A Coffee with Josh Classen Chief Meteorologist at CTV Edmonton!

Disclaimer: Our apologies for the audio issues in the first half of the episode. We had some technical difficulties that made Cam sound a bit distant and echo-y, but we promise the second half is worth the wait!

Join us for a coffee with Josh Classen, CTV Edmonton's Chief Meteorologist, for a chat that's anything but predictable. Get to know the man behind the forecast as we explore his incredible life story. 

We'll start with his unique upbringing, from his parents leaving a cult and moving to Fort McMurray to their eventual settling in Lloydminster, where his father invented the now-famous "Deck Clip." Josh takes us through his educational path from NAIT to a specialized meteorology program at Mississippi State University—a course originally designed for military personnel.

This conversation goes well beyond the weather. Josh shares how he ended up in broadcasting, from his early days as a news reporter who wanted to cover sports to becoming the Chief Meteorologist. He also shares fun stories about his work, including his weekly visits to grade five classrooms to teach kids about the weather.

We also get into his personal life. Josh talks about his family, his kids' budding music careers, and his own surprising past as a rapper. You'll hear the full story of his hip-hop origins and a special performance you won't want to miss. Finally, we cover his extensive community involvement, from repelling down the side of a building for charity to touring Stollery Mighty Millions lottery homes.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments and leave us a review!

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Transcript

0:01

I'm Josh Classen and you're listening to Coffee In The Park with your favorite hosts and mine, Cam and Jennifer. What a weekend it was, Cam. Can you believe it? I mean, the weather is beautiful. We're in the fall. I went to the corn maze on the weekend. I heard you got into a little bit of trouble this weekend at the corn maze. I did, because I fed the goats Doritos. Well. When you go to the corn maze, don't feed the goats Doritos. Okay, but I have a question for you. Was there a sign that says, do not feed the goats? Not that I saw, but I wasn't really looking for the sign. And so all I got told was, please don't feed the goats Doritos. You're lucky you didn't get kicked out of the corn maze. Well, I know, and we're having the owners of the corn maze on the podcast. We are, so we can talk to them about that soon. I'll tell you right now, the goat loved the Doritos, man, he was into it. Well, goats eat everything. Don't they, but this goat loved those Doritos. So anyway, yeah, but it's a lot of fun. And you? Well, you know, it was just a busy weekend of catching up, you know, back to school is in full swing. So, crazy. Yeah. If I sound a little funny this morning, it's because when I was shaving this morning, I accidentally shaved my tongue. I'm not kidding. Like, I don't know what happened. I was shaving right on my upper lip and my tongue came out. I don't know why. It just came out and the razor hit it. That is the most random. I feel sore right now. Like, I'm not even kidding. Every time I talk, it's really sore. This is what I deal with on a regular basis, people. Well anyways it is. I'm just saying. If it sounds funny or I'm lisping or something, it's because I shaved my tongue. Anyway, everybody, we want to tell you that we are coming today live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So if you hear any machines whirring in the background, people talking, that kind of stuff, it's because we're in a coffee shop and it's live. You're not hearing this live, but we're recording this live. Cam and I hear that the new fall menu at the Wall Coffee Roasters is going to be released soon. They haven't released it yet. No. It's like top secret CIA stuff, but when it comes out, we'll make sure everybody knows about whatever they're offering, pumpkin spice things. If they offer that, I don't know what they're going to offer. I don't know either. Anyway, yeah, so we're glad we're here today. And Jennifer, we want to tell everybody that this episode of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by Wing Snob. Wing Snob. Wing Snob, one of the best wing places in all of Edmonton. And you're going to love Wing Snob. If you've never been there, they have 16 different flavors of wings. It's amazing. 16 different flavors, four different dry rubs. And Cam, do you know why it's the best? Why? Because it's fresh, never frozen. That's right. It's fresh, never frozen. You can get the traditional wings. You know, somebody asked me when we say traditional wings, what does that mean? Well, that's the bone-in wing. And then you can get the boneless wing. Yes. So either, you can get either of those at Wing Snob. Well, actually, if you want both, you can order the 50-50. That's right. You can have half boneless and half traditional. And Wing Snob is the place to do it. They have amazing food at Wing Snob. Ten locations in the city of Edmonton. Edmonton and surrounding area. That's right. It's expanding. They're growing into Grand Prairie and Calgary and all over the map. And they're just amazing. Wonderful wings, wonderful sauces, wonderful rubs. And you know what? You got to check it out. You do. So to find a snob near you, visit www.wingsnob.ca. That's right. www.wingsnob.ca to find a snob near you. And tonight, if you don't have dinner planned, I suggest go get the party pack at Wing Snob. I agree. Amazing. What's your favorite sauce? Well, I like the dill pickle, but I also like the snobby Q. The snobby Q is amazing. It's really good. And I love the parmesan. Man, I'm telling you. And they're parmesan fries to die for. To die for. So check out a Wing Snob tonight. Near you. And we also need to tell you about some other important people that help us make all of this happen. And it's Mprint. Mprint? Mprint. Make sure you get the M. Mprint. No. Mprint Sign and Print Solutions here in Acheson. They're amazing. They do all your printing. Take care of all your printing needs, your signs, your booklets, your pamphlets, your business cards, anything you need done. They'll do it. They'll even. They'll even wrap. So what does that mean, Cam? They've wrapped boats, they've wrapped helicopters, giant motor homes. I thought when you said wrap, they're like... No, no, wrap W. I've seen them in their bay. I've seen motor homes being wrapped. It's incredible. Jan and Don over at Mprint do amazing work and finds unique solutions to suit what you are looking for. That's right. Anything you need to be printed, Mprint will do it for you. You can check them out at www.mprint.ca for all your printing needs. And they are the preferred printer of Coffee In The Park. That's right. They do our business cards. They do our mugs that we give to our guests. All that kind of stuff. They're amazing people. I love them. Wing Snob and Mprint. Check them out today. They are amazing. We need to introduce our guest. I am so excited today about our guest. Are you ready? Oh, I'm more than ready. I didn't sleep last night. That's how excited I am. No, I'm not even kidding. I just didn't sleep. This is amazing! It was because of the football game. Well that too. So our guest today is Josh Classen, who is the chief, I'm going to say this, meteorologist for CTV. So welcome, Josh. You know how you become a chief meteorologist? No, but I need to know. The TV station has two meteorologists. So you're like the boss. There's number one, number two. There's a morning meteorologist and then there's the afternoon that gets the chief title. Josh Classen is a household name in the city of Edmonton, the province of Alberta, and probably, quite honestly, in Canada, and maybe even around the world, because when people are in Egypt and they want to know what the weather's like in Alberta, they're checking out Josh Classen. Absolutely. So Josh, it's good to have you here. Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me. I want to tell you right off the top, my, she just passed away, but my 92-year-old mother lived by you. She was still driving up to the day she died, and she would always tell me, she would phone me and go, I'm listening to Josh Classen because tomorrow when I go to London Drugs to get my newspaper, I need to know what the weather is like. So thank you for taking care of my mom. I do hear that a lot. I bet you do. So yeah, my regards on her passing, but 92 and still driving, that's a good run. But you are a big part of her life. I just need you to know that. Well, that's good. That's good. That's nice to hear. So good to have you here. So Josh, let's kick it off. I believe I read you grew up in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Is that correct? Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and Alberta. And Alberta. So both. Okay. But okay, I want to know, I've never asked but where is the hospital? The hospital is on the Saskatchewan side. So are you Saskatchewan citizen? I wasn't born in Saskatchewan. Oh, you weren't? Okay. My birth certificate says Vancouver, but I only lived there for like six months. Oh, but you were born in Vancouver. Now, my parents were in a cult and then broke free of the cult shortly after I was born and then moved to Fort McMurray. And we lived there for a little while. And then when I was like three, then we moved to Lloydminster. Okay. Did you see that one coming? I did not! It was a far right, far right Christian, super religious cult. And they got out. They did get out. Yes. So you're not in any way, shape or form. I'm not in a cult. Okay. No, no. Not that we'd stop the interview or anything. No. But that's fascinating. And they left Vancouver and came here. Went to Fort McMurray and then lived there for a while. And then my dad opened up Windsor Plywood in Lloydminster with my uncle. Really? Ran that for years. And then my dad's a fascinating. He should be on podcasts because he is just the most incredible dude he is. He invented a thing called a deck clip that was before its time. And then the guy who built it, the mold for it, went bankrupt. So he lost all of that, but they sold out all of that and then they just couldn't make any more. Now he's a sculptor. He builds giant cement sculptures. And now he's building a house off the grid. Really? So he's in his early 80s. Oh my gosh. He needed a project. And he lives in Alberta somewhere? Lloydminster. So that was what we did as a kid. So that's why I lived on both sides. Is that we would build a house, we'd live in it for three years. As soon as baseboards and stair railings were going on, it was like, all right, we're moving again. So yeah, we lived on both sides, Alberta and Saskatchewan. How long did you live in Lloyd? Until I was 18 and then went to NAIT and then moved back to Lloyd, did my practicum in Lloyd, worked there for a year and a half-ish, two years. Then I went to Saskatoon and worked in Saskatoon for five years, and then I got transferred to Toronto and then here. And so that like two weeks ago was my 22 year anniversary. Wow. 22 years. In Edmonton. Wow. Yeah. So. You look like you're like 19. I know. Doesn't he look amazing? Started when he was like 4, doing the weather or something like that. I'm knocking on 50. So I'll be there in a couple of months. Was all of that weather like, or was it different? Were you DJing? I was a news reporter first in Lloydminster and then hated it. No. Well, I'm not cut out to interview people when bad things happen to them. Yes. So I was lucky enough, I wanted a sports job and the boss there was like, no, you can't have the sports job, but do weather and agriculture. And then I'm like, I don't know anything about weather or agriculture. It was like, it doesn't matter. Nobody knows anything about weather. But agriculture, you're going to have to figure out. What was it about agriculture you have to report? Every day, you had to find stories about... really? Like when elk velvet capsules all of a sudden became a thing. So we did. Yeah. So that was that started right when I was about there. There was a new pea, like a pulse crops factory that opened up east of Lloydminster. So you'd go out and do a story on that. I was horrible at it. Horrible. The woman I replaced, she won awards for her agriculture reporting. We had a half hour show that we had to do every week. A half hour. Agrifax. She would put so much work into this and win awards. I would go out and interview someone for 22 minutes. Then I would just cover it with B-roll. The ratings never went down, but we did not win awards. The farmers were still watching. They were just like, oh my God, why is it? But I really enjoyed doing weather. She didn't like doing weather. She liked the Ag stuff. And then she ended up going to work for Alberta agriculture. So I took her job and started doing weather. And that was pretty cool. Yeah. So you went from Lloyd to Saskatoon. And then while I was in Saskatoon, I thought I should, if I want to pursue this as a career, I should get my meteorology degree. So I went to Mississippi State University because they offer it online. So they set this course up for like military people basically who are overseas and needed their meteorology. And then all of a sudden these TV people started applying. They were like, oh, this is a real market for us. So yeah, like almost everybody that's on TV right now that is a meteorologist went to that course. You have a degree in meteorology. And so how long is that degree? Yeah. If it's online to be a meteorologist. You do three semesters a year for three years. Oh really? Yeah. So you get like two weeks off at Christmas and a week off in the summer time. And you just go, go, go, go, go. So thankfully I was single at the time. Yeah. Like I can't imagine doing it if you had a family. I did not know that. Yeah. So you work, you go to school and try and have a little bit of fun. So you truly are the chief meteorologist. Yeah. You can't say you're an... unless you have the certification. Then you're just the weather dude. You're just the weather dude. But no, Corey is one of the exceptions. So Corey actually went to U of A and took Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, got his meteorology degree that way and then got into TV afterwards. Now I know why my mom will listen. Because you obviously know what you're talking about. Like it's not like just you don't stick your head out the window and go, it's raining today kind of thing. And never wrong Cam. I was going to say how many calls do you get? All I will say is when I, so for a while when Bruce Bowie was still doing the mornings on Ched. So I Replaced, I can't remember who they used to have doing the weather for them. But so we had guaranteed weather. And then when Global bought, Ched, our relationship had to come to an end. But I was undefeated for eight consecutive months. Eight months. We did not hand out a gift card for eight months. And what was it that got you? Was it rain, snow? What was it? No, no, no. I like I ended. Oh, you ended on a winning streak. Yeah. It just never ended. Eight months. That's gotta be a record. That's impressive. Like that's amazing. Well, although, like in the morning, you should be able to know if it's going to be within two degrees of the afternoon. You should be able to. Now, I've read somewhere and those living in Edmonton, they'll know this name. If you've lived in Edmonton where we were four times, you'll know this name that you worked with or studied under Bill Matheson. No, you know what? I met Bill once, but I grew up adoring Bill. He was the man. In fact, you remember his cane. Yes. So when I worked in Lloyd for a while, I tried to adopt the cane and then people were like, that's Bill's thing. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. No, thankfully, and I mean, I didn't wear the red socks like Bill liked to wear, but yeah. He was a legend. Oh my gosh, and how many years did he do the weather? He was a legend again because of the Bill and Bill show, and then he was doing weather at the same time. Right. But now you're a legend because you've been around longer probably than Bill was, I would say, right? Well, 22 years in Edmonton, so I don't know. Yeah, I don't know how long he would have been around, but longest serving at CFRN CTV, for sure. John Barry would have been probably the second longest serving, maybe who was before. Now, were you at CTV when they were CFRN still? Yes, for the first three or four years, and then we transitioned over to CTV. My connection with CFRN is popcorn playhouse. I was on as a kid popcorn playhouse. You're aging yourself, you're doing it again. Muskeg the Moose. Anyway, yeah. Eric Neville. Eric Neville, that's who it was. Yeah. Popcorn playhouse. Then that's when local TV was. Yes. Oh, absolutely. Everybody watched local TV because that's what you had. That and CBC were the only two in Edmonton for the longest time. Then along came ITV and stuff like that. That's right. The new kids on the block. New and hip. Greg Musselman and those guys. Yeah. So anyway. So, wow. Okay. So you came, you were in Saskatoon. Then where did you go? You said Toronto for a bit? Toronto. And how was that? I was with Global in Saskatoon. And they wanted me to do mornings. They were launching a new morning show in Toronto. And I didn't really want to do mornings, but I was like, okay, fine. And my girlfriend, who's now my wife at the time, she was like, you have to, you have to do this. You have to take it. So I got to call it about four in the morning Saskatoon time. Hey, we'd like to offer you the job. Yeah. I said, okay, great. And she said, that's awesome. So we're prepared to offer you $35,000 a year. I said, I make $35,000 a year in Saskatoon. You're going to the biggest market in the country. I'm sorry. I have to. So I turned it. So then she would call back and offer like $5,000 more. So I turned it down three times. Then eventually the senior vice president of news called and he says, sometimes doors open and you walk through and good things happen on the other side. I said, okay, well, I'm done in this company unless I get this job. So they, still wasn't enough to live. I was like, babe, you're going to have to work. Sorry. Both of us are going to have to work. But so we took that and then I hated it. You hated the job or you hated Toronto? You know what? I loved Toronto. Did not enjoy... I've worked for some really, really amazing people. The news director we had there was not great. We would get into fights about... So I talk with my hands. If you have seen any of my weathercasts, you notice I point... I'll go and mentor kids at NAIT, and the instructor always says, no one's allowed to point at the camera except Josh. For whatever reason, it works. It doesn't look intimidating. It doesn't... But please don't copy that. So we would fight. She's like, I'm going to tape your hands to your sides. I'm like, you offered me this job three times. Yeah. And then it would be like, why do you say these things? I'm like, you know how I... Aren't they watching? Yeah, exactly. So... They were trying to change you. Yes. So then you remember Ian Leonard. Yeah. So you remember Michael Kuss. I remember Michael Kuss. Okay. So Michael Kuss was the chief meteorologist at Global in Toronto when I was there. Yeah. Ian Leonard was still here. He left, called Kuss, and I was out for lunch with Kuss that day. And Kuss was like, oh, well, Ian's going to... I guess you're going back to Edmonton now. And so, yeah, I called Ryan Rashog, was the only guy at the station that I knew, because I had worked with Rashog in Saskatoon. And I was like, Rashog, you got to give me an interview. Who's the news director there? And so, yeah, Steve Hogle was the news director. He flew me out and put me up for a couple of nights. The rest is history. That was 22 years ago. Unbelievable. It is. Okay, so you met your wife in Saskatoon? Yes. Yeah, yeah. Did she follow you to Toronto? Yeah thankfully, I would not have gone had she not. She had just gotten into... She was going to go into education, special needs education. So she had just taken some years off and was like bartending and doing whatever, trying to figure out her life. Finally figured out, okay, this is what I want to do. Got accepted. And then she was supposed to start, right? Like in September, but we left July 1st. So she turned her back on all of that. And then the second day we were in Toronto, we were pregnant. So she couldn't even work. So I was like, we gotta move home. So it all, everything, everything worked out perfectly with the job opening here. Yeah, really lucked up. That's awesome. So Josh, you said initially you wanted to do sports casting. Now, why? I think everybody just wanted to. Everybody does. Like, did you play sports growing up? Was that like a big part of your life? And like when I was in grade 12, I would do the announcing for the in-arena for like all my younger brothers, hockey games and everything. And I had enough people come up and they're like, you should you should think about doing this as a career. So I decided I was going to do that and all of my grade 12 teachers were like, you're you're doing what? Yeah, I'm going to go into broadcasting, like you could do anything you want. Why are you going into broadcasting? Listen, all those other things are still going to be there afterwards. I'm going to have fun at NAIT for two years. If I get a job in broadcasting, great. If not, I'll go back to university afterwards. I probably would have been a teacher. But yeah, my whole family are teachers. My mom's a teacher, my dad was a teacher. Now that's a interesting because I know you do a lot of stuff in schools. In schools, yes. You love that. I do. My favorite part of every week is Tuesday mornings in a grade five class. Oh yeah. Although it's... You can say it, Josh. No, the beauty of that is that I am like, like if the teachers are those kids' parents, I'm like their grandparent. I get to come in, I have fun with them for an hour. Right. And then I like hand them back. I don't have to mark any papers. I don't have any of that to deal with. So, but that's probably what I would have done. I think that you go into the classroom and you talk to kids about the weather. I think that's awesome. Better than just reading it out of a textbook, now you have a live meteorologist talking about weather. I mean, the curriculum has changed. Oh, yes. The hour-long presentation used to hit almost everything that was in that curriculum. With the changes, we're trying to tweak it a little bit so it matches a little bit more. But there's some things that I think should have been kept in and some things that. So, was it your idea then to go into the school? Did you pitch that or were you just approached one day and says, hey Josh, you want to come into the schools? In Saskatoon, although in Saskatoon it was great, like they study weather in grade two. It's tough when they're in grade two. Grade two is a lot. Grade five is a great age for it. They don't hate you yet. They're not too cool. But they're smart enough that they can learn things. Yes. Right. So. That's pretty cool. Yeah. We had a little technical difficulty there, a little behind the scenes. Cam's getting a little flustered. Getting a little warm in here. I don't know if I can handle this. Anyway, I. Just blame it on me. It's fine. It's the weatherman's fault. No, no, no, no, no. I'm never going to do that. Although I do have a question about that. What's that? Josh, if you are wrong about the weather, do you hear about it when you're out and about? Like do little old ladies come up to you and... It was a lot worse in Lloydminster. Yeah. But in Lloydminster, I was not a meteorologist. So I was just repeating whatever Environment Canada said. So I was like, it's not my fault. I know it was wrong. Yes, I'm well aware. Now, people just assume you're always wrong. So even when I'm right, people are like, yeah, you totally blew that one. I'm like, yeah. When's the last time you watched the news? They're like, oh, I haven't watched the news in years. I'm like, well, how do you know I was wrong then? Right, exactly. See, that's not fair. But I can see where the people would get mad, it's like they had a wedding, and you said it was going to be sunny and then it poured. Or if you had a soccer game, and you know, but that probably doesn't happen very, very, very often. Okay, well. So listen, it's hard to do pinpoint forecasting like that, right? I know. For one tiny little location. Exactly. Really. I have a weather app on my phone and it's never right. That weather app is absolutely useless. No, we compare weather. We do. Mine will be different than Jennifer's. It's like crazy. Yeah. So there is one app that actually is really, really good. It's the one we used to have. It used to be the backbone of our weather app. You may not be able to download it anymore because people have been telling me they're having issues. Right. But WGN, the Chicago Superstation, their weather app. And I believe that Fox Minneapolis uses the same app. Really? Okay. So the modeling that comes out of that for long range forecasts is superior to the Weather Network and Environment Canada. Environment Canada is really good for like today and tomorrow. Right. But not a week from now. But not a week from now. Well, that one is generally the most accurate I've found. Jennifer and I. I wish we still had one, but we don't. Jennifer and I just bought the farmer's almanac. Oh, yeah. And I don't know. Has it been accurate? I haven't looked at it. You haven't looked at it? You know why? Because the one we have is for 2026. Oh, that's right. It doesn't start till January 1st. So yeah. So but anyway, yeah, that's... Here's my bone to pick with the farmer's almanac. Being an agricultural reporter. If you forecast for a large enough area, it doesn't matter what you say, you're going to be right somewhere. Yeah, true enough. No good point. If I say in Alberta, it will be a warmer and drier summer. Yeah. It's going to be warmer and drier somewhere. So yeah, it's just not right here. Maybe in Edmonton, but nonetheless. So yeah, we use the farmer's almanac, but I don't know if that really works either. So you came to Edmonton. You're the chief meteorologist. How soon till you became the chief meteorologist? Ian was already calling himself chief meteorologist. So I just sort of inherited that. I like that, calling himself the chief meteorologist. Yeah. No, that's good. Okay. You're married. Looks good on a business card. I am married, yes. No, but you, so where, did you get married in Toronto or Edmonton or? Oh, no, no. We were traditional. We had three kids, then got married. Then got married. Okay, perfect. I love that. And you have three kids. How old are your three kids? 21, 19 and 17. Really? Yeah, I can't, I told you I'm old. Josh, I keep looking at you, guy's like. That's amazing. I'm old. And are they, they're all in a school or they're in school or they're. The oldest is making music and doing like beat battles and stuff like that, and just working trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. And then the middle one is at SAIT in digital music production. Okay. And then the youngest is just going into grade 12 right now. So he's plays basketball and makes music too. So where does the music fit in? Like now I heard. It's true. Is it true? It is. I heard. Well, you know RJ. I do. So I know the legend of Jing and Jock. So I hear you have another career as well. Listen, Mprint could probably hire me. I heard they're big in rapping. Yeah. This is it. This is what I'm saying. I heard you're a rapper. Is this true, this rumor? It is true. Wow. I'm sort of semi-retired until RJ pulls me out every now and then to do a song or a show. Do you have an album or? Oh, we, there are many albums. This is so me. There are many, many albums on cassettes and CDs. Okay. But no, digitally. Digitally. The footprint is pretty small digitally. Okay. So would you, now, we're in a coffee shop and there's a lot of people here. And we have had, as one of our guests, we had Broddy Olson. Broddy is the assistant concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. And he brought his violin. Yes. And right here, he played the... do you know where I am going with this? Are you, you're not honestly comparing me to the Symphony Orchestra. No, Josh, my point is, would you be willing to give us a little, a little taste of the Josh rapping, even though we're in the, and don't feel, don't worry about these people. They'll love this. Okay, so go ahead. Well, I heard you beatboxing before, so I don't know if you want to lay track. No, no, no. Okay, all right. Got a lot of personas, hip hop author. The father of three and a degree in weather phenomena. The sky scholar, guy rocking a blue suit and tie on your monitor. The one your grandmama loves. That's awesome. That's right, folks. He'll be here every night this week. Get the veal. Anyway, that's amazing, pal. Okay, but Josh, how did you start? Yeah, like what, yeah. Like what got you into rapping? Public Enemy. Do you remember the group? Yeah, of course I remember Public Enemy. Huge. So I had a buddy when I was growing up and his dad owned the bar. Okay. So the DJ would always give like Fat Boys records to my buddy, Marcus, and then we had run DMC Tougher Than Leather. Yeah. I was like, this is pretty good. I like this. And then I convinced my mom to buy me the cassette of Fear Of A Black Planet, Public Enemy, and that album changed my life. I was like, this is the greatest. And so, yeah, that's all. So then I just would start writing raps. Yeah. I mean, I was always kind of, I would write poetry or short stories and stuff like that. And did you perform? Like, were you, like, performing? Yeah, really. We performed at many talent shows in Lloydminster. And then when I worked in Saskatoon, we would perform once, at least once a month. Really? And then I was in a group with some guys from the States, the Worldwide Wordsmiths. The Worldwide Word, I love that. Did you tour? We did, we did. Did you really. Yes. And so, yeah, one guy, my buddy Derek from Oklahoma and two guys from New York. And then another guy, Shane O from Toronto, who never really did a whole lot. It was sort of just the four of us. But yeah. That's so awesome. I have a box. I should have brought a couple of copies. I've got a box of CDs that I was never able to sell. My kids enjoy having freshly wrapped CDs of their dads. So is this where they got their musicals? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. I would guess that that's. Wow. They want to follow in dad's footsteps. I don't think they want to follow in dad's footsteps. But I do think they think it's kind of cool. It is cool. And I sort of knew how to set up a studio and stuff. So we have a studio in our house. Wow. There is always someone recording something in my. Now, when you go into the schools with the little grade 5ers, do you do a little rap for them, too? No, I mean, after this, you might have to. The word gets out that you're going to have to. Once in a while the word will get out. But yeah, no, we just keep it strictly professional. With the grade 5s. We only sell tickets to the. No, just kidding. Wow, that is so cool. Have you ever done it on air? Like have you ever? No, no. Have you ever seen? There's some guys in the States that like rap the weather. Have you ever seen this? No, I've never seen that really. I gotta go check this out now. It's terrible. Is it terrible? I know that I could do a better job of it, but it's not. It's too cheesy. Yeah, don't. I hear you. I like, I really, really enjoy my job. Yeah, and I love rap. Yeah, and those two should not. Not mix. No. Yeah. That's cool. I can respect that. Okay, I have another question. Okay. This is taking me down the road. There are things that have been in this pod. That've blown me away already. I know. This is incredible. The cult. Yeah. Right. My eyes are still spinning on that one a little bit. But anyway, yeah, okay. So we talked about Public Enemy. You talked about Run DMC. What are your thoughts today on rap versus the rap from then? There's some really good new rappers. I mean, it's always kind of changing. It's the guys that listen to Kool Moe Dee and Rakim. Probably didn't love Busta Rhymes and, you know, The Far Side. So yeah, I mean, I'm not, I don't love it. I don't listen to a lot of it, but it's fine. I think that's what my kids listen to, is that sing songy and I'm like, it got a bit of a bad rap at one point in time. Hey, I didn't even know I was gonna say that. But it really did, didn't it? There was a point in time where rap music got a bad rap because of stuff that was going on. But it was, so I'll tell you, so many years ago, back in the early 80s. You mean back when they were like steamroll and when Tipper Gore was steamrolling. They were burning albums, remember, in the field? So I'll tell you, so many years ago, I worked for an organization and I worked in the ghettos of New York. Yeah. I would spend time in the ghettos of New York way back in the early 80s. Right. That's before it had been, Giuliani came in and cleaned things up. Yes, that's right. So we were in the ghettos, we worked in the ghettos, that's where I spent. That's how those guys, I remember standing on the street corner and they're rapping to each other. Yeah. And nobody really knew what this was yet. And these guys are rapping to each other. And I'm like, this is fascinating. And I had no idea it would become sort of a phenomenon. Global phenomenon. Yeah. But that's where I first heard it, which was really cool. And they were amazing. Like they were just street guys who were just like, you know, I'm like, whoa. And also breakdancing. That's where I first saw breakdance on the cement, on their heads on the cement. None of this, mats with a helmet on crap. I hate stuff. It was just that's what it was. It was amazing. Anyway off topic. Yeah. And now it's in the Olympics. Now it's in the Olympics. Not rapping, the breakdancing. Yeah, rapping will be the next thing in the Olympics. This is all, there already is the Rap Olympics. Josh, this has been absolutely amazing. I'm just, I'm in awe of all of it. This is so cool. So, so, so the other thing we know that you do, and I think it's fabulous, you're really involved in the community. You love giving back to the community. Tell us a little about that, like, you're... I mean, I think it was sort of drilled into me early in my career. That's, yeah, you give back as much as you can. And my parents are kind of like that. I was sort of raised that way. Anyway, so, yeah, I'm involved with, I feel bad that I don't have like one charity, but it's, it would be hard to devote that much time to just one, at the exclusion of everything else, right? So like I get to repel down the side of a building for Wellspring on Friday, and then I'm hosting all day for them on Saturday. They're big fundraisers. What building are you going to repel down? The Sandman Downtown. The Sandman Downtown. All right, if you're in Edmonton, when do we release this? Be live? We'll release after that that's happened. Yeah, so yeah. Well, by then people will have seen it. We're going to do it live during the news on Friday. Fabulous. Yes, I mean, there's a million really good causes in the city. I remember one segment you did, actually. You would walk through the show home. And we still do that. I remember one year, and maybe it's more than one, but I saw the one where you took your kids with you through the show home. That was hilarious. So for years, we would do, every time the Stollery Mighty Millions Lottery House was out, I would go shoot a video with my kids. We'd run around the house. My kids, about ten years, five years ago, my kids stopped getting cute. Yeah. They were awkward teenagers. And so the producers were like, maybe don't bring them. I think that might have been one of them as it was coming to the end, because one of your sons did not look happy about being there. Oh no, that would have been prior. He was never happy to be there at any point in time. One of them, I think, was in the bathtub or something, or you were in the bathtub or something. Yeah, that just went. We had so much fun with those. So good. Now they get to have me sleep in the house. I spend a night in one of the houses. Oh, really? So yeah, we do lots with all of those. That'd be kind of cool. You can have like a party or something in the house. It's generally just me and the security guard hanging out. Why are all those cars parked out in front of the lottery home? Yeah, that's right. We're just breaking it in. Yeah, that's right. Just making sure it's working. Well, that's cool. Yeah, it's good. I think if you have the ability to give back and to help, you should. So I have the ability and the time. So you do a great job of it. Well, this has been amazing. I could go on forever. I've learned so many things today. Just blowing me away. Cam's just in awe. I'm totally in awe. I always was a fan. Now I'm just a massive fan. Anyway, this has been fantastic. It has. Josh, we have one final question that we ask. All our guests. So what is the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? Oh, my. Okay, I'm going to bring this back to my dad. So I won't tell you the backstory, but his piece of advice was, this is not the first time it's happened. It's not the last time it's happened, but it should be the last time it happens to you. Oh, that's classic. That is parenting advice right there. That is classic. Wow, I love that. I've dropped that on my kids a couple of times. The fact I've had to use it multiple times means maybe it didn't affect them as much as it affected me, but yeah. That is, that's classic. That is really amazing. You are an amazing guy. We're fortunate in the city of Edmonton to have you, I think. I mean that because just by watching you and hearing stories and the things you do now after today, I'm like, you're like an icon. You're like a legend here. That's fantastic. I hope you never leave. I hope no big station calls you in like Miami or something and come down and do Miami. There will be no offer that will be better than what I have here. There have been opportunities over the years and nothing is better than what I have here. People in Edmonton are fantastic. They've treated me well. So yeah, my career will end here. You know, whether it's of my own volition or not. But you got a career to fall back on. Sure. You always need rappers. Like seriously. Yeah, exactly. And so I just think and you know, and I say this sincerely because I think media personalities in any city and in ours and we've interviewed a couple of them and we're very fortunate. I just find that that they're amazing people who want to not only give back, but do care about this city, do love this city and are ingrained in this city. And it's not just some passing fad or this is where I live or you know. And it's something about this city. Yeah, it is, isn't it? Yeah. Okay. I don't know that that's the case in a lot of other cities. I'm probably wrong. It probably is. But you think about the personalities that this city has had. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So, yeah. I mean, in every aspect, whether it's entertainment, sports, whatever it is. I mean, it's just, you know, and even the entertainment side of things, music and movie and film industry and all of those kinds of things, television, all of that radio. We've had some amazing, amazing people. And they all come back and they all live here. Yeah. And they want to live here even in their retirement. Many of them want to come back and endure the minus 30. Well, they're probably down in the... No, no, no. Coming from a meteorologist. It's fine. It's a dry cold. I was going to get into the whole climate change thing. That's a whole other podcast. We don't. Bring me back for that one. Yeah we'll bring you back for that one. I don't need people at the door. Anyway, we won't go into that. It's like, this has been great. It's been great. Fantastic. Hey, everybody. Just again, want to remind you about Wing Snob. Great place to have wings. www.wingsnob.ca, Mprint sign and Print Solutions, if you need something printed, www.mprint.ca, and we want to tell you about our new website for Coffee In The Park, www.coffeeinthepark.ca, and no,. com. That's right,. com. Read the script, Cam. Read the script. I vowed today, because I struggled in the last podcast. We did struggle in the last podcast. www.coffeeinthepark.com, dot.com,. com. Oh, man, am I going to hear about it after this? Anyways, listen, make sure you tell somebody about the podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your coworkers, tell your enemies. If you don't have a friend, go and make one just so you could tell them about the podcast. And this has been absolutely fantastic. Josh, I'm just honored. We're honored that you would take time out to do this today. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. No, thanks for inviting me. It was great. Yeah. Thanks everybody. We'll see you next time. See you next week.