Maverick Rose: The Trailblazer of Triangle Tunes

In this episode, Melissa interviews Maverick Rose, a true Renaissance man known for his podcast 'The Maverick Rose Music Hour,' involvement in films, and his music career fronting various bands. Maverick shares insights into his journey from growing up in Raleigh to becoming a prominent local musician and radio personality. He discusses his unique 'acoustic DJ' style, his inspirations, and his passion for poetry, having published three books. Maverick also highlights the importance of fostering a love for music in children, overcoming criticism, and surrounding oneself with talented individuals. Please tune in to learn about his future aspirations, including a potential career in radio, and catch a glimpse of his engaging persona that continues to captivate audiences statewide.

00:00 Meet the Maverick: An Introduction to Today's Guest
01:17 The Many Talents of Maverick Rose
01:30 The Cary Johnny Depp Phenomenon
02:37 Maverick's Musical Journey Begins
03:57 Incorporating Comedy and Style into Music
05:59 Inspiration and Influences
07:25 Fostering a Love for Music in Children
10:20 Overcoming Criticism and Finding Success
15:33 The Maverick Rose Music Hour Podcast
17:39 The Early Support and Favorite Venues
18:46 Exploring Poetry and Lyric Writing
19:55 Published Works and Future Aspirations
23:13 Open Mic Nights and Performance Insights
26:57 Animal Rescue and Personal Interests
30:45 Stage Fright and Tribute Bands
33:12 Conclusion and Where to Follow

Creators and Guests

Producer

Joe "Buttons" Woolworth

Owner of Podcast Cary and pusher of buttons.

What is What’s Up, Wake?

What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.

012 Whats Up Wake - Maverick Rose
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[00:00:00]

Melissa: This is my first time meeting today's guest, and from what I can tell, he's somewhat of a Renaissance man, or shall I say, a maverick. He's the host of Open Mike Knights, a podcast and a radio show. He's appeared in films and fronted various bands.

He plays the guitar and drums and dabbles in other instruments. If music wasn't enough. He's [00:01:00] published three books of poetry. He just so happens to be the main and broad Maggie Award winner for Best Local podcast, as well as runner up for best local music artist and best local radio personality. Please welcome to What's up, wake Maverick Rose.

Maverick Rose: It's good to be here.

Melissa: And I was, I was saying to Joe, my producer before you got here. Mm-hmm. I said for sure that's not his name. Yeah. Is it really your name? No. No. Okay. It's a stage name. You could have said it was, it's, yeah. And I would've totally believed you. . I have to start with what has become obvious to me.

Mm-hmm. Our listeners cannot see you. Mm-hmm. But. I want everybody to remember the viral photos of the quote, Carrie Johnny Depp. You guys remember that a couple months ago, people started spotting what they believed. Who they believed was Johnny Depp around Carrie, and you walked in and I'm telling you. I I, I'm wondering, are you the [00:02:00] Carrie Johnny Depp?

Maverick Rose: I am not, not. Are you aware of this? Not, I had not heard of that, but at least once or twice a week. I get that.

Melissa: Do you really? Because,

Maverick Rose: so it's early in the morning. I didn't put my eyeliner on, but normally I'm wearing eyeliner and I've got the, you know, and I'll walk in and I'll give them a little know ember.

Amber don't do that. You know, and that's all it takes. There's, you know,

Melissa: okay. So I'm gonna need you to wear the eyeliner for the awards. Oh yeah, of course. I'll, I'll

Maverick Rose: give you the full, the full experience and then I'll take a

Melissa: selfie with you and I'll see if everybody,

Maverick Rose: and it started unintentionally and then I just kind of leaned into it a little bit.

But yeah, I've got the tenant sunglasses. You must lean into that. You have to. For sure. It's a responsibility.

Melissa: Okay. So tell us a little bit about yourself. And also what sparked your interest in music?

Maverick Rose: So you and I have something in common. We're both from the triangle. I was gonna ask you that. I'm actually from Raleigh.

Okay.

Melissa: Yeah. Okay. So, I feel like we're kind of rare birds these days. That's

Maverick Rose: exactly, not, not many of us around, but yeah, I'm from Raleigh originally and where'd go

Melissa: to high school?

Maverick Rose: So a very small Christian school. Okay. Yeah, [00:03:00] my dad was a pastor and so, I went to Eagles Nest Christian out near the airport, very small, which I don't think it even exists anymore.

Mm-hmm. But at the time, I think we had like 60 students or something in the whole mm-hmm. In the whole school. I mean, it was really small, uber small, so, yeah, exactly. So, which I think explains a lot for why I'm a little unusual and kind of take my own path so

Melissa: it could, yeah, yeah, it very well could,

Maverick Rose: But from a very early age, very early age so my, when you ask kids what they want to do when they grow up, my answer was always that I wanted to be a comedian.

But then I realized that unless you're like top tier comedian, there's not a lot of money in that and it's a very hard business. And then I said, well, entertainment is good. And as, as you said, like I've found kind of every slice of the pie that I can, that I can make my way in entertainment I have done that other than comedy.

Melissa: So yeah, it's all performing.

Maverick Rose: Yeah, all performing. So, but I picked up music, I dunno, 15, 16, I started joining different bands and. I started as a drummer and then became a singer and kind of went from there

Melissa: and I've, I've seen some videos of [00:04:00] your performances. Mm-hmm. And it seems to me that. Not that you're incorporating comedy, but you do.

You're very lively. I don't, yeah. I don't take myself very seriously. Yeah. You joke around, you have a lot of fun. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I can see where you're bringing in the, the level of of comedy into Yeah. Yeah. Into your performances.

Maverick Rose: And two . Growing up I was sort of tragically uncool.

That's where the Maverick comes from, is that it was originally a, a tease because I like Top Gun, but I'm kind of too young to be into the whole eighties thing. It's like the big hair and, and the, you know, Tom Cruise was the greatest actor of all time, and you have to wear aviators and wear leather jackets and, and you got your aviators on, on your head right now?

Always. Always. Yeah. It's a staple. And so for me, I just lean into it. I just lean into it, so own it.

Melissa: So I was trying to describe your style and I came across a story that, that said, it's kind of like an acoustic dj. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because you blend popular songs over different genres. Is that how you would describe it?

Maverick Rose: [00:05:00] Yeah. It's. How do you, I, I like the term you're not one box. No. I like the term acoustic DJ because I may go from doing a Biggie small song into a Britney Spear song, back to a Neil Diamond song, you know, all in the same song, for me, music is an avenue. No matter which part of entertainment I'm in, it's about interacting with the audience.

I don't take anything away from artists that use iPads and things like that. Even Paul McCartney uses iPads now, you know? So there's nothing wrong with it. But for me, I don't want anything between me and the audience. So any way that I can connect. So if I look out in the audience and I'm, I'm doing, you know, a Biggie small song, and I'm like, oh, three people are not connecting with this.

What could I do that maybe they would like? And then I just throw it at it. I don't

Melissa: wanna know those three people.

Maverick Rose: That's, but that's what I'm saying. I'm like, you know. You know, you find, and, and so it's all about trying to find, you know, how's that person in the back that's completely ignoring the situation?

How do I pull them in?

Melissa: Interesting. Yeah. I can't wait to see you perform.

Maverick Rose: Oh, it's, we're gonna have a great time.

Melissa: Yeah, we're gonna have a

Maverick Rose: great time.

Melissa: So [00:06:00] being that you've got such a unique approach, do you have any musicians that you look to for inspiration?

Maverick Rose: Yeah. It's funny. So on, on my podcast this week, I'm actually getting to feature the person who's pretty much responsible for my career, which is a local artist, Adam Pitts.

And Adam was the first person that I met that played the bar scene locally, many, many years ago. We were both pretty young back then, and I said, if this guy can do it, maybe I can do it. Mm-hmm. Like, you know, and I, and I kind of found my, my own way to do that. And then I pull from all the greats. I mean, you know, I look at, robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, obviously being in a Van Halen tribute band, David Lee Roth. Huge axle Rose. That's where the rose in my name comes from. 'cause I was, I did like a Guns and Roses tribute thing and the, the mc that was introducing the band was like, this is Axel Rose's cousin Maverick Rose, and it.

And that was, I was like 16, 17 at the time. [00:07:00] Yeah. Take it. And so ever since then I was like, Hey, that's good. Let's go.

Melissa: You're the cousin of Axel Rose. Mm-hmm. And you look like Johnny Depp win-win. It's funny, my daughter saw somebody wearing a dad wearing a guns and Roses t-shirt the other day. Mm-hmm.

And she said, is that weird shirt? And I was like, oh honey. Oh no. Oh no. I have failed you. I have failed you as a mother. So of course we had to listen to Guns and Roses. Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: The way home. Mm-hmm. Very nice.

Melissa: Speaking of daughter, I've got three kids. Mm-hmm. All of which showed a love of music at a very young age.

I feel like most kids do. Mm-hmm. Two of my children started to learn how to play instruments, but they all kind of lost their interest by middle school. Mm-hmm. I'm wondering how can parents and educators foster the love of arts, particularly music.

Maverick Rose: So the important part is to remember that music is art.

The point of art is not to be good at art. It's not something that we're grading, it's creating. And so [00:08:00] the most important aspect is that you have fun. And I think that that's why we lose a lot of children is because we, we, we sit them down and we say, it's gotta be this note. It's gotta be perfectly in tune.

Your timing is off and we're constantly scrutinizing what they're creating. And the important part is that they're creating. So certainly. You need to know what the chords are. You need to know what the notes are. You need to understand proper timing, but that's not the most important part, especially for kids.

The important part is that you're having fun and that you're creating.

Melissa: I think that to your point, I. Since art is subjective. Mm-hmm. We do find that that painting and drawing can be, you know, in the eye of the beholder. Mm-hmm. But music, I think you're right, that the kid, he might hear, oh, I'm not good at this.

I am the, the tone is off. Whatever the beat is off. And,

Maverick Rose: and I think the best example of this is Billboard Magazine says that Mick Jagger is the greatest front man of all time. And I don't know anyone who would say that Mick Jagger [00:09:00] has the most pleasant voice of all the singers in the world. Mm-hmm. They consider him the best.

So the point is, is you don't have to actually be the best to be the best. It's, it's just, well important. He also brings

Melissa: in the, the, the, it's personality. Personality. It's, it's the performance. It's that x

Maverick Rose: factor that they talk about mm-hmm. That he brings in. Yeah,

Melissa: that's a very good point.

Maverick Rose: Definitely.

Melissa: And we, we keep hearing so much about how schools are losing arts funding.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And private lessons are expensive, so I really hope that we can start pushing our school boards to continue funding. Arts programs. Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: And it's never too late. So you, you talk about like, you know, oh, my kids started and then they kind of dropped off. So I didn't actually start playing guitar.

I owned mini guitars over the years. Tried, learned to chord here, chord there, but did not actually start playing guitar till 27.

Melissa: And you taught yourself, right? Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Just like YouTube videos. Yeah. YouTube

Maverick Rose: videos asking, you know, a friend, Hey, what is this chord? You know, how do I tune properly?

Those kind of [00:10:00] things. And five minutes here, or 10 minutes there. And then just making sure that you pick up the instrument every single day, even if it's for five minutes. I, that's beauty. Yeah. Because you

Melissa: know, things can be expensive, but go on YouTube, there's a video for anything.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Melissa: Negative feedback.

Maverick Rose: Yes. Can

Melissa: deter as well and disheartened even the most confident performer. How do you handle criticism and move on?

Maverick Rose: Yeah, my first year full-time, so this is my, I'm going into my eighth year of full-time music. No day job, just playing music and, and entertaining. I was wondering doing those things.

Yeah. I was wonder this is

Melissa: a full-time gig. It

Maverick Rose: is, yeah. And. My first year, like a few months in, on my first year of deciding that this is what I want to do, I had contacted a bunch of different people, booking agents, trying to find anybody that could help me so that I could stop doing my day job and start playing music full-time.

And I remember one of the big promoters looked me in the eyes and was like, you'll never make it in this industry. Like, you don't, you don't have it. You can't, you can't play a song the way it sounds on the radio. You're [00:11:00] not, you don't have it.

Melissa: And see, we all hear those stories mm-hmm. About actors starting out and at that one person that says you don't have the look.

We, I even interviewed Don Schweiker a few weeks ago out. I listened to that. It, yeah. That was great podcast. And he even said that he had a professor say, you'll never be on television. On television. Yeah. Because they

Maverick Rose: say he didn't have a look for it. Yeah. Yeah. Good

Melissa: thing he didn't listen to

Maverick Rose: it happens.

And so to me it was funny. So I, I got that and I said, okay, well if you're not gonna help me do it, I'm gonna have to do it myself. And so I just started calling bars, calling restaurants, calling venues, saying, Hey, I wanna play. I'll, I'll start here, I'll do this, I'll whatever. And I think I played like 150 shows that first year.

And then the next year, 200 and then last year, almost two 50. I think I did the 247 shows last year.

Melissa: That's a lot of

Maverick Rose: shows. That's a lot of shows.

Melissa: Yeah. I played

Maverick Rose: a lot of places and seen a lot of things, so Yeah. But like I always

Melissa: say, when you're doing what you love mm-hmm. It doesn't feel like work. Mm-hmm.

I'm sure there's times that it does, but,

Maverick Rose: but yeah. So to, but to your point, overcoming criticism, I. You [00:12:00] have to have a healthy level of self-doubt and balance that with self-belief. So if you don't believe in yourself, nobody else is. Performance of any kind is sales and you are the product. So you have to believe in the thing that you're selling or at least make people believe that you believe.

And so, but we can't be completely blind to criticism, but one of my favorite quotes of all time Andy Warhol was saying, you know, create art. And while people are arguing over whether the art is good or bad, create more art. Don't worry about their opinions. I love that. You just keep making and they'll figure it out.

Mm-hmm. And you'll find people will find you that like whatever it is that you're doing, as long as you're following your path if, if you're doing what you believe in, what you like, you're creating content that you find engaging. Someone out there in, in this day and age of, of the internet where you can just put it out there.

Someone will find you that, that likes it. I,

Melissa: yeah. I actually just said something very similar recently [00:13:00] about this podcast. Mm-hmm. I just, they, they asked me, well, how is it doing? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. In terms of, you know, listeners and numbers. Mm-hmm. And I said, you know what? I have just. Gone so full speed ahead that I have not been paying attention to that.

I don't want any negativity. Yeah. I just wanna keep on doing it and putting out good stuff. Yes. And eventually I think it will come around that people will start listening because you can tell that. Well, hopefully you can tell that I I love doing it. Yes. Your fashion shows. Yeah. And you're

Maverick Rose: creating a good product.

Mm-hmm. You know, when I have friends that play with me and, and that come on stage. 'cause I, I love sharing the stage. One of the other things that I would give as a tip to anybody else out there, surround yourself with people that are better than you. So if you think that your weakness is, you know.

Writing songs, surround yourself with songwriters that you admire. If you lack stage presence, find other people that have stage presence and get around them. You know? But to that point, it's interesting to look at how people are gauging success out [00:14:00] there because the person who doesn't have a day job, like in my situation, like I'm not as successful as Mick Jagger.

Right. But I haven't had a day job in eight years. Mm-hmm. That's kind of successful in its own way. Absolutely. And to the person who's just starting out, that's just starting to book gigs, they're successful in their own way. Maybe the hobbyist who only knows three chords, but can now get through a full song that is success.

We have to look at success and, and kind of measure ourselves where we are. But, but I think to that point, what you're creating is good. And when I try to bring other people on stage with me, or when I do bring other people on stage with me, you know, the first rule is don't suck. You know, as long as the thing that you're making, it has quality to it.

It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't have to be perfect, but as long as it's good, then just keep doing that.

Melissa: Yeah. I mean, we're just, we've, we've become so, such a society that it's all about likes and follows

Maverick Rose: Instagram culture. Yeah. Where everything has to be curated and the perfect angle. And this, and don't get me wrong, I like Instagram fine, but [00:15:00] it's that idea that everything has to be exactly the perfect angle and this, that, and the other.

I think that that's one of the things that's really magical about music in general, and something that we've lost over time as music has become more and more mass produced. When you used to put a record on and listen to the vinyl, you can hear the imperfections in it. Mm. And you're a part of creating that by picking the needle up and putting it onto the record.

For those of you that are too young, the youngins out there, but even with a cd, putting a CD in a disc drive versus just finding something on your phone and and pressing play.

Melissa: Tell us about the Maverick Rose Music Hour. Yeah. How that got started too. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: So my co-host Darcy reached out to me and she said, I wanna do a podcast.

And we went back and forth on what we could do a podcast about. And I said, I know music, music is, it has been my life for as far back as I can remember. And she knows a lot about pop culture and things like that. And so I said it would be [00:16:00] very interesting. I brought my other friend on who is also a musician.

So we have two musicians and then someone who's not a musician, so that we get like sort of the full perspective of what's going on in, in that aspect of the entertainment industry. And we have just passed our first year. We're about to finish our fourth season, so we do 12 episodes per season. We change things up.

We have different segments depending on what season we're doing. it's been very enlightening because again I didn't, I never hosted a podcast before and then we started.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: And once you get there, you say, oh, well I don't really like this. You start watching your own episodes or listening to your own.

You go, Hmm, it'd be more interesting if we did this, or It would sound better. It would look better. Let's change the lighting. Let's do this. And you, you figure it out as you go.

Melissa: Do you record every episode at Niche Wine Bar?

Maverick Rose: We do. We've done one or two on location, but generally everything is done there.

Live at the niche. They have partnered with us and allow us to host things [00:17:00] there. We've done themed cocktails to go, like if we're talking about a specific album. They'll pair a drink with it or something, and they even do version versions of the drink, so if it's mm-hmm. Someone non-alcoholic or whatever.

But yeah, they've been a very good home to me from the very beginning of, of my music career.

Melissa: You mentioned how many performances you've had mm-hmm. In the past year. Mm-hmm. Do you have any local spots that you. Are your favorites that you keep going back to? I can't

Maverick Rose: say that.

Melissa: I know we're not supposed to make more favorites.

They might listen, they might listen, but we all have favorites. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: They might hear obviously n has been my home away from home. Mm-hmm. Going way back to the, to the very beginning. They were the first place to book me a year in advance and say, we'll give you dates for a whole year out. Wow. When I first started and they really believed in me in the beginning, which was great.

Melissa: I'll have to go. I have never been to Niche. Yeah, it's

Maverick Rose: a great, it's a great spot. It's like Cheers. Everybody knows everybody. So when you come in, you're gonna get greeted by sort of a whole family of, of people there. it's like a house that was [00:18:00] transformed into a bar. So there's couches and chairs and rugs.

It's very comfortable. But Niche obviously has been my home away from home for a long time. I really enjoy playing at Tonic in Wake Forest. It's a great spot if, if no one's been there. That is an excellent place. And then Southern Peak Brewery out in Apex has been very good to me over the years I started, they were one of the second or third places that picked me up and, and got behind me.

So yeah. Wake Forest has been very kind to me. I'll be playing at Fortnite this weekend. Mm-hmm. And they also will book out over a year in advance, and, and they've taken very good care of me as well. So.

Melissa: So you're all over the triangle?

Maverick Rose: Really? All over the state I play. Oh, good. Yeah. I play all over, down to Wilmington, Newburn any, basically anywhere within a day's driving distance.

I'll go.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: Yeah.

Melissa: Let's talk about poetry.

Maverick Rose: Yes.

Melissa: Have you always written poetry? How did you get into it?

Maverick Rose: Yeah. From the time that I learned to write when I was maybe six or seven, I probably started writing [00:19:00] poetry and it has always just come and it still does. I don't fully understand it myself. You know, a lot of poets will sit down there and they'll agonize over what words to put in and what to leave out.

For me, it's almost like automatic writing. If I have a pen and a piece of paper, the way that I describe it is river flowing downstream, and I just take a cup. I. Scoop whatever's there and put it on the page. And then if you want more, I can go get more. And if you don't, we just let it continue to flow.

Melissa: Well, I do see a lot of similarities between lyric writing and poetry. Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: Yeah. It's, it's it's very much the same. I. For me at least, I, I don't know. I can't speak to other artists. I am primarily a lyricist. I don't write a lot of of songs as far as the full song structure. Mm-hmm. I rely on other guitar players and things.

I mean, I, I can put chords together, but for me, it's all about the lyrics. But it's, it's, for me, it's the same process. The poetry or the lyrics. If I hear a melody or something, I just put it right over top of it.

Melissa: And I mentioned that you have three published books.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Mm-hmm. And I, I [00:20:00] looked 'em up.

You can find them on Amazon. They're on Amazon.

Maverick Rose: Yep.

Melissa: I can't remind us the names. I did not write down the names. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: It's Garden of Roses and there's three volumes. Yes. So there's volume one, two, and three. There will eventually be five volumes. So I've got the next two will come out this fall and then the, the set of Garden of Roses will be complete.

Melissa: Awesome.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: That, I think, I think that's amazing. I always, I always really, admire people that see something through all the way. Mm-hmm. And, and I was looking at your, your books on Amazon and just thought, wow, good for him.

Maverick Rose: That was a dream of mine too, was to compile the various poetry that I've done over the years and, and I wrote new poems as well to put in the books, but it, it's sort of a combination of both.

Sort of a greatest hits of things that I'd written in the past and then new things that inspired me as I was going along, but primarily love poems. Mm-hmm.

Melissa: You have been doing this full time for eight years, you said? Mm-hmm. Let's look at eight years from now. Mm-hmm. Where do you see yourself? [00:21:00]

Maverick Rose: I would like to transition, I think, into radio.

I think that's probably where the future is. I have hosted community ra show on community radio Retro rewind outta WCOM in Carbo. But I'd like to, I'd like to get a full-time gig and, and do radio, I think get out of the bar rooms as much as I enjoy performing and I think that I will always perform on some level.

I would, I would like to transition into, into full-time radio in the future. I

Melissa: think that's interesting because mm-hmm. You know, you talk to some radio people and they feel like they need to start pivoting towards podcasts. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And you're talking about going, I'm old school, a full radio school.

I'm old school. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: Yeah. That's the thing. So okay for me. Yeah. So

Melissa: what would your radio show look like?

Maverick Rose: Probably very much like the one that I hosted before I'd, I'd like to do primarily classic rock and, and talk about some of the history behind it and those things as well.

Melissa: But

Maverick Rose: yeah, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties.

That's my [00:22:00] wheelhouse. That's the stuff that we cover in the Maverick Rose Music Hour. That's the stuff that I do on Retro Rewind. That's what most of my gigs are, are comprised of. So

Melissa: what is next? This year. A lot of performing it sounds like.

Maverick Rose: Yeah, I just checked the calendar. I'm booked out through January of next year, so it's gonna be a lot of performing.

We are working on transitioning, we were doing weekly open mics at Niche for the summer. We're going to do once a month and make them big events that are themed. So that'll be a big thing that we're doing. So our first themed open mic will be May 15th is the third Thursday I think of May. And we're doing a Beatles theme, so we're gonna encourage all the artists that come out to play at least one Beatles song, and we'll continue that on through the whole summer season of, of just trying to make really big events out of that and, and shift gears there.

The podcast will continue on as, as far as I know, it'll continue on. We've been pretty successful so far, obviously winning the [00:23:00] Maggie Award, which we're super excited about. So I think that furthering the podcast, getting the next two books published, working on themed open mic nights, and then performing.

Those are my focus for the rest of, that's my focus for the rest of this year.

Melissa: What does an open mic night look like? People just show up with a guitar and just hop on stage and, and perform.

Maverick Rose: So I actually got my start at open mic nights as far as playing guitar and singing and it's. It's different depending on what open mic that you go to.

Sometimes it's a jam where everybody gets together and sometimes it's more structured. I, I tend to run a more structured where I have 15 minute slots. I'm very focused on fairness. I went to a lot of different open mics in the area and I said, I like this. I don't like that. You know, these kind of things.

And so I, I run a pretty tight ship. At mine where it's, you know, you've, if you start at eight o'clock, you've got from eight to eight 15, we take five minutes for a changeover. Then at eight 20 the next artist comes on and so on, and we only have two rules, which is no [00:24:00] F-bombs and no wagon wheel.

Melissa: What does wagon wheel I.

Maverick Rose: Rock Me mama, like wagon queen.

Melissa: I thought it was like a euphemism for something. No. Okay. No.

Maverick Rose: When I first started Ho hosting Open mic seven years ago everyone played that and even if someone had played it, the next person will play it. It becomes cringy and then two people later they'll play it. Mm-hmm. And whenever they gets, if I die in Raleigh, I will die free.

And I was like, I can't take it anymore. No more wagon wheel.

Melissa: Okay. So, all right. Are there any other songs that you would love to ban?

Maverick Rose: No, I'm, I'm pretty, like, open. I don't listen to a lot of country music. I don't take anything away from people who do. That's not my thing. I'm a classic rock guy, but I like pretty much all music.

I can find something good in pretty much all music.

Melissa: I've got one song that I, I really feel like. Ants are crawling under my skin. Oh no. When this song comes on, and I know I'm in the minority, obviously, or it would not play this much, but Sweet Caroline.

Maverick Rose: Yeah,

Melissa: I, yeah. I want to [00:25:00] jump out of a moving car when that song sits on.

Maverick Rose: There are, at least, there's some head nodding, TEDS nodding.

Melissa: In the room right now, there are at least

Maverick Rose: two people that come to open mic that play that every week, every other week. My friend, who is a, a guitarist, plays with me. He'll, he'll actually be playing with me at the Maggie Awards, my co-host on the podcast as well.

Jim, he cannot stand that song. He will walk outside when they start playing, he goes outside. I would have to go outside the gym. He like, he's, he's like, I've heard it too many times in my life. I can't, I.

Melissa: And I get it. It because the audience does get involved and get hype. You wanna play songs that people dunno.

Why?

Maverick Rose: Why? Yeah.

Melissa: Oh gosh. Everyone.

Maverick Rose: It's a guaranteed sing along and so people do that and it's brown-eyed girls the same way. Mustang Sally, there's all these staples. Mm-hmm. Sweet Home, Alabama. But yeah. Sweet Caroline is one of those that you're guaranteed to hear like everywhere.

Melissa: Yeah. Gotta go.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: It is time for our, what's up, Roundup, where I ask a lightning round series of questions before we go.

Mm-hmm. If you could sit [00:26:00] front row at any concert, past performer or present, who would you want to see or who could also go? Who would you want to perform with?

Maverick Rose: Yeah. So my all-time favorite artist are the Smiths. I like Morrissey a lot. I was able to see Morrisey in Washington DC two years ago, and I was, I was basically that close, so I kind of checked that one off.

Original Led Zeppelin lineup, like. Mid seventies, like 75, 76, something like that. I would, that would be for me, like top of the. Top of the top. Yeah. I'd wanna be there as well. Yeah.

Melissa: What is your favorite cover or song that you perform if you have to choose one

Maverick Rose: comfortably? No. Pink Floyd. I.

Melissa: I was hoping you were gonna say something by Biggie Smalls.

I guess I'll just have to listen out for that when I, when I see you perform. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: Okay. We'll, we'll do some biggie for you. Please do. Yeah, please

Melissa: do. I'll be the one that's acting like all the other people act when Sweet Caroline comes

Maverick Rose: on. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa: What is your favorite hobby outside of [00:27:00] music and poetry?

Nothing arcs related.

Maverick Rose: Animal rescue. Oh, I have, I have four Siberian Huskies that are all rescues and that has been an extremely rewarding, it's, it's difficult at times. Mm-hmm. It's extremely rewarding. Yeah. Let's

Melissa: talk about that for just a second, even though that does not qualify as lightning round.

Maverick Rose: We're gonna pull away from the light your own for a second. Yeah, we're, yeah. Press pause. Uhhuh.

Melissa: So when did you get into Huskies in particular?

Maverick Rose: So I did animal training and pet care and dog walking and pet sitting and all kinds of stuff for about 10 years. And as I started doing training and working in animal rehabilitation and ex fighting dogs and ex-police dogs and ex racing dogs and all this kind of stuff, I found that I like a challenge.

Huskies are extremely intelligent. Mm-hmm. And also very stubborn. Ah. So you can train them in about five minutes and they'll learn anything, and then they will spend the rest of their time ignoring you because they know what you want them to do. And they don't under, they're, they're just like, no, it's not worth it.

Melissa: Not doing it.

Maverick Rose: Yep. Mm-hmm. So, I [00:28:00] like a challenge. I think I, maybe I'm like a husky. Yeah. 10, 11, 11 years ago was when I adopted my first husky.

Melissa: See, I always see Huskies and I love Hussies. Mm-hmm. Who doesn't? Mm-hmm. They're beautiful. Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: But then I think, gosh, they've gotta be hot in August in Raleigh, so

Maverick Rose: it's actually insulation.

So as long as you're under, I would say around 90 degrees, they're not suffering. Mm-hmm. I mean, it's, they do better in cold weather. They're designed for cold weather. Yeah. But they're not, they're not dying, I mean mm-hmm. It's, it's not good for any dog. When it's hot. That is very true. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: Or, or human.

Maverick Rose: But they, but they have natural insulation, so it's not as bad as you would think. What I find is when you get below about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, it's like you gave them caffeine. I mean, they just, yeah. They unlock and just. They're wild.

Melissa: Well, every winter I see. Yeah. Videos of, of Huskies. Mm-hmm. Just lying, splat out in the snow.

Mm-hmm.

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm. They love it. That's their jam. They absolutely love it. Yeah.

Melissa: Okay. I know you like to blend genres. Mm-hmm. But if [00:29:00] you had to choose only one, I kind of know the answer after asking you all these questions and it cannot be rock. I'll add that. Mm

Maverick Rose: mm Okay.

Melissa: I had to throw that in. Okay. Which one would you choose?

Nineties rap with Biggie Smalls.

Maverick Rose: Yeah, probably. I, I'm, I, like, I do, I had, I had an entire hip hop phase. I actually did battle rap for a little while, so Really? Yeah. So I went through a whole entire yes. Yes. Mm-hmm. Actually got punched over a line that I said one time. Oh no, because I, I said something about a guy's mom in the middle of a battle wrap, uhoh.

And I look away for a second and I come back and the dude has his shirt off and just immediately just comes in and decks me. You can't talk about mama's. Yeah. I was like, dude, it's a battle wrap. Why are you taking this so seriously? Like, whatever. And the only thing that I remember was this guy had the UNC logo with the ram over top of it, like tattooed on his chest.

And I was like. UC fans. I remember as he was hitting me, I was like, there's no way you went to UNC. [00:30:00] There's no way.

Melissa: Oh gosh. Yeah. I think, yeah. Don't talk about

Maverick Rose: people's moms.

Melissa: It's not, no. Yeah. Not, not to self. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: So I do, I do, I do get down with the hip hop, the old, the old hip and the Britney hip hop spears you mentioned Britney.

Yeah. Pop. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Anything from that that's, I like, there is something good. I don't really like, like extreme heavy metal, but there is something good in, in just about any kind of music because I,

Melissa: yeah,

Maverick Rose: people are creating it from their heart. They've got something that they wanna say. They have things that they need to get out.

Music is a universal language. It's a great communicator and it sets the mood and it's a machine. I can play one of those songs from back in the day and you'll go, I remember where I was the first time I heard that. Or, yeah, you know, whatever your memory is that's tied to that and it just brings you right there.

Melissa: Where is the first place you ever performed in front of an audience? So not just your parents,

Maverick Rose: max Tavern and Carrie.

Melissa: Really?

Maverick Rose: Yeah. I was in a band and we went out [00:31:00] to Max Tavern for one. I think it was one of their open mic nights or an open jam or something. I got stage fright so bad that I ran off stage during the first song.

Oh, and I ran into the bathroom and I locked the door and I was like splashing water on my face. I couldn't come back to the stage. My guitarist came in, he got me and he says, okay man, you know, everything's fine. We'll go and we'll practice more. And I made up my mind that day that I would have whatever stage fright I wanted before I got on stage.

Once I get on stage. It's gone.

Melissa: So do you think that you really have to, in order to put the stage fright aside, do you become a different persona?

Maverick Rose: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Okay. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: I deal with it before, so I'll, I'll be super nervous before I go on stage. I'll go in the bathroom, special water on my face, you know, get psyched myself up in the mirror a little bit and then just come out and it's, it's go time.

Melissa: I do hear that a lot that performers say they really have to become, like, come out of themselves, become a different person.

Maverick Rose: I had a very similar experience the first time that I played with the Van Halen tribute band that was [00:32:00] in Women and Children First. The first time that we played Lincoln Theater, it was a sold out packed house.

I had not played that type of music in front of a crowd that large. I've done festivals and things like that where people aren't really paying attention, but this was something where everyone was like pushing the stage, wanted to see what was coming. It was one of our very first shows that we had ever played, and I remember being a 16-year-old kid in the crowd at the edge of the stage, like watching people on the stage.

I walked out there and it was the first time that I really had like, I was like, can I do this type of stage fright? Am I gonna be able to get through this? And within 10 seconds I was like, no, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Melissa: I would think that when you are playing cover songs mm-hmm. It adds a level of stress, I would say.

Yeah. Because what it's supposed to sound like. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Maverick Rose: And the interesting thing about being in a tribute band, it takes it to the next level because you inherit all their fans. They're expecting you to be that person. Mm-hmm. And it's like, I'm not that person. I'm a person [00:33:00] pretending to be that person

Melissa: You are.

Axel Rose's cousin who happens to look like Johnny Depp.

Maverick Rose: I'm gonna put that on my website. Yeah, we're gonna, that's gonna be a direct quote.

Melissa: Yeah. Okay. So where can people follow you?

Maverick Rose: Maverick rose music.com. All of my social links are there. The links to the books are there. The radio show, the podcast, all, all of the various.

Slices of the pie that I'm in. All your events'

Melissa: coming up

Maverick Rose: the full calendar for the years up there. Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Great. Thank you so much. Absolutely. This has really fun.

Maverick Rose: It's an honor to be here.

[00:34:00]