-
- Happy New Year everyone.
I'm Connor and that's Doug.
And this is the Bethel School District Presents podcast.
And today we have a special episode for you. Whoa.
- Hold your horses. Connor,
you know this is gonna be a great episode.
I know this is gonna be a great episode.
Our special guest who's in studio
with us currently holding a guitar knows this is gonna be a
great episode, but let's not let the cart
get ahead of the horse.
Slow things down here from a Gallup to a Trott
and chat for just a minute.
I mean, we haven't been in the
studio together since last year.
What have you been up to? Give it
to me straight from the horse's mouth. All
- Right, Mr.
Ed. First off, last year was just a few days ago.
Second, what's the dealio with all the horse metaphors?
- What can I say? Horses keep me stable. Ugh.
- Okay. Good to know that Dad.
Quality puns are back for a fresh year of the pod.
- They are. In fact, I made a resolution
to pun it up even more this year.
- I'm sure you did there.
Doug, any other New Year's resolutions you'd
like to share with the class?
- I have a big one this year.
One that could be both life changing and life affirming,
and I'm gonna need your help with it, Connor,
this year I vow nay, dare I say resolve to try
and drink everything on the Starbucks menu.
- That's neither life affirming nor life changing.
It's a Monday for me, but I am intrigued.
Where do I come in?
That's what I wanna know. I only care about me.
- You kind, sir. Will sponsor me. Of course.
It's an expensive endeavor. How about you?
Any New Year's resolutions you wanna tell everyone about?
- I wanna ponder that one for a hot minute, Doug,
while you introduce our very special guest today.
- Well, joining us in the studio today is Cage Johnson.
Cage is a grounds and maintenance specialist here in the
district, and we're excited to have him in studio
because he's not just here to talk about
what he does on the clock,
but it's his off the clock work that's gotten a lot
of attention, including some local news coverage
and performances at some popular clubs in town.
Cage Johnson, welcome to the show.
- Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
- Will Cage Connor still trying to come up
with his New Year's resolution?
Do you have any New Year's
resolutions you're willing to share with us?
- I think I'm, uh, definitely gonna focus on the music.
It's kind of been a trial
and error thing this year, so I think I'm gonna hit it hard
and start writing more and recording
and getting some more stuff out for streaming.
So that's my, that's my goal.
- That's a perfect segue. We've been hinting at it,
but let's just come out and say it.
You're an up and coming musician with a single
that's getting quite a bit of play around here,
and I'm hoping you'll play it for us a little bit later.
But first, what got you into music in the first place?
- Um, I picked up my first guitar when I
was about eight years old.
Got a guitar lesson and took me about 25 years
to actually go out and play in public.
So I did an open mic back in February,
and that was my first time ever playing in public.
And uh, that night I got approached
to do a songwriter night, and then it's just kind
of been on the roll ever since, getting booked to do shows
and very unexpected, never sang before
and just wrote music kind in my bedroom.
And now it's, uh, now I'm out there playing solo
shows a few times a week.
- I love that. Now music isn't your bread
and butter yet, so you are here in Bethel
working on the Grounds Crew.
What is that job like?
- It's great. I love, uh, I've got three schools,
so I've got Thompson Elementary, Spanaway Middle School,
and then, uh, both the new and old Natchez Trail.
So I love it being outside
and it's kind of like a big canvas.
I just get to sculpt it and I like the before and
after, you know, being able to see days work,
so it's, it's a really good job.
- I I do like your phrase there, sculpting Connor,
you did an interview with one of our custodians
who took old skateboards and turned them into art.
Is there something about this type of work
that opens up a creative mind? Definitely,
- And it's, uh, I, there's a lot of correlation I think
with music because I don't just
perform, I actually write music.
So it's really cool
to just take something from nothing and, and create it.
And so that's why at the end
of the day I can actually see something, not
that I necessarily created, but crafted
and, um, just kind of worked at
and from start to finish. That's what I really like about
- It.
Yeah, that's an interesting point.
And we're all here to support the students.
I'm sure you see a lot of kids on your day-to-Day work.
Any memorable interactions you've had with kids?
Any funny stories to share?
- Yeah. Um, when I first started, I,
there's the early learning center between Thompson
and Spanaway Middle, and, uh,
they've got a gated in playground area.
And so sometimes if I'm my mower going back
and forth, they'll just run along the fence
and, and chase me.
Or if I'm doing the garden beds out
there, they'll ask me questions.
The typical why, why, why, you know, why are you doing that?
Why are you doing that? And you almost don't have any
answers, but it's really fun.
They're so infatuated with what you're doing
and it's always a light
to have interactions like that with the kids.
- That's really cool Here in the district.
Every single staff member has a chance to interact
with students every, every once in a while for some people,
more often for others.
And it is just great that they can have a positive
interaction with, with folks like you.
Let's go behind the music now.
You brought your guitar here in the studio.
Tell us about your first single, it seems
to be a really personal story. Yeah,
- It's, uh, it's not the flashiest song or anything,
but, um, it's the reason I think I'm doing this.
So last year I, I had moved out to South Carolina.
I'm originally from here,
but I went out there, um,
with my ex-girlfriend and we broke up.
So I came home and, uh, Brian Reed, who's actually, uh,
another grounds guy, he let me move in with him
and then I broke my foot, so I'm kind of holed up
and nothing to do and it's winter time, so
I just started writing and, uh, I kind
of wrote the song about the breakup and kind of leaving,
and that's the song I played at the open mic,
which got me the songwriter night.
So it's, it's a really special song to me,
but it's, uh, yeah, it's, it's pretty personal.
It's a true story, but I owe,
I kind of owe what I'm doing to it.
- I gotta follow up. How'd you break your foot? ?
- Um, well I, I thought I was a lot younger than I was
and we were we were monkeying around on a playground
and uh, I fell off of it and was wearing the wrong shoes.
I was wearing boots. They didn't have good ankle support
and it was, uh, it was a little embarrassing.
- Yeah, it happens to the best of us
and that can be embarrassing.
And speaking of embarrassing, uh, we got a little
behind the podcast talk here.
We were introduced to you by our friend
and your friend Brian Reed,
who's worked here for a long time.
In fact, he was our building custodian, which is
how we first got to know him.
Then he moved over to grounds.
He's a great guy, salt of the Earth,
and a weekly listener to the pod.
So tell us a great Brian Reed story,
and I know it's gonna be tough, but try to keep it pg.
- Pg okay. .
Well, Brian and I, we do, we do a lot of camping.
His wife and my girlfriend are actually sisters,
so it's kind of a big family affair
and we always end up in these small towns with these little,
uh, water and hole kind of establishments,
and Brian becomes a celebrity everywhere we go.
We went down to Cougar one time
and they thought he was the town outlaw
that they had just exiled this guy years ago.
They swore it was him and he played the part the whole time.
And then, uh, we did a boys trip out to Easton
and they had this little, this little bar right there next
to the campground that we were at, and Brian went up
and did karaoke and he was a celebrity.
They invited us back the next day for a baby shower
and it was everywhere we go.
It's, it's a good time, whether on the back porch
or, you know, somewhere, but yeah, he's, he's a great guy.
He is, he's one of my best friends.
- Love it. Brian, we love you too, cage.
Thanks for sharing that story.
You're a proud member of Team Bethel.
Brian's a proud member of Team Bethel.
What is it you like about working here in the district?
- I really enjoy the kind of comradery
and the, the district wide pride.
You know, I've, I've talked to anyone from a principal
to another grounds guy,
and it's, um, just like today we're doing,
we normally go off and do our own schools,
but today we're doing, you know, group, group projects
and it's a lot of fun, just everybody actually caress.
It's not just showing up for a paycheck kind of job.
People are taking pride in their schools and what they do
and really working on those, you know,
professional relationships around.
So it's a, it's a very nice atmosphere to work in.
- So earlier you talked about mowing the grass
and a few of the other jobs you do,
but can you tell us a little bit more about
what your day to day is like?
What are some of the other things you do every
- Day?
Uh, it's anything from pulling weeds to lemon trees
and picking up garbage and just keeping the school looking
nice and like somebody actually cares about it, you know,
so, uh, we're slowing down right now.
Not a lot of mowing now. We're doing a lot of pruning
and just lots of blowing of the leaves and pine needles
and just, just making sure it's a safe place
and making sure it's, you know, it looks nice.
And so back to the pride thing, just making, they,
they do a really good job of just kind of letting us loose
and letting us decide what needs to happen so it kind of,
you can really make it your own and,
and just aesthetically pleasing I guess I'd say.
- Cage, it's been great having you in the studio.
We do wanna hear that first signal.
We're gonna open the studio door
and we have some of our fellow office mates are listening
in to the song.
Go ahead.
- You can say it's over if you want to.
You can tell me and pack my things
and go, you can put the
blame on me.
Tell me how it ought to be. There's a door.
Only if you,
you can lie to if you wanna
and you can tell yourself you will be alright.
You can show that stubborn side now.
We don't have to fight this fight anymore.
Only now.
You've never been good at lying,
but you never beat your pride.
And I can see that you're trying to hide it,
but baby your side now.
I don't want, if you don't want me here
anymore, I'll on my way.
Yeah, I'll only if
3000 miles of space between us
in three years and change
overnight on.
We say you just want be on. I'll go
now.
You've never been good at Lion,
but your heart never beat your pride
and I can see that you're trying to hide it,
but baby on your side now.
I don't want stay.
If you don't want me here anymore,
say I'll be on my way.
Yeah, I'll go unless you want me to stay.
Yeah, I'll go.
Awesome.
- Well done. Great song.
And besides our podcast, where can people listen to this
and learn more about your
- Music?
Um, I actually just, uh, kind
of recorded an acoustic demo version of this.
I got an opportunity to play on, uh,
Q 13 Studio live, uh, a couple weeks ago.
So I had to get something out on streaming platform.
So anywhere you get music you can find it And uh,
I'm playing shows all around, uh, Puyallup, black Diamond,
Edam Claw, just booking shows.
If you're on a social media, it's a cage cage with a K,
everybody always buzz it with the c, but Cage Dallas Music.
So that's kind of where I keep everyone up
to date on my shows and new music
and still kind of learning the ropes on this,
but I'm, I'm trying to keep everybody up to date that way.
- That's a great reminder for me.
I was trying to look you up on Spotify this morning under
Cage Johnson, which is your name,
cage Dallas is your stage name
and that's where people can find you
on all the streaming services.
Only if your shore is the first single.
Thanks so much for being here today representing our
incredible maintenance and grounds team.
You all keep the facilities
and grounds looking great for our students,
staff, their families.
We appreciate everything that you do
and congratulations on this upward trajectory in music.
And I hope all your resolutions come true
and we see you on the big stage later on this year. Thank
- You so much.
I really appreciate you guys having me today.
- What a great interview and a great way to kick off 2024.
Connor, you've had a little bit of time to think here.
Let's hear finally your New Year's resolution,
- Doug, I've been thinking long and hard
and I have decided my New Year's resolution is going
to be celebrating every obscure holiday.
In fact, did you know that today is both national trivia day
and National Spaghetti Day,
which is why you may have noticed I was eating spaghetti
throughout the entire interview
- .
That actually explains a lot
and I appreciate the bit of trivia on National trivia day.
Now. If you can gimme five bucks,
I'll get started on the Starbucks
- Thing.
Coffee sounds like a good plan.
We will see you next week, everybody.