Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 233: Ercole Chila
Release Date: 10/17/2023
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 262: Drew Davis, Brad Cox
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
The 6th annual KCBS World Invitational was held over Memorial Day Weekend in Lebanon, Tenn., and on Episode 262 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast we talk it over with both of the big winners. Drew Davis of Razorracks BBQ out of Pleasant Plains, Ark., has won 28 KCBS Grand Championships during his career. But Drew and wife Chelsey picked up their biggest title when Razorracks scored a 708.548 to top the 81-team World Invitational. Razorracks also was a solid third in the Open the day before and Drew discusses the weekend, what it’s like being a “canopy cooker” dealing with the elements and...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 261: Barking Dog BBQ
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
We’re all about celebrating the iconic BBQ teams on the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, but we also love to shine the spotlight on those up-and-coming teams who achieve big things. This week on Episode 261, we focus on Barking Dog BBQ out of Kansas City, a team of childhood friends Dave Lillis, Kevin Bunting and Brian Tuttle. Barking Dog BBQ (we explore the origin and meaning of that unique team name) just won its first career KCBS Grand Championship and we talk the guys about their love of BBQ and how they’ve been able to take it to a championship level. We also talk Memorial Day Weekend...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 260: Kyle Matuszewski; Brad Colter, Breana Via
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Episode 260 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast takes us to the Phoenix area to visit with Kyle Matuszewski, owner-operator of Your Behind BBQ restaurant in Florence. Kyle is a long-time competitor on the Steak Cookoff Association and KCBS trails and he’s parlayed that success into a red-hot start in the restaurant business. Kyle breaks down his story which includes how a restaurant owner deals with his first 1-star Yelp review. Brad Colter and Breana Via from Smoke N Magic BBQ stop by for their weekly segment, reviewing their recent trip down under to participate in Meatstock Sydney....
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 259: Chris Schafer, Richard Fergola
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
When we’re asked about BBQ restaurant recommendations in the St. Louis area, Heavy Smoke BBQ always is at the top of our list. On Episode 259 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with Chris Schafer, the owner-operator of Heavy Smoke BBQ about the constantly overlapping thrills and challenges of the restaurant industry. Chris also is one of the world’s top competition pitmasters, a past Grand Champion at both the Jack Daniels World BBQ Invitational and KCBS Invitational World Championship. Heavy Smoke is No. 2 in the KCBS Team of the Year standings in 2024 and we ask Chris...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Epsiode 258: Brad Leighninger
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
One of the greatest to light a pit - and a great friend of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show since the beginning on local, low-powered radio - joins us for an extended conversation on Episode 258. Brad Leighninger just passed the 11-year anniversary of his first BBQ Grand Championship. Now, 70 GCs later, Gettin’ Basted is a three-time KCBS Team of the Year, a Jack Daniels World BBQ Invitational Grand Champion, Brad is a part of the Blues Hog 2022 Memphis in May World Champion. He’s also co-owner of four restaurants in the southwest Missouri area including a couple of new ones in the tourist-mecca...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 257: Eric Coley
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
On Episode 257 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with one of world’s hottest pitmasters. Eric Coley from Alabama’s Poppa Pig BBQ is leading the KCBS Team of the Year standings with three Grand Championships and seven top-10 finishes in eight 2024 competitions. It’s a start that’s signaled a breakthrough after Eric went through a two-year stretch of top-10 finishes without nailing the GC. What has changed? Eric talks about that, plus his career in competition BBQ and how a DQ after missing turn-in with some of the best brisket he ever cooked was a big turning point. In...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 256: Jon Wade of Optimus Swine BBQ
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Jon and Jason Wade of Optimus Swine BBQ out of Williamsburg, Virginia have one of the hottest competition BBQ teams around. Since moving into the KCBS Master’s division a couple of years ago, the Wades have seven Grand Championships and seven RGCs in 63 competitions. They also own and operate two BBQ restaurants in the Williamsburg area, Two Drummers Smokehouse and 2 Drummers Butchery and BBQ Provisions. On Episode 256 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we talk it over with Jon Wade about the team’s success in both aspects of BBQ and about the crossover of restaurants and competition...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 255: Burnt Trees BBQ, Richard Fergola
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Based in north central North Dakota, Burnt Trees BBQ has a long haul no matter where it goes for a competition. But the husband-wife team of Nick and Shannon Holman is almost always a contender when it arrives, with its 2024 debut proving the point. Burnt Trees BBQ captured the 97-team Smoke in the Spring in Osage City, Kansas, topping the 700-point mark for the first time. On Episode 255 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we visit with Nick and Shannon about their shared BBQ passion and the challenges of being a northern-based competition team. We also check in with Richard Fergola from...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 254: Leonard Aberman, Jeff Cohen from Baseball & BBQ
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
There are dozens of options available these days for BBQ-themed podcasts, unlike just a few years ago when the options were relatively limited. One of the longest-running shows is Baseball and BBQ, with co-hosts Leonard Aberman and Jeff Cohen. Combining two of America’s favorite past times, Leonard and Jeff have found a sweet spot with engaging guests who speak with knowledge to baseball, BBQ or both. Now in season seven, we caught up with Len and Jeff as the Major League Baseball season gets underway and, even as their beloved New York Mets struggle, it’s always a good time when we talk...
info_outline
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 253: Sean Ludwig & Ryan Cooper
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Welcome to Episode 253 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, where we’re joined by the founders of America’s foremost weekly digital news authority on live-fire cooking. It’s been a while since we visited with Ryan Cooper and Sean Ludwig from The Smoke Sheet. Their weekly newsletter that arrives in subscribers’ in-boxes each Wednesday and Friday with a variety of content including BBQ trends, restaurant features, product news and recipes. On our extended conversation, Ryan and Sean tell us about a recent excursion to the Carolinas where they experienced old-school and new-school BBQ...
info_outlineOne year after winning KCBS Team of the Year honors for the first time, Ercole Chila and Uncle Pig’s Barbecue Pit has brought home a Jack Daniels World BBQ Invitational championship home to New Jersey. Ercole joins us on Episode 233 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast to describe the tension and eventual elation upon learning that his team had captured one of the most-prestigious prizes on competition BBQ. We also review what’s been another outstanding season for Uncle Pig’s and what’s ahead.
Co-hosts Steve and Lyndal also talk about the demise of our hometown KCBS event, the $20,000 Ozarks BBQ Fest. It’s where we got our competition BBQ start in 2015 as “Dr. L and the Meatheads,” where we took our lumps for several years and where we eventually got our first KCBS 180 and 700 pins - and nearly our first Grand Championship earlier this year. Turns out that’s the last time for the event, which began a quarter-century ago under the Memphis BBQ Network banner. Summed up: It’s another sad day as a great contest bites the dust, but not uncommon in today’s world of shrinking quality contests.
Meanwhile, we still await KCBS CEO Rod Gray to do a special-edition show with us to discuss what went wrong at the American Royal World Series of BBQ Open results. The BBQ world wants transparency and Rod has said he will give it, when he’s fully researched the situation. So stay tuned.
Thanks to all our sponsors and marketing partners for making the show possible:
Blues Hog #blueshognation
Royal Oak Charcoal #teamroyaloak2023
The Butcher Shoppe #alwayshandpicked
Clark Crew BBQ #clarkcrew
Proud Souls BBQ Kansas City #proudsoulsbbqkc #kingdomofq
The Grill Guys of Missouri
Allquedup #arkassippicombo
Vietti Marketing Group #marketing
Marty "Real Sign Man" Prather #pizza
Have a great BBQ week and thanks for listening! #SmokeEmIfYouGotEm