Professional Athlete Turned Sold Out Festival Creator - Johnny Shockey's Fascinating Journey.

SUMMARY

Johnny Shockey is an interesting individual with an interesting life. He grew up in a small town in southern Alberta, and his dad told him at a young age that sports would be his out. He ended up becoming a professional hockey player before leaving the sport and becoming one of the most well-known festival creators in the live entertainment business.

Johnny came to the US from Canada with only $40 in his pocket and eventually, his coach gave him $500 to buy food and clothes. The conversation centers around work ethic and the importance of instilling good characteristics and habits in children, his club, restaurant, and festival career, including the enormously successful Crssd Fest and Under the Big Sky Country Music Festival and Rodeo which he hosts on his 350-acre ranch in Whitefish Montana annually.

From scrappy and broke kid from Canada to night club owner and music festival success story, raising kids with grit, and cattle ranch talk about Wagyu beef, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00:00 Introducing Johnny Shockey

0:02:11 Johnny’s Journey from Canada to the US with $40

0:03:48 Appreciating Humble Beginnings and Creating Character

0:06:20 The Role of Work Ethic and Fighting in Professional Hockey

0:08:20 Reflections on Hockey and Life Experiences

0:10:00 Exploring the Rise of Electronic Music

0:13:00 From San Diego Nightlife to Producing Cross Fest and Under the Big Sky Festivals

0:17:31 Creating a Music Festival in a Small Town

0:20:20 Conversation on Wagyu Cattle and Ranching in Montana

0:22:17 Snake River Farms on Wagyu Beef and Craft Meats

0:26:18 Exploring the Intimacy of Tattooing and Music

0:30:55 Designing a Tattoo to Remember a Pivotal Project

0:32:47 Appreciation for Attention to Detail in Event Curating

0:34:00 Creative Thinking and Upcoming Events

Quotes:

You're pretty artistic when it comes to how you curate your environments, your restaurants, your clubs, and your music events. The detail that you put into them is pretty bitchin.

After 30 years of tattooing, I look back, on all of it, and the thing I'm most satisfied by and proud of is the friendships that were made, my best friends, real people I care about, who I know a lot about.

Craft meats are a real thing nowadays. Just like wines are just like even cheese down to different things that people are really passionate about. So it's how it's curated, how it's grown, how the story behind it. I think the day I was driving by the grocery store and it said, grass-fed wagyu for sale. And I was laughing to myself. I'm like, well, most I think all wagyu is grass-fed. That's fine.

If you want to go to an amazing venue to see music that has to be right up there with, like, red rock and some of these really famous venues that you created a new one that's brand new, that a lot of people had never been to. And it's gorgeous and it's cool. So congratulations to you on that.

Check out Johnny’s Festivals:

CRSSD Fest: ⁠https://www.crssdfest.com/⁠

Under The Big Sky: ⁠https://www.underthebigskyfest.com/⁠