July 28, 2026

Memphis May Fire Performs at Inkcarceration 2026 at Shawshank Prison - PipemanRadio Interview

Memphis May Fire Performs at Inkcarceration 2026 at Shawshank Prison - PipemanRadio Interview

In this episode, Pipeman chats with Matty Mullins, vocalist for Memphis May Fire and Anberlin, live from the Inkcarceration festival at the historic Shawshank Prison. They discuss the unique atmosphere of performing at the prison, balancing two successful bands, recent and upcoming albums, haunted experiences at the venue, personal philosophies on gratitude and hard work, and exciting touring updates.Main Topics Covered

  • Performing at the historic Shawshank Prison during a festival
  • Challenges of singing in difficult environments (smoke, festival dust)
  • Ghost stories and haunted tours associated with the venue
  • Matty Mullins’ experiences with Memphis May Fire and Anberlin
  • Juggling work and creativity across two bands
  • New album “Shapeshifter” and other upcoming music releases
  • Reflections on gratitude, hard work, and authenticity in the music industry
  • Upcoming tours, festivals, and band member news
Key Discussions & StoriesPerforming at Shawshank Prison
  • Pipeman and Matty Mullins talk about the surreal experience of performing with the backdrop of the infamous prison, drawing parallels with Johnny Cash and live performances for actual inmates within earshot (01:15–03:19).
  • Haunted history discussed, including stories like Waylon Reavis's alleged encounter in the “torture room” and the eerie Blood Prison tour (01:46–02:40).
Coping with Challenging Environments
  • Effects of festival dust and smoke on performing and vocal health (00:34–00:56).
  • Strategies and mindset for singing under less-than-ideal conditions.
Memphis May Fire & Amberlynn Updates
  • Latest Memphis May Fire album “Shapeshifter” is out; ongoing touring cycle (04:11–04:28).
  • Matty Mullins shares details about Amberlynn’s upcoming album and single, set to release in November (04:45–04:56).
Balancing Two Bands
  • Insights on balancing life and creativity between Memphis May Fire and Anberlin (05:11–06:04).
  • Gratitude for having musical opportunities, referencing the many talented people who never get out of their bedrooms (05:24–05:45).
Creative Exploration & Mindset
  • Discussion about exercising different creative muscles across bands and avoiding complacency (06:35–07:04).
  • Recognition of how stepping outside comfort zones leads to artistic growth.
Tour & Life Updates
  • Upcoming tours in South America and with Switchfoot (04:28–08:28).
  • Anberlin, playing Warped in Mexico; pauses in touring as a band member welcomes a baby (07:59–08:19).
Notable Quotes
  • “With the smoke, it’s no—they’re not playing out here, man. We’re gonna have to be extra careful.” — Matty Mullins (00:41)
  • “Gratitude is everything and mindset is everything. ... To have double the work is not something to complain about.” — Matty Mullins (05:24)
  • “You’re supposed to feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and I was like, dang, dude, I don’t know if this is for me, dude.” — Matty Mullins (02:36)
  • “Rain or shine, smoke or clear, we’re doing it.” — Matty Mullins (04:02)
  • “My schedule is unbelievable. Like, truly, I don’t know how it’s happening, you know, just one day at a time. But it’s always something to be thankful for.” — Matty Mullins (05:56)
Resources & Links Mentioned
  • Memphis May Fire tour dates and news: memphismayfire.com (07:43)
  • Latest album: “Shapeshifter” by Memphis May Fire (04:20)
  • Anberlin upcoming album and single (title not yet announced; album due in November) (04:50)
  • Upcoming Anberlin & Switchfoot tour (September–November) (08:19)
  • Warped Tour Mexico appearance
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WEBVTT

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Hi, you love done to censure.

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For se Wow for you your it is the pipe

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Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c

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Y Radio and I'm here with Maddy Mullens Nice Memphis

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May Fire. How are you doing? Good man? So happy

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to be here. I love having you as the first

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interview because I still have a voice from yeah, especially

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with now. Normally i'd lose my voice because of the

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festival dust, and now it's festival dust and smoke, dude

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with the yeah with the smoke.

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It's no, they're not playing out here, man, We're gonna

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have to be uh, extra careful.

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Yeah. I was just asking you before, like, you know,

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how do you even sing in an environment like this?

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It's so dangerous, right man.

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If it was uh, if it was just a flight

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eight for us, I wouldn't be worried about it.

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I just go out and just thrash my cords.

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But you know, we play tomorrow, we headline somewhere tomorrow,

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so it's like it's just you know, I'm a little concerned,

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but we'll get the job done one way or another.

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Brother there it is. What does it feel like having

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the backdrop of Shawshang Prison when you're playing. It's so sick.

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Have you heard on the tour? I have? Okay, and

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you're gonna laugh because one year, because I've been doing

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this since like before, it was a DWP oh yeah,

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every year, and one year I brought my helper. I'm like, here,

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we're gonna do some tiktoks while people are doing the tour.

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I'm gonna hide and scare them, and you film it

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because you know it's haunted, right. Yeah. Do you know

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the story about Will and Revis? No, So he was

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filming I think for a killer's confession a video in

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what's called the torture room because they had a torture

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room in this prison, and he came out afterwards there

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was nobody in the room with him, with gratches over

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his chests that were bleeding. Yeah, it's a trip. That's insane,

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right Yeah. Now, have you done the Blood Prison yet?

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I don't think so. So that's the haunted part, like

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but the wait, not the real haunted, but.

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Where they go and they turn the lights off and

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shut you in the room.

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I don't I haven't done it yet, but it's like

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a haunted house. Okay, yeah, I down in the basement.

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I don't think we did the basement.

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We just went through like some areas that weren't necessarily

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like jail cells, and then they would like shut a

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door like the interrogation room, and you're supposed to feel

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the hairs on the back of your next stand up.

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And I was like, dang it, I don't know if

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this is for me.

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I love right, and then okay, like I think about it.

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I don't know if you've thought about this before, but

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when you're playing Incarceration, you're like Johnny Cash because there's

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a live prison next door, and you got I've seen

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inmates out in the yard listening to the festival, right,

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How cool is that? That's why I love this this festival.

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Like my daughter, she'll call me up before every festival, So, Dad,

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you excited for this festival and you know this, I'm

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doing it every week. So I'm like, well, when you're

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doing it every week, I don't know if it's exciting.

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I love it. It's fun. But the first time I did this,

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I called her up. I was out there in the

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prison yard and I called up and I'm like, now

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I'm excited. I'm calling from the prison yard. Ak, yeah, dude,

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Like I mean I'm posting before I'm coming here. I'm

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so excited I'm going to prison. Yeah. People are like, okay,

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why are you? But it is a trip. I remember

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one year or two, early in the day before it

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even opened, I was taking picture to prison. Or is

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this other dude in a band taking picture? He goes, hey,

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can you take mine and I'll take yours? Look at us.

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We're fanboying out on Shawshank Prison. That's crazy, right, So

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smoke or not, it's a great place for Memphis. Yeah,

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set the place on fire, rain or shine, smoke or clear.

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We're doing it nice. What what's new and exciting that

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you want to share with the listeners? Going on?

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Man, we are just so stoked to be back in

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incarceration on this album cycle, you know, like our latest

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records called shape Shifter. If you haven't heard it, please

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check it out. We're so excited about it. There's still

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life in the touring cycle on that. So we've got

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you know, South America coming up. We've got I've got.

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A bunch of touring with my other band as well.

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So it's just kind of like a constant grind mo

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other band has a new album coming out in November,

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so yeah, just a lot.

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A lot going on. Tell us about the new album.

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Yeah, so Amberlin is the other band that I sing for,

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and we just finished an album. I can't tell you

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what it's called because we haven't ever released that yet,

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but we do have a single, first single coming very soon.

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And yeah, the album will be out in November.

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So nice. Yeah, so tell us a little bit about

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how that came about, because I gotta tell you, you

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got to be like one of the hardest work in

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people in this industry. Like, it's hard enough to do

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a full time one band. How you doing too?

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You certainly wasn't planned, man, Yeah, it's been. It has

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been so crazy balancing the two.

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But I think.

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Gratitude is everything and mindset is everything. So I'm not

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ignorant to the fact that there are people far more

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talented than me that we'll never make it out of

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singing in their bedroom. And I feel so lucky that

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people care about the music I make and that when

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I send it out there, I know some people will

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listen and I can go and perform it. And so

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as a musician, you know, it's hard enough to have work.

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To have double the amount of work is not something

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to complain about. So my schedule is unbelievable, Like truly,

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I don't know how it's happening, you know, just one

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day at a time, but it's always something to be

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thankful for.

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And I imagine too that it gives you a chance

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to explore different parts of your talent, you know, yeah,

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oh for sure. You know, like I can sit like

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me myself, I do multiple things, you know, and like

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I'm also a motivational speaker, and they're like two different

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personalities of mine, radio me and personalities right and and

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motivational me, but they're both me. So it keeps things

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interesting and fun because you're not just doing the same

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thing allan get to experiment.

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Exercising different creative muscles. It's so important, and I think

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that you can, especially the older you get, you can

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really start to settle into a box of what it

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is that you believe you're capable of until something pushes

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you outside of it. You know, human beings naturally gravitate

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towards comfortability, and so for me, being in a band

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that writes totally different and performs totally different and sounds

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totally different, it's opened my eyes to other things that

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I'm capable of doing, and it's been a lot of fun.

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And going back to your point about artists in their bedroom,

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I have to say, the reason I think you have

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all the blessings that you do is two reasons. One

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is you are incredibly talented, thank you. But you are

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also like one of the most real, nicest human beings

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out there. Think that is so important, especially in twenty

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twenty six.

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Man, I would say the same about you dog.

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Well, thank you. Yeah, that's a great compliment because there's

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a lot of assholes there are, Oh I know. Oh Man,

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So anything else you want to share with the listeners

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before we go, Man, I'm just happy to be here.

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Check out our set, check out our tour dates.

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Memphismafire dot com new album shape Shifter. If you're not.

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Familiar with us yet, get familiar. We would love to

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have you in the family. Nice And what other festivals

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you're doing in the recipe the year if you can remember,

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because I can't remember mine.

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I know Amberlin's doing Warped in Mexico.

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Oh, that would be cool.

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But other than that, Callen our guitar player is having

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a baby, so him and his wife are pregnant they're

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pretty far along at this point, and so what we

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did have at the end of this year and the

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very beginning of next year is now postponed for baby time.

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And I'll be on tour with Amberlyn and switch Foot

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in November or I'm sorry, September, October, a little bit

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into November. And so yeah, if you like Amberlyn, come

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see us with switch Foot.

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Nice. Nice, Well, I'm so glad you're here at INK

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and hopefully by time you're on stage, the smoke will

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be gone. Dude, I'm putting that out there fingers crossed.

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That would be rifing. God'll watch over you and there

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it is, and then you'll be like, oh cool, I'm

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good now, I love it. Thanks a lot for once

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again being on the Adventures of Pipe Man, being such

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a great musician and human being.

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Likewise, Beter, thanks for having me.

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Yo, what's up.

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This is Mattie Mullen from the band Memphis May Fire

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and you're listening to pipe Man on.

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W four c Y Radio.

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Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Main

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on W for CUI Radio.