to go do 20 years in jail.

Yeah. You know, I'm not.

But they were doing, doing
a lot of salacious things as they know,

but they still had a certain honor
you know in their community.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah absolutely. Yeah.

You know that's the other thing too,

I mean because guys like that
my grandfather,

if you go to the old schoolers
in like Fair Haven and stuff, you know,

he would give people jobs,
you know, hand out money

if someone was hurt and, you know,
so that part of it is nice.

But the other part of it is yes.

You know,
and our family suffered from mom.

And then your grandfather went missing.

We met in 1979.

Disappeared just like you. Yes.

You felt that he might have known.

He was like oh, there's no that
there's no doubt because he was drinking.

I read that, yeah, he was that.

He was talking too much, I think.

Yeah, he was. Yeah.

He was just, you know, he was a
he was an alcoholic.

Yeah.

You know, and and, pardon me.

Feels real bad for him, honestly. Yeah.

Just a, you know, just really, really sad
life even growing up and everything else.

So even my dad, my dad was 40
when he died, so, same thing.

But, you know, it's
just it's a it's a really tough lifestyle.

And, I think that.

Yeah, I think you're right.

I think it
it got to a point where, you know,

he was just getting sloppy.

Yeah.

And after that when it was you know,
it was and I think your grandmother too,

because I think back in the day
you accepted what your husband was doing.

Honestly my grandmother was, was a saint
and she was a classic.

My boys, no matter what he did,
she stood by him.

She was.

Yeah. And my mom too.

Yeah, my mom too. And you know,

it's I think that's part of it.

You know, I don't want to make this all
about mom today, but.

Yeah, but no, but my
I think the positive message is, is that,

you know, that happened,

but most people from that family and,
you know, when,

when you grow up in a family
like that, the old classic mobsters,

they see the three grandsons
and they think, oh my God, they had lotto.

They'll carry on the name,

you know, me and my brothers
got completely away from that.

And that's a success.

That's a that's a victory.

Now tell us about that, Frankie.

That's great
because you've had this adversity.

You've had this family situation.

You said that really destroyed the family
in many ways.

But there is a silver lining.

You've been able to overcome a lot and
you've had your personal demons big time.

Yeah. I'm recovering heroin addict.

And I started very young, partying,
drinking and drug and cocaine in the 80s.

I was a maniac.

And then it got to a point
where I got addicted to pain pills.

And then here, when, you know,
I don't know how much.

I don't know a lot about too many things,
but music and drug addiction,

I know a lot about.

And, you know,

if you were to ask any heroin addict
or someone who was addicted to opiates,

I would

bet that 80% of them started out
with pain pills and operation.

Yeah. You know, something like that.

I believe that, you know, I have a giant

generational addiction
that runs in our family.

So, you know, I believe it's a disease
I believe is just passed on to you.

But when I had an operation, I,
I got Percocet

and pain pills,
and it was from there, we just forget it.

It was a nightmare.

But that's how I started.

And eventually I went to here

and, you know,
I don't know if you know how much you know

about drug addiction, but the relapse rate
for here in Texas, 90%. 90%.

Yeah.

Usually, like, you know,
right after they get out, it's 90%.

I think staying clean I think is like 70.

How many of those friends of yours
are no longer with us?

I literally dozens
and dozens of obituaries.

You know, the guys who so sad, you know,
do it.

And, you know, it's such a it's just
it is a tender thing

because, I my big thing is service.

I, I stay clean, not.

I believe in a higher power,
which I choose to call God.

But besides that,
I believe the only way of, of of keeping

is giving up, giving it away.

So my big thing is service.

And, you know, it's heartbreaking,
what I see on a daily,

I just be refreshed in a month
and a half ago.

And I went to a
meeting with them day before,

so it's it's a really tough thing.

I what I try to tell people
because it gets really, really touchy.

I don't know if you know anything
about Alcoholics Anonymous.

I sure do, but when you go into Alcoholics
Anonymous, you know,

you choose to, you know, your goal
is to find some type of higher power.

You know, it doesn't have to be mine.

It when you're starting off, it doesn't.

That's the big message, honestly,
that I want to tell for some reason today.

Because as much as I believe
in what I believe in and boy,

do I believe in what I do. Amen.

But when you first come out of a detox
or a rehab or whatever,

the concept kind of is puzzling to people.

So, you know,

if you know anything about the 12
step in 2012 steps and 12 traditions,

it says you choose a higher power,
whatever that is.

It could be

God group of drunks.

It could be, wow,
I never heard that acronym before.

God group of drunks.

It could be, you know,
and then most of the time they'll find.

Right? Yeah.

I think the big thing is,
as much as I believe in what I believe in,

and there is no questioning what I believe
in, let me just put that out there.

It's important.

That's a very important thing,
because a lot of newcomers get afraid

when they hear the God thing.

If feel like God is going to be so
judgmental and and keeping the record and

and that's the other thing, you know,
like a lot I hear a lot of people say,

you know, when they come in, you know,

I was raised with that punishing God,
you know, you know, the Old Testament God.

Right? Of of what?

You know, to me, to me,
God is love, right?

What happens if someone comes in
and they're an atheist?

They just don't believe in anything, but.

So they can still find something great?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Whatever works.

Yeah. Whatever works.
You know what I mean?

There's a classic story
I heard, whether it's true or not,

I don't know, but,
there was a girl named.

I wonder what it is.

I'm not hundreds,
but dozens of rehabs in detox as well.

It took me a long time to get clean time,

like 12 years in and out, in a long time
to get clean time.

A month, two months.

Yeah, a year, you know, and a lot of that
and a lot of setbacks.

Lot of setbacks.

You know, the big thing about alcohol
and drugs is,

you know,
you get a couple weeks clean or whatever.

And then all of a sudden, you know,

I used to think,
oh my God, what am I going to do? Drugs.

What could go wrong? Well life happens.

Yes, yes, yes, marriage, your children,
your finances.

You know, it gets rough and

a lot of people get really, really nervous
and they're like, I can't take it.

And they go, they retreat.

They retreat back.

Yeah.

But, you know, yes,

you could find whatever it is, you know,
whatever it is, you know, group of drunks.

That.

Anyway, I going to say, yeah, there's
a classic story of a woman who, was in,

a rehab,
and there was a life coach there, and,

they were talking about a higher power,
and this woman was like, I,

I don't want to hear anything
about a higher power.

And she says, I'm going to make my.

Say, you know.

Yeah,
I don't want no part of this. Yeah. Right.

Right. And then,

she decided to use
and she went down the ghetto,

and she went down to cover,

the drug dealer and,
you know, showing that.

Showing me
that God does have a sense of humor.

You know, that's just what I'm saying
is, you're absolutely right.

It does not have to be my God.

And and as much as my faith is
solid as ever,

I think that's really important for people
to come into the rooms.

I really do.

They'll find what they need to for sure.

What I believe in
or you believe in. Yeah.

You know, and honestly,
I hope he doesn't mind me saying this.

My brother Sal, he has,
I think 38 years come and good for him.

He takes something from Jesus,
something from Buddha,

something, you know,
he combines everything, right?

That works for him.

It works for him. And I respect that.

He works for him as a wonderful priest
that we love.

Father, in the dark night,
when I had in one of my books,

I had quotes from Buddha and.

Yeah. And I asked him,
I said, you have a problem with that?

And he says, why would I?

Yeah, Buddha.

That's right, that's that's right.

You know, like it.

You know, drug addiction, alcoholism
is, you know, the end result is death.

They say three things
jails, institution and death.

You know, I've been in both.

The only thing left for me was death.

So, you know, like, this is serious.

This is life and death.

If you believe in that window
blinding to make your higher power

to get you started. Right.

My big thing is I'm not really
one of those people who got it to kind of

like pushes things
and people don't want to be pushed

because they'll just, you know,
they'll go into a cocoon. Yes, yes.

So I believe in you know,
I just tell a lot of people, man, you need

you can't stay clean and sober,
you know, shut the blinds and, you know,

shake it all day.

Yeah. Get out.

Move a muscle
right before you got addicted.

Yeah. You know, stuff like that.
You can't wallow in self-pity.

No, not only that,
but you're going to find your own journey.

Their journeys and my journey.

That's right.

My brother Sal and me.

My journey is completely different.

But my brother Sal went away.

He went away for two weeks, and I would,
if I was a millionaire, I would bet

$1 million
he wouldn't stay clean for one day.

Never went back out.

Wow, eight years I did. Yes.

Yeah, me. It took me.

Yeah. Thousands and thousands of detoxes.

I mean, everybody who I knew
said this kid's going to die.

Yeah.

You know, I was a I have no problem
saying I was a stone cold junkie here

when I was shooting dope on my feet.
I was a maniac.

And now look at you.
You're here. You're serving others.

There's a joy to you.

You're out there entertaining with your
with the mediums and, you know,

just adding so much value to everybody
you meet.

Always sing.

Did you know I did?

My brother Sal was my mentor, my hero.

He, He he he plays guitar.

When we were young,
we used to harmonize Simon and Garfunkel.

Oh, yeah, a giant Beatles fan.

So, we would, do Beatles and,

and I started,
got my first little garage band at 15.

I was playing bars at 16.

Wow. So it's been a long journey,
but it's my passion, you know, now

and where I'm at.

And I'm really a piece of where I'm at
when I go play a gig.

It's, like, therapeutic for me. Wow.

You know, I just wanted to say,
because I know some people who will say,

you can just give up drinking.

You could just.

You could just do that.

And I always said it's a disease.

Some people say,
no, it's not. It's a choice.

But I heard a doctor say this, that
think of it as taking

a whole box of ex-lax and then being told,
you can't go to the bathroom.

And that's what it feels like
to a lot of people who are gifted

where they need that.

Yeah they have to.

Your body is crying out for it. Yeah.

So with your singing and focusing on

that does that shift it.

Yeah.

You know something really special happened
with this with this medium's thing.

You know, when I first got,

when I first got clean, the partner
that I have now has been for 25 years,

3 or 4000 shows.

I just want to get back into music.

What a really special thing happened,
you know, just by

honestly, just by willing it and keeping
on playing and playing and playing,

we started getting this popularity,
and now we have a family of people

that follow us and they become family.

So when I and also we're good,
we are really good.

And when I see people come to see us
and I see the joy they,

you know, some people
playing their calendars around us,

you know, some people say, oh my God,
since we met you, we never went out.

And there
these are people in their 50s, 60s.

They say we played our whole,
you know, like, wow, what a compliment,

what a compliment.

And, you know, they get through,
you know, it's a tough world out there.

They get three hours of escapism
and you need it, you know.

So that's a really special thing happened.

But for me it's therapeutic now.

I mean this is but I got to be honest,
it took a very long time.

Like the guy you see here

is not the guy you're
what it's all like even 15, 20 years ago,

you know, and and if there's any message
I want to, I want to bring to anybody

who is struggling with addiction
or anything is that

if you don't, if you don't quit.

And everybody say to me,
when I was in and out,

you always quit
before the miracle happens. Yes.

It was so true.

So yeah, how many people are there
on the fringe of something

and they just quit and other almost.

They're at the finish line.

And I'm going to tell you
another thing, Joyce, what you said

I was for years very uncomfortable
with being clean.

Like I would get a month or two.

And I remember during that month or two
I would get a new job or something,

and I could remember being in my car
crying, going,

I feel like a fish out of water.

I don't feel right.

And eventually I would go use
because I couldn't take it.

Yeah, yeah,
if you could just hang in there

and do what you gotta do,
whatever it is, whether it's meetings,

whether it's church, whether it's finding
God and finding your higher

power group of drunks, you know, whatever.

And you could just get through
that terrible, terrible

feeling of like, you know, and your mind
telling you you're not worthy.

Yeah, of course I'll never do it.

I'll die all that. You know,
you always talk about positivity.

And it's so important. So.

Oh, 75% of what people think, especially
first thing in the morning, is negative.

So we have to fight that all the time.

I get it, I get here.

So might I share something
with you? And this is true.

You know, there's some people

who get clean and it
you know, there's maybe they're easier.

Up until literally two weeks ago.

And I've been coming around for decades.

Every morning when I wake up.

What you just said, it's very dark for me.

But here's a beautiful thing.

The beautiful thing is, is
I know what I need to do.

And for me, not for anybody else.

For me I get on my knees, I get my Bible,
get my devotionals I get my prayers.

Yeah I ask God for you
know, his will not mine.

All that.

But I'm glad you brought that up
because it's been a long time

that I've been coming around
and that's still happening.

Funny thing happened about two weeks ago.

I woke up
and I had didn't have that darkness.

Wow. What a healing. Maybe.

Maybe that was God saying,
I need you put through that

so you can get to the other side of,
you know, whatever it was. I'm not.

Yeah, but I prayed stays.

And if it doesn't, I know that
I have the tools and I know what to do.

Yeah.

So I think the message there is
is that you listen, if you're

if you're trying this and you're
trying to stay clean or whatever,

if it's going to be tough, but if you hang
in there, the miracle will happen.

There's no doubt about you know,
everything in life is a test.

Y'all know the test of faith.

No doubt.

I really I have gone through
one of the roughest years I've ever had

this past year. Absolutely, absolutely.

Some personal stuff that went
on, some health stuff that went on.

But the thing I won't do
is given never, never.

And I know that
just like there's a darkness,

whatever's in darkness comes to light,
you know?

So it's okay. Right?

The other thing is, is it's
probably the biggest year for my growth

as far as humans.

Because every day.

Yeah. So you know, it's it's okay.

Well well you growth comes from adversity
no doubt.

Right. Overcoming obstacles.

Obstacles are opportunities
no doubt I mean and I'm sure you heard,

you know, trees grow in the valley. Yes.

You know, so, for me, it's
as much as there's pain and misery crying.

Whatever it is, I've never felt
more growth in my life. Wow.

It's a really, really great thing.

I just really have such a burden
in my heart for what's going on.

This will be an endemic.

Yes. And and, you know, friends are dying
and it's so, so sad.

Yeah. So sad.

I'm really looking into maybe
become a life coach and, Oh that's right.

Oh, gosh.

Yeah.

Joyce does a lot to help
a lot of people as well.

I know that you've been able to help
so many people over the years

in your practice, because I was,
a little confused about the,

the name, the group name,
and maybe others wouldn't.

When you say, or group of trunks,
is that an actual organization? No.

In other words,
what I'm saying is it's like,

you know, people do a lot of meetings.

So that group of, oh, drug addicts
group of, oh, I see anything, you know.

Right. God. Just God.

Right.

So, you know, a lot of people use,
the find that

they use meetings as their higher power,
just a positive right to be with drugs.

Yeah,
whatever it is. And, you know, my brother

owns a, yoga studio. Yes.

And he does recovery yoga.

I think it's Tuesdays, but it's.

And where's Ribbon's wing?
Where's his business?

And Branford, Connecticut. Movie theater.

Yes, I do, right by the dance studio
up in the second floor.

Yeah, but anyway, his saying.

And that is,
everybody's recovering from something.

Just like. Are we all. Yeah.

Are we all?

So that meeting that he has is not about

alcoholics, drunks, it's about overeaters.

It's about, you know, people who don't,
you know, Michael Hall.

Yeah.

You know, so it's just not about, you
know, it could be we're all recovering.

Well, we sure are.

So he that.

And by the way,
my brother sounded some credible.

Incredible.

He goes to inner city schools.

I love the way you talk
about your brother.

I love that he really is.

He's my mentor. He.

You know, honestly,
I don't if if it wasn't for him on

if I'd be around man.

And honestly at in 1997 I met him at
Lenny's and I had cellulitis on my legs.

I shoot on my legs

and even he said, man, you're going to,
you know, you're going to die, you know?

But he was a great power of example
and is still is.

Yeah. He lives in now.
Tell me about the mediums.

How did you get the name of the mediums?

It's funny, was.

No, you know, this this homelessness.

It haunts us
because everyone thinks the medium is old.

And you're a
and you're a duo. You're a duo.

Duo, right.

I thought it has

something to do with
that has nothing to do with that. Wow.

Some people, I mean they go like, oh,
you got to get a read our mind.

To do with that, we started out

in, 2001 as the happy medium well.

And you're like, oh, I hate that. Right.

And then I know myself or my partner
Tom says, how about the mediums?

That was it. Yeah.

And then we got popular
so we couldn't change it.

Wow. Yeah, yeah. What other names did
you think about?

Oh, we had, we had
one was called The Resentments.

The resentments.

Not not the happy resentments.

Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah, it's not going to be the end.

Now we're we're, we're in a great,
great place, so it's nice.

It's nice. Yeah. Yeah.

What? Music really helps you.

Music is everything to me.

Yeah. Music. Everything.

You write your music, I we do.

Tom and I, wrote a couple songs.

Unfortunately, in this music business,

people
don't want to hear a lot of regionals.

And it's sad. Yeah.

Especially when you play clubs
or restaurants. They want.

They want covers.

Or are these the owners of the restaurant
prefer covers?

Stars.

They they don't want to hear
their new music.

Yeah. It's really it's really tough.
It's really tough.

So, you know we're going to incorporate
I would love to do one more CD

of originals with Tom, my partner,
and I'm sure that'll happen, but,

it's really tough, Joyce,
to play originals all night long.

You know, I could stick
maybe one in here and there, you know,

because people want familiar.

Well, we're wired for familiarity.

Even in the radio biz where I am, if we do
play something new and unfamiliar,

we have to surround it
with familiar songs on both sides.

It has to be sandwiched in between
because you have to usher people into it

or you've lost them.

Hear it like a few times, right?

Yeah.

And the other thing
is, is what we do with the duo.

And the duo is 80% of of our shows.

You know,

we're we

realize that we're background music, like,
you know, just like you

DJ I mean, yeah, you do parties
at weddings, which that's the theme.

But us, we're playing in restaurants
and stuff and we're background music.

Yeah. We're not too loud.

You know, we try to put,
we know hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of, songs, which I think separates us
from a lot of you always.

Sure.

You know, I think maybe 580 songs. Wow.

But we realize what our job is,
and that's background music.

You know, we don't have egos.

If someone tells us. Yep.

And I think that's
why we're really successful.

You know, I think that's so key.

You keep your ego at the door.

I think that's so cool.

I've learned that the DJ business, too.
It's not about me.

It's about the people in front of me.
Somebody comes up.

Can you please turn the music down?
Absolutely.

Whatever. And you're right.

That's so, so cool to do that.

And I and I know
people who not to mention names, but,

you know, they do have a bit of an ego
when they get insulted.

Oh yeah.

And I think that's why, you know,
you can't you

you can't be insulted or offended
unless you choose to be right.

Yeah. That's absolutely right. Not true.

You really can't be. All I want to know.

Do you do a nod to your dad
by playing Beatles music?

Mike. Yeah, I think my dad.
Every time you play a Beatles song.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, my dad loved music,
so, Yeah, Beatles to me is my dad.

Yeah, yeah,
I play when we play on my like.

I'm a very emotional.

Yeah.

My life's one of my all time
favorite songs by them.

Yeah.

There were times
I'll even tear up when I'm playing.

Is I'm just like that.

And I think a lot of people who hear me
go, especially who follow us, going,

you know, you could kind of hear the Katy,
your voice.

You sing Run by Gertie. Now. Now what?

What's, I'm a huge
Simon and Garfunkel van, huge fan.

I mean, I virtually like all their songs.

Which ones do you do?

You do the. We do the boxer. Yeah.

Sound of silence.

Robinson.

Yeah, we flirted with Sound of Silence.
Yeah.

Tom is one of those gifted musicians where

if someone comes up and asks for a song
and he doesn't know what,

he could literally think about it
for about a minute and a half.

Wow, what a gift.

What a gift.

I'm not saying every song on earth,
right? Right.

But if he maybe heard it or whatever,
you know, he could try to figure it out.

That's
what's so special about what he does. Wow.

And I'm the wedding singer.

I pretty much know

that's a great movie.

Adam Sandler, the wedding singer.

I love that movie.

Wow. Yeah. But,
it's it's a nice it's nice.

And, you know, as you know,

it's, you know,

deejaying and weddings
and stuff like that for us as a duo.

We started out in restaurants

and bars and for a musician, I'm
being honest with you.

And it's such a thorn in my side

because it hasn't changed in 50 years.

I musicians who have been playing out
since the 80s who made the same pay

is today. Yeah.

And that's so sad.

And that is
that doesn't happen as an electrician.

It doesn't happen as a plumber
for some reason.

Musicians for like a second class. Yeah.

And it's so sad.

Tom and I started about eight years ago.

We met and we said, listen,
we know we're really good at.

So let's triple our prices.

Let's start going into country clubs
trying to get in some corporate stuff.

Big thing is private party,
you know, stuff like that

where the pay is literally quadruple,
right?

More than you would get in a bar. Sure.

And that's why it became lucrative for us,

because a lot of musicians play out
and they're making love.

And so sad.

I mean, I know
a lot of a lot of my favorite music.

Music is smooth jazz, right?

And a lot of these guys are awesome
musicians and they're making no money.

They're making zero.

There's no sales for smooth jazz music.

And I love it.

And I played it all my wedding receptions
for dinner and cocktail hour.

And people love it.

But you're right about by but by pay
I mean wedding receptions

is mainly 90% of what I do,
and that's where the paychecks are.

But if you're doing some of those smaller
things, restaurants can't afford us

and nor would they pay. Right.

And, and and that's not a knock on them
because the restaurant business.

Absolutely.

They have very, very little room
for profit.

These four restaurants
like grocery stores, same thing.

Yep. I think that
because we're a little bit established

and they get to kind of take a look at us
and know what we do,

and we have a wide variety of stuff
that we kind of sell ourselves.

Now. Yep.

That took a very long time to get.

Yeah, I mean, I can remember 25 years ago
coming home from a gig in Enfield,

literally crying, going, like,
what are we doing?

Yeah, yeah.
You know, you're not doing anything wrong.

Nothing. We're weren't doing
nothing wrong.

But that takes a long time to get to.

You know, I were very,

very lucky that, you know,
people are identifying it, but it's now.

Well, Frank, let me ask you this.

How can people get in contact with you?

Our website is the medium. Yeah, yeah.

We are on TikTok.

I think it's the medium stocked Facebook
all over the place.

The medium? Yeah. That. Yeah, yeah.

And I think a lot of people
who are watching right now

may want to get in contact with you,

maybe for a little bit
of counseling or chat,

because I know you love to serve
and help other people

rob people battling addictions right now
that you can help.

And I just love that
you want to be a server.

You're all about serving.
That's how I keep this gift.

Yeah, and I think service for me is
is everything, you know? Yep.

And you know and God bless and God
bless you.

God bless your family.

Thanks for all you do.

And I'm just so glad you've been able
to overcome these obstacles.

And, we're we're just praying for you
and we're cheering you on,

and we're cheering you on as well.

And thank you so much for having us on
another edition of What's Good with China.

Joyce, please share this with somebody
who can utilize this.

Maybe a message today resonated with you,
and you're thinking of somebody I wish

maybe this can can help this episode.

Please share it.

You can catch us on YouTube, subscribe for
free, share it with everybody you know.

And thank you so much for listening.

Bless you and your family.

Thanks for listening or watching or both.

And Joyce, always great teaming up with
you, always with you, my joy and Frank.

I'm so glad we met at the coffee shop
that day you came in.

You're an amazing guy.

And again, give my best
to sell to your brother so much.

Till next time. Bye.

Hey, I heard you got engaged.

Congratulations.

Now it's time to book the DJ.

And that's where we come in.

Hi, I'm John Cadillac,
Seville with John Seville entertainment.

Wedding wire and the knot 2026 Couples
Choice Awards winner.

You can call me directly if you'd like it.

(200) 398-8065 eight.

We'll set up your free consultation
or go to John cashman.com.

That's (203) 988-0658 or John cashman.com.

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