Hi friends,
I’ve got something truly special for you this week, built from blood, sweat, and tears. But it has a beat and you can dance to it.
My latest episode of Everly Heights Tales, The Museum of What Was, turned into something I didn’t intend, but always dreamed about making…
That’s right. Everly Heights: The Musical! is here.
This one’s personal. Really personal.
THE MUSEUM OF WHAT WAS
When failing salesman Don House returns to his hometown, he’s confronted by the ghosts of his past. This mini-musical follows a man as he reconnects with a troubled musician, a shady restaurant owner, and his first love, all while exploring if it’s possible to ever truly go home again. And stick around for the aftershow where Bill Meeks dives deep into the real-life inspirations for the musical, including his former band that had a top #20 YouTube video for about a week once. True story.
WEB | APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE (for the Aftershow)
This tale is inspired by a difficult time in my own life, when I had to pack up and move home to the “real Everly Heights” after my second attempt at living in Los Angeles fell apart. The character of Don House is inspired by my grandfather, Don Holmes, who made his living as a traveling merch salesman. Ryon is based on my late friend Ryon Hoard, an insanely talented guitarist who taught me how to write songs. In fact, every character was inspired by people who left deep marks on my life.
And then, there’s the music. Back in the mid-2000s, I had a band with my late friend Stephen Carroll called Classic Tragic Hero, and the first song in the musical is one of the last songs I wrote for the band over a decade ago. I’ll save the behind-the-scenes/how I made the musical for the extensive aftershow, but bottom line, I sat down and wrote each song on the guitar myself. Think of it like a magic trick by Penn & Teller… You’ll like seeing how it’s done more after I finish.
As mentioned, this episode includes an extended aftershow. It’s part tribute, part therapy, and part technical showcase — and I couldn’t be prouder of how it came out.
A huge shoutout to my cast: Kaleb Deatherage (Ryon), Allison Cossitt (Fara), and Dean T Moody (Gaston). This is the first episode where I play the main character/narrator, and it really helped having three INSANELY TALENTED voice actors to bounce off.
LISTENER FEEDBACK
We’re a few weeks in now, so I’d love to hear what people are thinking about the podcast. Here are two quick ways you can tell me, and get featured on the show in a planned “listener feedback” episode:
- Shoot me an e-mail at billmeeks@everlyheights.tv. Feel free to send a proper e-mail or a text message.
- Leave a text review on Apple Podcasts. Social proof helps more people check out the show, plus you can have fun with it!
tl;dr – Send me some feedback or leave a review and I’ll read it on the show!
DO YOU HAVE A PODCAST? NEED A GUEST?
Now that I have this launch out of the way, I’d love to come on your podcast to talk about whatever your topic is, then plug this podcast at the end. I’m also down for a more formal interview about Everly Heights, like this one I did with a radio station a couple weeks ago. I’m easy to book. Just shoot me an e-mail here: billmeeks@everlyheights.tv
Thanks so much for allowing me to pop in your inbox.
NEXT WEEK: SCIENCE!
Bill Meeks
everlyheights.tv
billmeeks.com