South of Scruffy with Ben Fields

Amy Leigh Hubbard has been creating for the stage and screen for as long as she can remember. After starting The Actor's Co-op theatre company, and producing for East Tennessee PBS, Amy's acting chops lead her to the big screen at Sundance Film Festival. After seeing a path forward in the film and television world, Amy then went on to produce and direct feature films and television programming.

Sarrenna and Adam McNulty make up the Cowboy Folk duo Guy Marshall. Sarrenna and Adam graced the shop for a chat about their rapid rise to prominence, kitchen tatoos, and how a pop music and hip-hop-loving couple found a home in a country-esque genre. Sarrenna and Adam hung around and played a few songs after the interview. You can find video of this episode on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/chan...

In a world where we are bombarded with information from media outlets, Hunter Stensrud believes that uplifting stories need to be a big part of our daily media diet. That's why he started "Inspire More", a leading internet media company that specializes in spreading and creating content that makes you smile. Hunter stops by the shop to give a rundown on how and why his team has been able to turn I...

When Tyler Larrabee started organizing and promoting music festivals as a high schooler, he didn't quite know what he was getting himself into. With the help of some mentors and people who believed in him, Tyler has become an important player in the concert promotion scene. New Ground Festival takes place Sunday, September 12, 2021.

Jess Maples is an award winning multi-discipline stills photographer based in Tennessee. Jess' bold and timeless verité style has sent her across the globe, camera in hand, for the past decade. Documenting everything from life on the streets of New York City, to humanitarian crises in Africa, Jess' work tells succint human stories, via an aesthetic that is deeply unique to her.

Rusty comes back to the shop to spill the beans on Blank News' pandemic survival while giving a sneak preview into this year's Second Bell Festival. Rusty also brings some good news about SOS podcast.

It would be impossible, nay, irresponsible, to try to tell the history of Knoxville's music scene without mentioning the name Todd Steed. As a Knoxville native, Todd has, at the very least, closely witnessed Knoxville's musical growth over the past 40 years; but he has also been a crucial and active participant in that growth in a big way. Todd and Ben cover some ground on Todd's musical past, whi...

After spending the better part of a decade working for Shell Oil in the Middle East, Matt relocated from Dubai to Montana to start his company Visitor.us. While able to read, speak, and write in Arabic, Matt's problematic experiences traveling abroad in Iraq, India and Europe inspired him to start Visitor.us. Visitor.us helps foreign nationals solve the problems associated with relocating to, and...

Ben Hubbard has spent his career creating some of the most disruptive and outlandish marketing campaigns for brands all over America. It's no mystery to Mr. Hubbard that the chip on his shoulder that pushes him is not about to go away. Ben Hubbard recounts what it's like to be a teenage parent of interracial children in rural Appalachia, and how the remnant voices of the naysayers still drive his...

After founding multiple bands in Tennessee, Jonathan Keeney went on the road as a member of The War and Treaty, The Black Lillies, and Lee Ann Womack's band. Jonathan stopped by the shop to give a window on his past tours and his post Covid music plans.

Kelsi Walker's music is a service to it's listener. After starting her career entertaining large crowds of listeners in a faith based environment, Kelsi started writing music for her. It wasn't an easy transition, but Kelsi has found her voice, and created music that invites listeners to get as involved as they want to. Kelsi and Ben dig into the intangible qualities that make her music and perfor...

It was a circuitous, yet methodical journey that molded Kristin Majni into the production prodigy she became. Along with some tough lessons quickly learned, Kristin credits her pragmatic, empathetic approach to production with enabling her to be an effective leader at a relatively young age. Kristin and Ben dig into that journey while sharing their prospectives on their parallel transit through th...

Growing up, there was no question what career Justin Cipriani wanted to pursue. He wanted to be behind a camera, and nothing was going to stop him. Justin has spent the last decade lensing stunning commercial work while also amassing a long list of DP credits at some of the US's largest music festivals.

Maggie Sharbel always wanted to tell stories - and the darker the better. Sprung from a love for documentary film making, and secret love of horror films, Maggie launched a successful career producing true-crime cable television shows like Killer Couples, and Snapped.

Zack Roskop brings his producer Cam Molidor by the shop to talk film making and craft beer. You can find their show Knox Brew Radio on Channel Z radio nad Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCirfd_CGzLJeexAcgHhTllQ https://www.knoxbrewstories.com/radio

Ty Murray from Temp Job came by the shop to recount parts of her journey through the music industry. A self-described introverted extrovert, Ty has spent meaningful time on both sides of the microphone; booking bands for national tours with half of her time, and fronting the new-age funk outfit "Temp Job" with the other half. This episode is also available on Youtube.

In the first ever SOS doubleheader, Jade Adams and Brandon Bruce darken the door of the shop (separately), to give the current state of their entrepreneurship journeys. Brandon Bruce parlayed a law degree, a passion for disruption, and a penchant to serve - into the innovative tech product, Cirrus Insight. Now Brandon spends many of his days giving his time and resources to 501c3 non-profits and m...

Will and Ben dig into the Will's career as an MMA fighter, bar owner, and touring musician. Will and Ben discuss a theory on the great population migration from west coast cities, and what it means for Nashville and Knoxville.

Adeem the Artist talks Ben through the trials and triumphs of identifying as a non-binary person in the country music industry. Adeem's new album "Cast Iron PanSexual" is now available on Spotify. DL4CaMxOg6hmLae5VEFj

Bladesmith to the stars John Phillips brought a load of his handcrafted knives to the shop. John talks Ben through how he turned a passion for working with metals, into a career of hand crafting knives and edge tools for some of the best chefs in the world. After becoming a champion on History Channel's show "Forged in Fire", and having his knives featured in a NYT best selling cook book, John's k...

The creators of the T.V. series "The Witch and the Warden" graced the shop for a rundown on their new genre bending T.V. series. After Kristian Nairn's involvement (Hodor, Game of Thrones) was speedbumped by Covid, the life-cycle of the series took some perfectly unexpected turns. (Zachary Starnes-EP; Teague Quillen-Creator/Writer; Josh Holley-Male Lead)

Nearing the 10th birthday of his company, Loch and Key Productions, Andy came by the shop to give Ben a status update on pandemic era video production. From humble, bootstrap beginnings, to creating large packages of video content for music festivals like Bonnaroo, Andy recounts the steps he and his partner took to make Loch and Key one of the most prolific production companies in the southeast.

While spending his life as a serial outdoor adventurer (both by foot and by wheel), Mitchell Connell has devoted his life to getting more people on bicycles. Mitchell's new non-profit "Two Bikes", does that twice every time they sell a bicycle. For every bicycle they sell, they donate one to a non-profit or person in need. But there's lots more to it...Check out www.twobikes.org to get the scoop.

Kent Takano recounts the ups and downs of his trip up the ladder of cable of television, while contextualizing for Ben the swell in racism that Asian-Americans have been feeling since the start of the pandemic.

Chelsea Berry comes by the shop to catch us up on her blossoming recording career. Chelsea lays out how she transitioned from being terrified to perform in front of crowds, to performing in theatres full of adoring fans.