The Coronavirus or Corvid-19 is disrupting everything including both the cannabis and music industries. Jim Marty and Larry Mishkin provide a valuable and timely update on the impact that the virus is having on cannabis businesses and the surprising accommodations that many state governments are extending. Larry gives a review of the Allman Brothers 50th Anniversary Concert, the last pre-corona concert at Madison Square Garden. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin https://podconx.com/guests/jim-marty https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt
The Coronavirus or Corvid-19 is disrupting everything including both the cannabis and music industries. Jim Marty and Larry Mishkin provide a valuable and timely update on the impact that the virus is having on cannabis businesses and the surprising accommodations that many state governments are extending. Larry gives a review of the Allman Brothers 50th Anniversary Concert, the last pre-corona concert at Madison Square Garden.
https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin
https://podconx.com/guests/jim-marty
https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt
Jim Marty: [00:00:36] Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Deadhead Cannabis show. This is Jim Marty in home self-quarantine here in Boulder County, Colorado. I have my partner Larry Mishkin up in Chicago. How you doing, Larry? Jim I'm doing just fine.
Larry Mishkin: [00:00:52] I too am in from foreign to here, but I will say that if I have to be self home quarantine feeling your burden would not be a bad place to be.
Jim Marty: [00:01:01] Well, yes, I'm enjoying my home more than I have probably in a long time. Wonderful. A very busy schedule, but probably much like you despite the Corona virus crisis. I've been very, very busy with my clients talking to our Bridge West clients around the country. And I know you're still in the midst of license applications there. So, Larry, you and I are fortunate that we can at least have work to do here while we're self-quarantine.
Larry Mishkin: [00:01:32] I completely agree. And yeah, I mean, it really makes a big difference to be stuck at home, but certainly with all of this application work going on. I'm as busy as I ever was. And I'm very thankful for that right now. There's no doubt about it, because it's not the kind of scary otherwise. I agree.
Jim Marty: [00:01:49] Yes. We're fortunate that we can work from home while many other people's jobs do not permit them to work from home. So but I've been on the phone all week with bridge less clients around the country. And in spite of the self-quarantine and the shutdown of so many businesses, the Cannabis, this industry is very busy. Our retail shops are have wine, some of them around the block. Record sales as people stock up. So far, there's been no mandatory shutdown of Cannabis shops. Certainly you can't do that on the medical side as patients need their medicine, but also an adult use.
Jim Marty: [00:02:31] So many people feel adult, all adult use in some Web.com medicinal. So what I've been encouraging my clients to do is to make sure their lines and supplier are strong for the next three or four weeks. So the cultivators, like farmers, are still in their cultivation facilities, working hard, practicing self distancing, wearing gloves and masks while they keep the growing plants alive and ready for harvest.
Larry Mishkin: [00:02:58] Well, you know, that's that's one of the great things about Cannabis tumors. You know, people always joke that alcohol is recession proof. I think you could say the same thing about Cannabis. People who are going to be locked in their homes for long periods of time certainly were stocking up. We're seeing that happening here in Illinois, which is a little more complicated because we're still in the very early stages of adult use and we haven't quite gotten our supply lines up to where we would like them to be. And that's created of a bit of a rush of the don't use dispensaries. However, we were all handed a very nice surprise the other day without any prior warning or notice it was going to happen. Governor Pritzker's signed emergency legislation that allows the medical dispensaries, which you were just talking about. He recognizes the need for medical patients to be able to get their medical cannabis. And so he has signed the bill that will now allow medical care. The stores can make curbside sales. You can call in place your order, pull up in front of the dispensary. You don't have to get out of your car. They come outside. They're being given permission to bring the Cannabis outside, hand it to you, and then, you know, you've completed the sale. And I think they said they have to have a security guard out there with them. But this is huge because a lot of people were very, very concerned that there might be a mandatory shutdown of the medical dispensaries. And then what would happen to the patients. So it's really hard for us to believe here in Illinois that within the span of a year we've gone from being kind of the desert of the cannabis world to, you know, right in the middle of it. And everything's coming up right now.
Jim Marty: [00:04:28] That is really good news. They have not done that here in Colorado. And there is no mandatory shutdown of the cannabis industry here in Colorado. So they are still open. And although I have to say, some of our clients have voluntarily shut down just because they didn't want to expose their employees to the virus played in by people coming in to buy Cannabis. So that's what's going on here. I actually penned an e-mail to our governor, Governor Polis, yesterday. I have a good relationship with and, you know, asking him not to take any further action to limit the hours or shut down the open Cannabis shops. One of the points I made is right now the cannabis industry is one of the very few industries that is putting money into government coffers. Here in Colorado, we don't tax food. So in spite of the spike in grocery sales, there's no increase in revenue while there is on the Cannabis side. So anyway, that's what's going on here in various parts of the country. No, we don't have very much music to talk about. But I believe that you wanted to attend but could not attend the last show for a while at Madison Square Garden. A reunion of sorts for the Allman Brothers.
Larry Mishkin: [00:05:51] That's correct. The Allman Brothers to their 50th anniversary show in New York on March 10th. I want to say and I had plans to go out there with a couple of my good buddies, Alex, San Francisco and Mike from Minnesota were all regulars on the concert scene together. We had our tickets. We had LAPD set up in the city and we were all ready to go. And as the day grew closer, I realized that it probably wasn't good to be able to make it both because of the workload for the applications that they appoint. The application deadline was March 16th that had been pushed out yet. So I still had a scramble to get that done. Quite quite frankly, by that points already on my wife as a nurse and the medical professional and we were already looking at the potential risks of doing something like that. So I bowed out. Unfortunately for me, my friends who went to had a marvelous time and the review of the show was outstanding. They played for over four hours. Madison Square Garden was packed to the rafters and any came to get Derek Trucks and Ward Haynes up on stage together, especially with the signed books like The Old. You know, it's going to be a special night when I'll kill Burberry there on base. And really the whole crew and my buddies just raved about it for hours and stand up, put stomp in music. You know, if if this was the way to go out, by God, they were going out with a big party. And in fact, it was because immediately after that, New York City closed down Madison Square heart and all of their other venues. And that was really the last opportunity to see life music there maybe be for a while. But I would strongly recommend people who are all but brothers fans to head over to YouTube or anywhere else, read it and listen to some of those songs that they play because it really was done as magnificently as you would have expected it.
Larry Mishkin: [00:07:42] Well, that's great. So, Jim, in addition to the is one of the things we could talk about since MSJ closed down right after they were done is we had Phil's birthday and Phil Weiss turned 80 years old. And before we say anything else, I think we all have to stop and take hold of the facts. How amazing this is that a gentleman who's 80 years old is up on stage playing three hour concerts, teams like night after night. I don't know about you, Jim, but when I was growing up, my grandparents made it out of their 70s and they always seem to be very, very old people. I could not imagine my grandfather up on stage playing bass guitar for three hours. The way still goes. It's just nothing short of a miracle.
Jim Marty: [00:08:24] We're very lucky to have Phil and one happy birthday to him. As the historians say, he's been granted length of years in spite of having a liver transplant back in his 50s. I believe it was so very fortunate to have Phil at all. And I understand him taking extra precaution because people who have organ transplants tend to have a weakened immune system. So we want Phil to take care of himself and we'll see him back on stage. I hope he comes to Red Rocks this late spring or early summer like he usually does with his Phil Lesh and friends.
Jim Marty: [00:09:04] And we'll see him up at Red Rocks shortly, is what I'm hope. Yeah, that would be good. Bob also has been in the news, too, Larry.
Larry Mishkin: [00:09:12] You're absolutely right about that. He was going to be touring with Wolfe Brothers again. I guess he toured with them about a year ago and they had show scheduled here in Chicago. They had a show scheduled in my hometown of St. Louis for a bunch of my friends were going to. And unfortunately, Bob had to cancel that show. But again, I think that, you know, we have to look at it from the positive aspect that, you know. It's hard to tell. That has to stay home and stay self isolated with anybody that is playing in their neighborhood. So, you know, the fact that Bobby was able to come in and say, you know what, guys, maybe not this time, let's all get better, while disappointing is probably the right thing to do at this point, it does seem that way.
Jim Marty: [00:09:51] You know that other government, federal and local, are recommending not gathering in groups of more than five or 10. One thing we know about this virus is it's very, very contagious, very much.
Larry Mishkin: [00:10:04] And you're absolutely right. You know, we have to stop and think about it, you know, especially with salt turning 80. But Bobby's in his late 60s, early 70s. So both of them are, you know, within that age group. It has been quite a very birdsill about unnecessary exposure. And, you know, at the end of the day, as disappointing as it might be to miss out on their performance. Now, I'm. What's more thrilled at the prospect of having them around just like it to the future as possible?
Larry Mishkin: [00:10:30] Yes, you bet. So. Well, you know, if it stops the music. But, you know. Right, because we have it. That's. Says the music never stops. But now I'll find a way to go. Yes, they certainly will.
Dan Humiston: [00:10:44] Want to take a quick break to thank you for listening to today's show and to invite you to listen to all the other great MJ plays Cannabis podcast like Raising Cannabis Capital the show which features Cannabis entreprenuers that are raising money to expand their organization. Tune in each week on Thursdays and Sundays to hear founders of awesome Cannabis companies talking about their business and their fundraising plans. Who knows? Maybe you'll discover the future Amazon or Apple of Cannabis on the Raising Cannabis Capital podcast.
Jim Marty: [00:11:17] Then I got another little bit of disappointing news just today, that Jazz Fest has now been canceled.
Larry Mishkin: [00:11:25] So, yeah, I heard that. And I know you were planning on going down there. So very sorry about that.
Jim Marty: [00:11:31] Yeah, we had already bought our tickets. That was going to be our next vacation. So, you know, that's too bad. Anyway, it did seem there's some hope on the horizon that there's some VIP, some medical treatments for the virus. So, yeah, hopefully we'll come out of this sooner rather than later.
Larry Mishkin: [00:11:48] Well, I think that that's only, you know, attitude, which you really have about it. Right. We've got to try to stay positive. But you know what? In the meantime, you know, you and I and presumably many of our listeners have both the beauty of Cannabis or is it to fall back on to help throw up some of that space and they'll keep spirits up and moving and, you know, we'll see where it all goes. You know, you think that I deal with people are already talking about whether or not this summer tour is getting companies to go forward. I think it starts to get older this year, doesn't it?
Jim Marty: [00:12:20] In July, scheduled to start like the 10th or something there it does, I believe is the ninth and tenth of July with two shows at Folsom. Yeah, we always have a big party at my house and then load up here at the house wereally about 20 or 30 minutes from the stadium where I live here in Boulder County. So hopefully that will take place. Yeah. Phish tour now starts fairly early summer as well. So yeah, I think all of us are very much missing the lives that we had two weeks ago. And now we realize how much good things we have here in America and just being alive and in a free country like we are. Speaking of politics, I dig in other notice. Our firm participates every year in what we call lobby days with the National Cannabis Industry Association. We're about three hundred of us from various walks of the cannabis industry descend on Washington, D.C. and we meet with congressmen and senators and their staffs and representatives of the Trump administration bend their ears on Cannabis issues like to it?i e and banking. And I just got noticed today that that's been postponed until September, which I guess it is good and bad in that now that it's gonna be so close to the presidential election.
Jim Marty: [00:13:46] I don't know how much effect would have on Congress and maybe the people we need with usually meet with may not even be in office a few weeks after we go there in September. But on the other hand, it is closer to a presidential election with a lot of downstream ballots in place. So maybe we'll have some influence on the on the November election.
Larry Mishkin: [00:14:07] Well, that would be great. You know, the part about that thinking that for a while and that's of the parts of the virus, there's all sorts of stuff going on in Capitol Hill. You see, that's been picking up a lot of the that it's hard. It would be nice to see that you'll be able to find that opportunity to focus on this because know for the reasons you just said, which is this is one of the few industries that right now is putting money into government coffers and quite frankly, is wanted to do so for the foreseeable future and to help open up that industry even more by solving this problem once and for all, which is the tighter fit for everyone who is hoping that, you know, as we get closer to the election, people think about it that way. You and I have always talked with the principal, as far as I could tell, a nonpartisan issue that both sides support, not a Cannabis Lah's is generally in favor of the industry. I think it's just a matter of getting it on the stage with the right kind of focus on it.
Jim Marty: [00:15:06] Definitely a bipartisan issue and we'll see if we can move it forward here in this election year. But as we sit here in the middle of March, everything is as frozen as the snowy day. I'm looking out here out of my window. So that's why I heard with those guys.
Larry Mishkin: [00:15:22] It was a little bit of snow today.
Jim Marty: [00:15:24] Yes. So everyone's so disappointed that we have a foot of snow up in the mountains and all the ski areas are closed. I'm hoping that Arapahoe days and where I volunteer is going to reopen because we have a very late season. We usually ski well into May, if not into June and some years, even in July, while hopefully Arapahoe Basin will reopen before the year is out or.
Larry Mishkin: [00:15:47] Very nice. Very nice. You know, God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes write such down the ski slopes of the drops, a foot of snow. So I can't figure it out, but I'm sure there's a grand plan in there somewhere.
Jim Marty: [00:16:00] Well, a lot of people are surprised that March and April are actually our snowiest months here in Colorado. They really depend on the the late winter or early spring snowfall to boost our snowpack, which is used for our source of water, for our front range population, as well as. Agricultural business here. So we never complain about moisture here in Colorado.
Larry Mishkin: [00:16:24] Excellent, excellent, excellent. OK. Well, I guess we'll see what happens right over the course of the next week. The Corona virus will certainly be a continuing issue for some time. And, you know, you and I will be there to interpret how it's impacting the Cannabis industry, how it's impacting the music industry and, you know, alternatives maybe that we keep and think of, you know, for our listeners in terms of going back and listening to classical dead or fish. And I think better than to do it with a rap curator of your favorite Cannabis. Make an evening of it.
Jim Marty: [00:16:56] Yes. Well, speaking of which, I've been listening to and have ordered the new fifteen C.D. Bock said that the Grateful Dead family is putting out all the 76 shows a. It's called the June 76 June 1976. And the listeners sounded great, fabulous songs, great renditions, very strong. I think you listen to a couple and you have a couple of your favorite nuggets, Sly tell you.
Larry Mishkin: [00:17:25] Jim Marty. It's interesting because I'm a big fan of these box sets and every time they come out, I'm I'm a sucker and I just buy it because I love the packaging. I love all the stories that go along with it. You know, sometimes on the budget that can be a little bit tight. But this one wasn't overly expensive. But what sold me was the very first song on the very first disc, a very, very rare version of the Grateful Dead playing mission in the rain.
Larry Mishkin: [00:17:49] And I have to tell you, it was so tremendous that on that one song alone, I said, I buy in the box. But it's rare to get to hear a Jerry Garcia tune like that. I mean, no deal. And some of them get through it all the time. But songs like Mission and the Rain or Catfish, John or those kind of songs comes at time. You just don't get very often when you do. They're really special. But I always loved to hear the way the music sounds, what it's being played by the Grateful Dead as opposed to the guys in Jerry Garcia's band. Right. So instead of jail time, you got still less on the bass. And that intro basically that Phil gives boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom just off. He's a seal up on stage with a big old smile on his face plucking out those strings. And I'm sold. That's it for me. I love that song. I love that. You know all that.
Jim Marty: [00:18:38] Yes. Yeah. Phil Jones is in great, great form on that is basically the first tour after their hiatus in 1975 when they went to the studio and produced Blues for Allah. And it's one you'll hear some of the first live versions of health on the way Slipknot into Franklin's tower. And the Slipknot transition into Franklin's tower is really, really strong. And Phil just thunders all the way through it.
Larry Mishkin: [00:19:05] Excellent. No, that's that's that's the way it should be. And that's what makes it so much fun to people. Just, you know, keep hearing all of that great music over and over again, because that's what makes the death a death. Right. They play their shows and they stick around forever.
Jim Marty: [00:19:19] Yes. I'm looking forward to that box set myself. I have a birthday coming up and I put it on my birthday list. So I'll be listening to it here in May when hopefully.
Larry Mishkin: [00:19:30] Congratulations and early. Happy birthday.
Jim Marty: [00:19:32] Yes. We have a very large party planned for May 9th for our son jets' college graduation. So hopefully we'll be able to have that if we can get this virus to subside, which it does seem there's promising hope for it, too, that the self isolation and there's social distancing is working and that we won't have the kind of tragedy that they're having over in Italy right now. Right. Whether they're losing the better part of 500 people a day this week.
Larry Mishkin: [00:20:05] Yes, I saw that. That's you see those numbers and that's really scary. You see what could possibly happen. So, you know, as much of our inconvenience as we may feel that the social distancing is clearly as important and it clearly plays a benefit up in seeing the numbers in China where they feel that now with the social distancing, they've been able to get the rate of infection down to the point where it's almost zero. And, you know, that's positive there. You know, they got it before us. They've been testing out different ways that it works for them. Maybe we can help make it happen over here. And it got, you know, not to beat a dead horse, but you have to stay inside. There's lots of things you can do that we talk about all the time to be happy and content.
Jim Marty: [00:20:45] Well, reflecting back in happier times, I have a fondness, a great fondness for Milan, Italy. A number of years ago, I was invited to go over there and give a talk to a group of international businessmen and women. And I did. And I had a day off. And on my day off, I rented a motorcycle and all by myself, I rode it from Milan, Italy, up to the Swiss border and back. Going through all these tiny little Italian hamlets. So I certainly have a. Fondness for Mahlon and great sadness for what's going on over there.
Larry Mishkin: [00:21:21] You know, it it is. You know, anywhere where it hits and anywhere where people get affected by it, it's just sad. My gosh, you know, it reminds us that we don't always control our own destiny, which probably is a good lesson to remember from time to time. But, yeah, you know, if we can sit around and have happy memories about these things as well. I think that helps with the expectation that we'll get to do it all again in the future.
Jim Marty: [00:21:45] Well, I hope so, too. And that was on that note. I think we can sign off for today. It's always great talking to Larry. And so for all of our fans out there, this is Jim Marty saying goodbye for the Deadhead Cannabis show. And Larry, you want to sign off?
Larry Mishkin: [00:22:02] Thank you very much. Absolutely. As always, a pleasure. How fun of Juan. I'll try to have some fun here and for all of our faithful listeners.
Larry Mishkin: [00:22:10] Stay healthy. Hunker down and enjoy this time.
Jim Marty: [00:22:13] Over and out. Talk to everyone soon. Thanks. I'd like.
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER*
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT AND THERE MAY BE INACCURATE AND OR INCORRECT COMPUTER TRANSLATIONS. DO NOT RELY ON THIS OR ANY TRANSCRIPT ON THE MJBULLS MEDIA WEBSITE.