S1, E48: The Heavy Metal Shop - Kevin Kirk

What if a passion for heavy metal could shape an entire community? Join us as we sit down with Kevin Kirk, the inspiring founder and owner of the Heavy Metal Shop (@theheavymetalshopsaltlakecity), a beloved fixture in Salt Lake City's counterculture. Fueled by early dreams of rock stardom and a love for music sparked by Alice Cooper, Kevin shares the emotional journey of creating his iconic store and the heartwarming tales of his late wife Angie and their sons Joey and Kelly. Through personal anecdotes and heartfelt stories, discover how Kevin's dedication has left an indelible mark on his community.

Step back in time to Twin Falls, Idaho, where Kevin’s childhood was filled with musical awakenings. From his first rock concert with the Edgar Winter Group to sixth-grade performances of Alice Cooper songs, these formative experiences set the stage for his lifelong passion for rock and roll. We recount the vibrant 1970s rock concert scene, where Kevin's adventures came alive amidst legendary performances and cherished memorabilia. 

Explore the challenges and triumphs of raising a creative and spirited son, Joey, in a unique community. Kevin’s stories paint a vivid picture of family life, marked by humorous moments and poignant losses. Hear about Joey's playful antics, his artistic journey, and the profound impact he had on those around him. This episode celebrates the enduring legacy of the Heavy Metal Shop, now thriving in the Maven District, and the deep community connections that continue to support and uplift Kevin's mission. Don't miss this heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and the power of music.

Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Heavy Metal Shop Founder Interview
• 8:41 Musical Influences in Twin Falls
• 13:14 Musical Memories and Entrepreneurship
• 24:13 Unexpected Love Story and Musical Influences
• 32:32 Growing Up in a Unique Community
• 38:27 Friendships and Loss
• 48:42 Small Lake City Community Connections

Transcript

Kevin Kirk: 0:10

But I was way into music. You know, the first time I saw Alice Cooper on TV, you know, at that time I thought I was going to be a rock star. Hell yeah, you know, and I was like I want to open a record store. That was, and CDs were real big. So anyway, yeah, she invites me to her house and I meet Angie, and I was just like right off. Let's see, it was March 19th 1987. You know, I don't know if we went looking for him in California and found him.

Erik Nilsson: 0:35

What is up everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Small Lake City Podcast. I'm your host, eric Nielsen, and if you've been listening to the podcast for a little bit of time now, you've probably heard me mention one specific store slash brand that represents the counterculture of Salt Lake, and that place is the Heavy Metal Shop. So today we sit down with Kevin Kirk, the founder and owner of the Heavy Metal Shop, and talk about how it all came to be and what he's up to now and, to be honest, this was a little bit of an emotional one for me. I have a long history with Kevin and his family. His son, joey, was one of my first best friends that I ever had in fourth grade. He got me into one of the hobbies that went on to dictate a lot of my life moving forward or rollerblading and it was a little emotional because Joey passed away back in 2018. Kevin's wife, joey's mom, angie, passed away in 21 due to cancer, and we talk about all these things in the episode, but he's such a good guy and has done so much for the community not just for the music and rock community, but for everybody and odds are you've probably seen a shirt or two as you've gone to a show or walked around downtown, but it's a great story and he's such a great guy and someone that we can all learn something from.

Erik Nilsson: 1:52

So excited to share this one for you. This one hits a little closer to home than most, but check it out Cool, because I'll be honest. So I've recorded shit like almost 50 episodes now, yeah, and this is the one I've been the most excited for. Oh, thank you, and there's a lot of I postponed it. No, no, no, no, no. You have a lot of important things to do and I have a podcast, a lot going on with kids.

Kevin Kirk: 2:15

Oh yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 2:16

Yeah, a whole different world that I would never be. Like no, what the hell, kevin? Like why aren't you responding Like, yes, you're spending your time where it should? But because, when I first was thinking about the podcast, how I wanted to go about it and the guests I wanted to have, like your name was one of the first list probably top five people that made it.

Erik Nilsson: 2:34

Oh, thank you, because, like, I hope that you can understand, like the impact that you've had on Salt Lake City, not just like I mean the music and metal community, but honestly, I mean you walk around downtown and anywhere and if there's one thing you always see, it's a heavy metal shop logo. I thought you were going to say a mouse tag, that too, but you, like, it's just become this brand of, like the counterculture of Salt Lake and it's it's funny Cause I feel, like most people I know they have a heavy metal shop shirt in their closet somewhere. I keep doing different colors, exactly, everybody has has a different way to do it. So I mean, at least I hope that you understand, like the impact that you've had on the community in the area and how many people know and care, like even um, uh, trent, one of my guys I work with at live nation. So we yes, so Trent, me and him got um. Cause, talking about partnership, let's go grab coffee. He lives out in Sandy, met him out there and I didn't have a single picture of him. And so I mean it works with live nation.

Erik Nilsson: 3:26

I'm like, well, this could go a lot of different ways as far as someone would look like yeah, and then yada, yada, yada. I get there first, I'm waiting by the door and I see this guy walk in. I mean two sleeves like trucker hat, like very metal and like hardcore vibe, and I look at him like Trent, he's like Eric, like perfect, and we sit down and yada, yada, yada, and then you came up um or heavy metal shop I can't remember how it came up. I might have been like the blink 182 show and was talking to him. He's like, oh, I love kevin, like he's been supporting me and like my band and my journey and has done so much, and so it's fun to see people have like similar opinions about it yeah, I remember trent, like when he was a teenager.

Kevin Kirk: 4:03

Yeah, you know just the changes. I remember he loved kiss yeah you know, and morrissey too, the smiths, but uh, I remember I seeing him at a metallica concert. You know we talked there and then are we? Are we on now? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we're good. And he anyway, he was asking me where Metallica got their pants. You know their black pants, yeah. He was looking to, he wanted to wear the. I just thought it was so funny.

Erik Nilsson: 4:25

Oh, kind of cute. Yeah, like, oh, like. I don't know that much, but everybody wanted to be that Like it's like. It's not a phase type, like I want to dress like them, but I don't want to feel like I'm wanting to dress like them and you're kind of finding yourself, you know.

Kevin Kirk: 4:40

Then Trent, did you know he's like this hardcore? He's a metal hardcore, metal dude but he still loves his Morrissey and Kiske. That sticks with it your whole life, totally, you know, like Alice Cooper.

Erik Nilsson: 4:53

Yeah, We'll get into we'll get into Alice. Cooper and all of that. Cause, yeah, I mean even the music and like we talked about that, I mean just to take a step back of how, um the other, the impact. I mean you've had an impact on salt Lake, but you've also had like a huge impact on my life. Cause, for context, like so fourth grade, I go into miss Gray's class and sure enough, sure enough, um, there's a kid there.

Erik Nilsson: 5:14

Joey, I don't think I had causing trouble and so was I yeah, and so we start talking and then he comes up to me and this is like beginning of september, so had to have been like first couple weeks of school, and was like hey, do you want to go to the skate park with me? I'm gonna go rollerblade. I'm like, yeah, because I already had a pair of rollerblades, because my sister got me into it. It from like I mean X Games, everything that was going on in the nineties then, and so we go to Real Ride Skate Park and it was off to the races. It was always my mom picks up, your mom drops off, we're going here and like but then also I'd been spending a lot of time at your house and kind of like we talked about when I showed up is coming from a household where I mean very LDS focused, very conservative, and then walking into your house and you're like here's the Alice Cooper Memorial.

Erik Nilsson: 5:56

Here's all of the records on the wall. I have tattoos all over and being like kind of shocked at first, but then I like got to know you, angie. Everyone's like hold on, like these are the salt of the earth, people. But it's like with this, like juxtaposition of like everything that I had experienced and like I didn't know then. But that was really like the first time I got like my um experience of reality was like tested, and I mean, as we talked about we'll talk about more Angie was like a second mother to me during that time and did so much. And then Joey was like the first friend that I really had and we listened to him. It was like when we were first getting into music, and so there was that whole experience.

Kevin Kirk: 6:31

I love that about Joey that he loved music so much, cause we've that was something we connected on, you know went to so many shows together and there was stuff he liked that I was like bright eyes, that was something I wasn't aware of. Then I went, we went to the show and I loved it, stuff like that.

Erik Nilsson: 6:44

Yeah, and I mean you set that tone for him in life, cause I remember when we were in school, like in fourth grade, and he'd be like, oh yeah, I just went to um, to um, afi, yeah you know it's funny because I knew I knew davey.

Kevin Kirk: 6:56

So no way we actually got, you know, got to joey, got to meet him. No way he'd come in the shop when they one of their first tours, you know, and he was, I think they were warming up for, uh, swinging udders in the basement of deviate that's how small they were, yeah. But I remember him coming in and saying you know, I'm in the, I'm in the opening band and I actually had their record and you know he was so nice, so you know I'd see him at show, you know he'd mentioned me at shows too. Like you know, go to the heavy metal shop or whatever.

Erik Nilsson: 7:21

Everybody knew to stop by.

Kevin Kirk: 7:22

So, yeah, so Joey got to meet him and, um, that was very, very cool yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 7:27

AFI and Blink-182 will always last month and I went to that and like the thing because it's an expensive ticket. But the thing that pushed me over the edge is like this is like honor to Joey, honor to him in my life, influencing my music, and especially in that time where the music you first started listening to sticks with you forever. It does, yeah, and so there's that. But then also I went to the show at USANA where AFI opened up for 30 seconds to Mars and like, and that was, and I didn't even know when I got tickets that they were opening up for them and I was like, oh my God, like the stars are aligning and it's kind of been this year of bucket list shows. But maybe before we kind of go into more of kind of the life that you've had and the people that have come across really want to start, I mean from the beginning and how I mean your story started and then I'm not even sure with a lot of it, but like, how did you end up in Salt Lake? Were you born here?

Kevin Kirk: 8:17

I was born here at the LDS hospital. Okay, funny, my parents lived in Sandy. Okay, I have a brother and two sisters and lived there until right at the middle of fourth grade we moved to Idaho for my dad's job. Sorry, just making sure those are going, we're going, yeah. And fourth grade, we moved to Idaho for my dad's job. Sorry, just making sure those are going, we're going, yeah. And this is kind of boring stuff, no, no, no. So anyway, yeah, it was 1971. I was in fourth grade and we moved to Twin Falls, idaho, for my dad's job. What was he doing? He was a supervisor for Smith's. Okay, it was back when it was Smith's before Kroger bought it. My dad knew D Smith. He started, he started cutting meat in 57. He was 17. So my dad's, like you know, one of the oldest.

Erik Nilsson: 9:00

Yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 9:01

Came up into the ranks. Yeah, so, so, anyway, he, he went up there to be a supervisor. He would go to different, all the different towns in Idaho as a boss. You know, he used to take me too when I was like 12, 13 years old. I would go, he would take me and and he would pay me cash. We'd stay at a hotel, you know it was so fun, yeah. And then, uh, you know, he'd teach me how.

Kevin Kirk: 9:21

I learned how to do all that stuff when I was a kid, yeah, which I don't think you could do that now, yeah, a little different times. So I learned how to do all that. So I learned how to cut meat, but I was way into music. You know, in fact, in fact, that how that happened is, let's see, I'm trying to think is the first time. It's the first time I saw Alice Cooper on TV.

Kevin Kirk: 9:39

My parents were. They'd used to go out, like go out dancing. My dad called it stomping, but they'd go dancing. My mom put her hair anyway, yeah, very intense, and I remember, I remember and I didn't know, you know it was like in concert and it's Alice Cooper and it's like, oh, there's smoke and the eyes. You know I'm like holy shit, you know I'm just a kid, yeah. So I would have been in like sixth grade and I by then, and I anyway, he's singing. He's singing sick things and he's got the snake. You don't see it in the smoke, but then the head comes around in his face and my sister screamed, and so that was kind of like I like this guy.

Erik Nilsson: 10:17

It makes my sister scream How's his name?

Kevin Kirk: 10:19

And then I just started, I saw the Rolling Stones on and Black Oak, arkansas. I started watching those, those concert things at night. That was, you know, back then you didn't have the internet, you know, so you had to catch it when it was happening or what you know, yeah, happening. Or what you know, yeah, um. And so they had introduced me to like the new york dolls. But I started buying the rock magazines and then I'd you know, I'd read about these bands, like I knew about the ramones, before they even had an album out. It's like, oh, this is cool, like the whole new york thing was very cool to me. So that was kind of the beginning and this is like the heyday of.

Kevin Kirk: 10:49

I mean, yeah, this would have been yeah, well, when I was in it would have been like 1972 and three. Yeah, yeah, when I was in it would have been like 1972 and three. Yeah, second grade, yeah 73, when I was in sixth grade. In fact I it's kind of funny but my sixth grade teacher let the kids, let us kids, bring records to the class and she'd put the lyrics up on the, you know, the projector, you know, and she played the record. She'd look at the covers and so, you know, kids are bringing the Carpenters and you know I love where this is going seals and crops, you know. So I bring alice cooper, you know, and deep purple and you know, and black oak, arkansas.

Kevin Kirk: 11:23

Anyway, I brought those records and she really scrutinized mine. You know, I was like, and she didn't, she never put my lyrics up on the on the screen either, but she'd turn, you know, she'd turn it down. Yeah, really scrutinize it. And then, uh, that same teacher, um, she had us kids present a commercial, like like a tv commercial, like you acted out for, you know, for the class. So, uh, one kid came in on his little stingray bike. He did the chester cheeto thing, which was an old commercial with this for cheetos. Yeah, so he did that. That's, that's the only other one I remember besides mine. And I uh, I'd got, I got a wig from my mother did Alice Cooper makeup. Oh oops, Alice, I get excited when I talk about Alice.

Erik Nilsson: 11:59

Yeah, I know, please.

Kevin Kirk: 12:01

So, uh, you know, I did. You know Alice Cooper makeup. Then I had the little portable cassette um player with the microphone. Yeah, so I lip synced and Alice, alma Mater, off of School's Out. I lip synced that song. And then my friend did this commercial with me. So he comes out of the coat room it was an old school. So he comes out, he's got a jacket on and tie and he's got a microphone. He said say, alice, what kind of makeup is that that you wear? And I said Maybelline. Of course that was our commercial. So I got to tell Alice that story too. That's amazing.

Erik Nilsson: 12:29

Maybelline, of course. Oh, that's perfect. So you're in Twin, and at what point did it start to migrate south?

Kevin Kirk: 12:44

Well, let's see, when I was 13,. My sister was 17. My first concert was the Edgar Winter Group in Boise and I'd see the tour dates in magazines and I was like I like the Edgar Winter Group, you're like I'm going. My parents actually drove us up there and they went out to dinner or movie or whatever and dropped it. It was pretty cool. My parents were pretty cool about gonna say, looking back and I was just such a shit, you know, weren't we all? Yeah, so they drove us up there for that I was my first, first concert and it was, you know, edgar winter group.

Kevin Kirk: 13:14

Rick derringer played guitar with him, which I saw him years later in salt lake. Well, not that many years later would have been like 76 when we moved moved to salt lake. Okay, we moved back. I'm jumping around, got it? No, you're fine, but uh, and then let's see.

Kevin Kirk: 13:28

Then johnny winter was the next. Something about the winter brothers, yeah, yeah. So that was the next one and ted nugent was warming up for him and this, he was just new. He was like new it was before you knew he's a jackass, you know. It was like he just sang, sing about sex and yeah, hoontang or whatever. So I was like, oh, he's, this guy's cool. Yeah, he warmed up for johnny winter. And uh, then the next one was black oak, arkansas, which was a really big deal to me to see jim dandy. So my, I went with my sister and it was her, her boyfriend. He had a uh, I think it was a camaro or a firebird with the big tires. You know he let me drive it. You know, driving down the freeway it was like that Dazed and Confused movie. So I saw Black Oak in 75, and I actually have some photos that I took. I had a little pocket camera that I snuck in. I got some pictures of Jim Dandy like front row.

Kevin Kirk: 14:18

And then the following year is when we moved back to Salt Lake 76, which I was excited, my siblings weren't. They didn't want to leave Twin. I was like I want to see the big shows. Yeah, like everybody comes through Salt Lake more than Boise. We moved here and I saw. First one I saw was Jethro Tull. That was in 76. I was 14. You know, my parents let me go In fact they'd let me sleep out for concerts when I was 14, 15.

Kevin Kirk: 14:41

You know, you line up, you could actually get front row. You slip out, you could get front row tickets and I got front row, for it was Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, it was called the New Barbarians, so it was half the faces, half the stones. Yeah, cool fucking thing. So I got front row I was going to say Front row for that and you know they didn't charge fees in either. You know those tickets were like $750 ticket Like Aerosmith was $4.50.

Kevin Kirk: 15:03

Things have changed a lot. Yeah, exactly. Well, yeah, because I was a kid I made money. I cleaned up the meat shop, I had a paper route when I was in Idaho, so I always had money but I could afford to buy. I'd buy the 10 tickets. So I had 10 front row tickets to see that Most of my friends would trade me. They'd give me a Playboy or an old record or something, and it wasn't a big deal because it wasn't that much money yeah, really, and then you get to go to your favorite concert with your friends and have a great time so, yeah, so many fun times.

Kevin Kirk: 15:30

Salt palace and the terrace this would have been. I saw dio at the terrace was rainbow in 77 when I was 15. Wow, so many. I could go on and on about I was gonna say I can't.

Erik Nilsson: 15:41

I would love to be able to, like, see a pile of all the ticket stubs.

Kevin Kirk: 15:45

A lot of them I've saved and you know I didn't do it intentionally, so there's some of them I don't have, but I do have that Aerosmith one from 76. That's wild and I would save the like the review in the paper. I'd cut that out. I saved that. I have the t-shirt that I got which is, you know, like Wayne's World, like a little t-shirt and a concert program.

Erik Nilsson: 16:08

I have that. I have that from. That's from 76 and the zz top is too damn so. So much collected like. I'm so glad that you did that because so many people would get to where you are now be like, oh, kind of wish I would have kept on to that.

Kevin Kirk: 16:15

Yeah, about the only thing I got rid of in my music stuff was my eight tracks.

Erik Nilsson: 16:19

I had hundreds of those I remember you guys, that's, you introduced me to eight because, again, like going to your the house, what is it?

Erik Nilsson: 16:25

six, seventh half six out yeah um, you walk into like the back room and you had the what are those discs, called them laser, the laser. You guys had so many of those and I remember walking and this is so appropriate. But I remember going down there the first time and then joey walks up grabs when he's like ever seen pet cemetery? Oh yeah, but I was like I don't even know what stephen king is her pet cemetery he's like yeah because you had all of those there.

Erik Nilsson: 16:46

You had the eight tracks in the corner, the iron, the pinball machine, uh, guns and roses. Oh yeah, I wish I still had that. I think it was sick. Um, so you come to salt lake and you get to more access to shows. Your parents are like yeah, kevin, we'll drop you off, you know that's my thing, yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 17:00

so, yeah, my, yeah, my parents, my dad, would drive, drive us and um, you know, way before I had a license, and then letting me sleep out too. It was so cool, that's awesome.

Erik Nilsson: 17:13

And so I mean at this point so you're, you move when you're 13, 14, going to all these shows. I mean at this point, did you think about creating your own shop or own store, or you know?

Kevin Kirk: 17:21

at that time I thought I was going to be a rock star. Hell yeah, own store, or, you know, at that time I thought I was going to be a rock star hell yeah, you know. In fact I was okay. So I was working at smith's. I was 14, um, and I was. I was bagging groceries and cleaning up the meat shop, so I had. It was kind of like having two jobs. You know, you do the meat shop late at night after you know. So I was making money and, uh, in any way, I uh I bought a les paul.

Kevin Kirk: 17:41

I don't know if you remember that Les Paul guitar I had. It was a 1972 Les Paul. I bought it for $400. Damn, which is insane, yeah. And actually I sold it to a friend and he sold it to a guy this was this was, you know, just a few years ago but a guy in Zeke. He has it now. So it's towards the world, you know, gets a lot more. You, I never got that good at it, yeah, but you know, I bought the guitar, bought me a big amp. I bought like a. It was a ampeg v4, like almost it's like a marshall's half stack. Oh wow, it was an ampeg and it was loud as fuck. I mean, it was like so cool people would come up, let's just play that guitar. It was so loud even though we didn't know how to play very well. You learn a couple of chords and and then we put it out in the garage because it was like too damn loud I was like listen and I had a friend that had a drum set.

Kevin Kirk: 18:26

He was a year younger than me, so he was in fact. He ended up playing in bands in salt lake. Um, brian sorensen is a drummer, but he was just a you know kid. He drinks. Paula's drum set up to my garage and we would just just me and him would play and just sound like shit yeah, I have so much fun doing it but yeah, I just I wanted to.

Kevin Kirk: 18:43

I don't know, that's what I thought. I'm gonna be a rock star, that's what I'm gonna do, that's what I want to do. And uh, then, you know, I ended up. So I ended up working. I worked at smith's warehouse and I and I said, long hair, yeah. And my dad's like, hey, I want you to cut your hair, I'll get you, you know, in the meat shop. And so I did that for a while and had you know, did I already knew most of it? Yeah, he taught me, and and then I became the meat department manager and I was like I want to open a record store. That was, and CDs were real big. How old were you at this time? Well, this would have been I was 24. Okay, so it would have been 86. And so I was saying I'm going to open a CD store. Really, because it was, the CDs were so new, yeah, and so, uh, so that's what I was, that's what I decided to do. I'm gonna open a record store, I'm gonna quit.

Kevin Kirk: 19:28

I was a meat manager at that point. Yeah, I had, I got bonus money. So every quarter I got like three or four grand. I saved that money till I had enough money to do it and I was. I didn't want a partner. But there was a guy that I worked with because, yeah, we could go do this now I'll go into partnership with you, yeah, which originally I was just going to be me, so it would have taken me a little longer.

Kevin Kirk: 19:47

So I did it, which it ended up working out. But once we did it it was like didn't get along. He didn't know music and he signed a contract with a radio station. It's like, dude, we got to make some money before we do this. Just made business decisions that I didn't agree with. Um. So I got out of that in six. So, anyway, we opened the store in 86, um cd shop. So in six months I I tripled my. I wanted out, yeah, and we had a um. Angie was a court reporter at that time. He started court reporting in uh. She graduated in the first part of 86. So she was already doing that and so, uh, I'm jumping around. I can't remember.

Erik Nilsson: 20:29

No, you're good Opening the shop. Oh yeah, so, uh, separating from other guys, yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 20:33

So she had a lawyer right up in a partnership agreement. You know she kind of knew you know you gotta if you're going in with this guy you got. So we had this partnership and I ended up in fact I'm using the same counters and the rack. These are the same right, no way same. Those were cd racks. I had eight of those at one time and so, uh, so I got that. I got just, I got the stereo, I just got this so I could go up in my own store and then I just changed it to heavy metal shop. I just initially it was, it was cds and I just thought I don't know about jazz music and yeah, you know, and I'm playing slayer and these, you know it's kind of cds were, they were, everybody was buying. So you had a lot of like people that like that kind of music, you know, and I was more into that, wasn't you?

Kevin Kirk: 21:11

yeah, it wasn't me and I just in my mind, like I should specialize and just play hard, you know, do the harder thing. I just thought heavy metal, yeah, the shop where you get heavy metal, the heavy metal shop.

Erik Nilsson: 21:20

So that's, that's how that happened and was this the space in sugar house?

Kevin Kirk: 21:24

this was actually in sandy okay, um, I wanted this, the space in sugar house and at the same time, blue boutique were looking and they actually got it before I could get it. Interesting, because I was, I was, you know, I'd actually had the number and everything was. That was my plan. And when I call it was like, yeah, they've other stores, like fuck. So the uh, uh, the real estate broker dude or whatever ty b singer was his name, I don't know. I remember that, but we used to give him fish because I'd go fishing with my dad. He liked fish, so we'd gift him with fish. But he found me a place in sandy, okay, and he said he had a lot of people out there it's, you know, good demographic for you and there was a big. The place was like 2 000 square feet, like I don't need that much, he goes well. Well, we'll charge you for how much space do you need? So like 1,000. So my rent was pretty good, yeah, and we had a big back room which we could do shows in. So they actually put a wall up for us. We had this big back room so we'd do live shows in the back room. We did like local bands, yeah, and so. So, anyway, I signed a two-year lease there and it was pretty good.

Kevin Kirk: 22:24

But you know it's Mormon country too. Yeah, in fact, I remember this. It was right next to that Raphael's restaurant in Sandy, 9400 South. We were 891 East, 9400 South and people would be waiting to go into the restaurant and they were like Mormon families. It was a family restaurant and I remember this.

Kevin Kirk: 22:41

I had Kelly, my son Kelly, and I remember this. I had Kelly, my son Kelly. He was just a baby, so this would have been 88. And I'm just holding him and Angie was working in the back. Sometimes she would transcribe her work. She had a desk back there so she could be there with us, and she's back there working.

Kevin Kirk: 22:57

So we're staying late and I'm just out there in the shop holding Kelly and the music's turned down. I hear people talking and kelly and the music's turned down. I hear people talking and the, and I heard a lady say how could you raise a child in that environment? I'm just like what the? You know what the hell? So so this is kind of funny. So at the. So, anyway, in two years, um, the lease was up and blue boutique moved up the street, so that place was available. Yeah, and the guy let me know and I'm like well, I want it, yeah, it was perfect timing. So, uh, that shop in had it had that gray astroturf kind of uh carpet which I had over at this other shop too, so it showed stains. I mean, kelly would wheel around in his little Walker thing and I'd he'd get, I'd get him big drinks, he'd spill them.

Erik Nilsson: 23:37

Yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 23:51

So there was. So when we leave there and it's empty, except for those chalk outlines which you know, back then we didn't have cell phones and I wish, I wish I had a photo of that. It was so funny because we're all just in tears, laughing when we leave, because you know those people are going to go there.

Kevin Kirk: 24:05

Oh my God, a family of three is that, yeah, so anyway, that's how we got it so cheap, yeah, so anyway, then we moved to Sugar House. That was in 89. And so so how did you and Angie meet? Oh yeah, that's a good story. Actually, we're both the same age. She went, uh, let's see which high school was it? Uh, hillcrest, I think, yeah, hillcrest. Okay, I went to east high and, uh, her, her father was a supervisor with smiths. He was like this deli supervisor, my dad was a meat supervisor, so they were friends and, uh, and and with her, with her mother, see, with angie's mother. She's a real sweet lady. So my mom and dad were friends with her parents before I'd even met her. I'd never met her.

Kevin Kirk: 24:46

I had a girl in high or girlfriend in high school, but I'd hear about Angie. We would do these ski trips and, uh, like, we'd like Sun Valley, like they had like a timeshare thing. We'd, you know, I'd go, I'd go skiing for a day or two and the gondola with it. That's how my grandma was, yeah, but she'd show me picture. She showed me pictures of angie. Oh, it's my, you know, my daughter. It's like, oh, she's pretty, and I was kind of intrigued by angie. But I had this girlfriend. Yeah, it's an awful girlfriend though. We fought all that. It was awful so, uh. So anyway, her mother really liked me and uh and her you know, her parent were our parents were both, we're all friends.

Kevin Kirk: 25:22

And then in 82, I broke me and my girlfriend had broken up kind of back and forth. We were still. It was just back and forth, yeah, typical, and Angie's parents divorced and her mother invited me out to dinner out at their house. They lived out in Sandy, yeah, and I'm like, yeah, I'll, yeah, and I wasn't really looking for anything either. I was just like I had this awful relationship. I was. I was kind of wild there that last that year before I met angie. Yeah, I was, you know, I dated, dated some older girl, ladies and women and yeah, it's kind of got this party, you know, and uh and yeah, anyway, I dated.

Kevin Kirk: 25:57

Yeah, I dated, in fact this girl was, she was, let's see, anyway, I don't need to go into all that, but uh, so anyway, go, yeah, she invites me to her, her house and I meet angie and I was just like right off, you know, and their little, their little chihuahua pooped under the table. It's funny, you know, family stuff. We laughed about it for years, but so that was, that was kind of. That wasn't really our first date date, because after that there was a, uh, smith's dinner. Um, then I asked her if she wanted to go. That's why I actually have a photo of our first date, because it was a smith's dinner.

Kevin Kirk: 26:30

Somebody took pictures of everybody. So I have that photo and uh, so when I asked her to go to this dinner with me and she did and I and at that time I'd, I'd lived on the avenues, I lived in a uh, it was a duplex and uh, and anyway we went back there and she actually kissed me goodbye and she goes, well, I better go home. She gave me a kiss. I was like, oh, man, and I remember, I remember I called my mother, I'm in love.

Kevin Kirk: 26:55

I had to tell somebody, yeah, I love that and so so we went out a couple more times. We went and saw, we went and saw the police, and she is interested in the same music too. It was funny because we went. We saw eddie rabbit at the fair. Yeah, she liked that and I was. I liked I was fine with all that too. I was just like, oh yeah, speaking of that, um, her, her father, had a couple of horses and, and one was her sister's horse, I believe. Yeah, it was heidi's horse, and her mother invited me out again. This was before this is before she'd moved in with me, so she invited me out again. This was before she'd moved in with me, so she invited me out again and we went out to where the horses were and Angie you know, me and her mother are waiting there and Angie comes riding up on this horse. And just this vision of Angie riding up on this. I was like, oh my God.

Erik Nilsson: 27:41

If you weren't in love, then, yeah, that was it.

Kevin Kirk: 27:43

Oh shit, I could keep hitting it. You're fine, do it. They're fine, do it. It's durable. I'm like what is it? Talladega Knights? I don't know what to do with my hands, I'll just fold them. In fact, there's a song the Bottle Rockets did years later, called Pretty Little Angie, and he sings about pretty little Angie riding up on a horse in her shorts and just it's kind of a dirty song, you know, like this young woman or girl riding up on the horse. But you know it was after that. It was like this song. This is for you, angie.

Erik Nilsson: 28:14

I love that that was anyway.

Kevin Kirk: 28:16

So that's how I met her, okay. And then, yeah, soon after she moved in with me, you know, probably within six months, and then we got married the following year, 83. So, yeah, we were together 40 years. Crazy, yeah, that is crazy.

Erik Nilsson: 28:31

And then I mean obviously I mean two kids. Kelly came in 80. Yeah, and we were.

Kevin Kirk: 28:35

We weren't really planning on kids. Okay, I was going to get fixed. I mean, it was like we kind of had this vision of we're not going to have kids and do our stuff, have the store. He's a court reporter and I have the store. And I don't know what made us decide to. We planned Kelly. Then we did and it was like, well, let's do it. And Joey was our little surprise. Joey was the perfect baby, though that's Angie always said that he was just the perfect he was. He was such a happy little kid and and just the perfect kid, yeah, perfect baby.

Erik Nilsson: 29:04

I mean which we'll get into more of that. I want to hear some more of these stories about. I mean the shows you went to the people that have come through the heavy metal shop, and I mean also just cause, obviously that's a good, let's go to Alice Cooper for a second Cause, okay. So I mean, alice was the one who stirred this awakening of music in you. I mean watching it on show, I mean yeah he definitely.

Kevin Kirk: 29:26

And it was the band too, that Alice Cooper band. I don't know if you've seen pictures of that old band. I think so. They were like the coolest rock stars. Yeah, I knew I got they had the long hair, lots of jewelry. I mean that really, and it stuck to me. Oh yeah, I don't wear as much as I did, but those guys they were so cool and I guess everything about them. They were around the same time as Black Sabbath, which I love, black Sabbath too, but there was something about that Alice Cooper band that just really got me and they influenced a lot of metal bands and punk bands. Oh, I mean iconic. Yeah, in fact, when Johnny.

Erik Nilsson: 29:58

Rotten auditioned for the Sex.

Kevin Kirk: 29:59

Pistols. He said that was the only good song. I'm 18 was the only good song on the jukebox, so that was the song he song. I'm 18 was the only good song on the jukebox, so that was the song he sang. Past the vibe check yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 30:11

Yeah. So I mean, obviously, like you're a fan of his, you start this store. I mean, at what point did your guys' paths cross, did you meet him and did this relationship start? Let's see, it was.

Kevin Kirk: 30:21

March 19th 1987. I love that and it was his comeback. It was like he'd been in the 80s. He did some weird albums. He was like doing cocaine and he fucked up. You know He'd gone into rehab for alcohol. The cocaine thing didn't come out until years later. But if you look at pictures of him and interviews with him, then he was really thin, you could tell that's cocaine. Yeah, and it was Bernie Taupin that introduced him to. I mean, he did a lot of cocaine and he wrote songs with Alice for uh, from the inside it was one of his 78 album. Um, anyway, what was it?

Erik Nilsson: 30:54

March, march 19th, oh yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 30:56

So he's coming to town and I, you know, and I'd, I'd opened my store so I had connections. You know, like a record label I think it was through, it was through, uh, I think it was MCA records at the time. So I had had a little connection there and they gave me tickets and passes, um. But I actually met him at the radio, I met him at k-bear first. Okay, yeah, because I knew those guys too, because we did some ads with in fact, my buddy did some ads with him. A lot of money I was still paying him.

Erik Nilsson: 31:22

Yeah, see my dismal show like alice cooper's, yeah, so I uh.

Kevin Kirk: 31:28

So anyway, I got to go down. I went down to K-Bear, which I remember that day it was just I was so nervous. You know, I'm going to meet Alice Cooper, you know, and he comes walking in and he was just so nice. He was just like unreal to me. You know, he had these little. His hands were little too. He was like a the smaller stature, you know. It was just so awesome. So so I met him there and then I got to go backstage at the show, which was so, so exciting.

Erik Nilsson: 31:54

I just imagine this like Wayne world moment. It was so exciting.

Kevin Kirk: 31:57

It was, yeah, um and so. So then I met his manager and just kind of became friends with him and he, in fact he told me years later he says yeah, you know, you're one of Alice's normal fans, which I don't know how normal I am, because I'm really, I'm crazy for him. Yeah, just like that's. He's the one. Yeah, but I mean I wouldn't stalk him or anything, no, but I'm lucky I get to get to talk to him.

Erik Nilsson: 32:21

Yeah, you guys are like it's fun to see him going from the person who influenced your music to now. I mean he's coming into town. What is it? 20th is his show? 22nd, 22nd, yeah, and I mean good to see him hang out. Talk to him again, yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 32:33

I got a funny story with Joey Cooper, though, and Joey was, you know, he might've been let's see, maybe 10 and just him and I went to the Alice Cooper show and we're backstage and Alice is back there and he's just got his golf buddies back there. It wasn't, you know, it's not like you would think, this rock and roll debauchery thing. He's back there and we come and he goes oh, must be the heavy metal shop. So I always give him clothes, you know, and uh, in fact he wore my shirt on this on the news once here in salt lake, but I uh, so anyway, joey needs to use the bathroom. We're in his dressing room, so he's using alice's bathroom and he goes in and uses the bathroom. He comes out and he's got Alice's boots on and they're up I mean, they're up to us here. He's got the boots on, walks out and it's just like you know. It was really funny. And then Alice signed a poster for Joey and he wrote Joey, clean your room, which I still have. That poster, that's amazing, yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 33:21

It's so fun that that that relationship started and I'm sure you're as excited as anybody to see him.

Kevin Kirk: 33:25

Oh yeah, it's like Christmas for me, yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 33:28

Yeah, that's awesome. He's the. He gets still stayed there and and only gotten better, and so I mean so, Kate, so you have the shop in sugar house that's doing well. Um, and that's kind of. When I met Joey and I mean we, like I said he introduced me to rollerblading who's like the next 20 years of my life? You guys were nuts on those rollerblades, go out and back. And we had that like pole and we would just put it on the ground and we'd just be grinding on it and like I mean skidding our knees, getting our elbows, but just remember that very well.

Erik Nilsson: 34:03

You guys were insane, yeah, but it's funny because, like a lot of those people there ended up like being in my life like on and off like 20 years, like it's such an interesting community here and no one necessarily could go down that rabbit hole too much, but it was such a important time of my life I mean I got introduced to so many things early on in life like not, yeah, so we kind of grew up a little fast.

Kevin Kirk: 34:28

Looking back on it like you drew that gg allen thing when he was 10, you know that I've got it up on the wall there like on a computer thing. It would have been like one of those old what do you? Yeah, yeah, um, so yeah, he knew he knew a little too much for, but you know he ended up. He ended up pretty well-rounded, I guess oh yeah, got.

Erik Nilsson: 34:49

he had a very unique childhood.

Kevin Kirk: 34:50

Yeah, a lot of just a sense of humor. You know, he just it was so funny.

Erik Nilsson: 34:54

Yeah, he was a goofball through and through. Like I always remember.

Kevin Kirk: 34:57

I mean having sleepovers at your guy's place, and I remember I'd like, oh same, I mean I still find myself looking around and getting distracted.

Erik Nilsson: 35:12

But, um, yeah, so many times there, I mean, angie was the salt of the earth in so many ways she was, and like I remember one story because I mean you guys love halloween.

Kevin Kirk: 35:22

Oh yeah, and you, I mean, at that house you had, the halloween was bigger than christmas, oh, and she would go all out. We had a Halloween party every year.

Erik Nilsson: 35:29

Yeah, and it was wild Cause like I remember walking up to your house one day. Cause, again like me and Joey would walk down to your guy's house, He'd go in and say, hey mom, can Eric come over and play?

Kevin Kirk: 35:37

And I'm like, oh hey, what do you know?

Erik Nilsson: 35:39

I just happened to be walking by and like there was one year that Halloween and we go back to your house and she has, like Halloween presents ready and like again, my family, we don't do Halloween presents.

Erik Nilsson: 35:50

And like she gave like Joey, I think there was a couple other things, but there was this big skull candle and I was just like that's kind of sick and then she kind of was like oh, eric, like oh, like yeah, your family probably doesn't practice Halloween and I remember I for the next like week, I would put the candle on the counter, light it and I would just stare at it and it was like the funniest, but it was just so nice of her to be like again, like she doesn't have to do anything to me and like she was always driving us back and forth.

Erik Nilsson: 36:16

Always so nice, always, yeah, just.

Kevin Kirk: 36:18

Nobody like Angie. She was the sweetest.

Erik Nilsson: 36:25

Yeah, I mean through, I move, I mean away, into another neighborhood after my parents split up and kind of lose, I mean touch with him, cause it's, I mean 2001,. No one, I mean you could have moved three miles away and you might as well move to China at that point, but I know I mean a lot of your kids were dealt very hard cards and there was a lot of um. I mean with Joey. There was graffiti at the beginning and then, yeah, he got in trouble when he was pretty young.

Kevin Kirk: 36:48

So yeah and I know that once he got in the system it was really hard. Yeah, once you get in it's, you know a lot of it was unfair. Yeah, you know he got away with a lot too. I mean joey it was. You know he was pretty smart, so, and you know, smarter than like most cops, you know. Yeah, you know I should say that on the most cops yeah, most cops.

Erik Nilsson: 37:07

There's a couple good ones in there, um, but and I know that retired and that was hard to you because, like I would always have these little like touch bases with people, so, like we kind of guys telling you, when I was setting up is, in college I was like one of the first lift drivers because, like someone's like hey, do you know what's better than working at a restaurant just driving around whenever the hell you want to? And it was fun. But there's one time, one time, uh, elementary school friend named Andrew Hartnett got a. He got in my car and he's like you look really familiar. Did you go to Enzyme? I was like, yeah, did you? He's like, yeah, it's Eric Nielsen, right? I'm like, yeah, my Andrew Hartnett. He's like cool. He's like, oh my gosh, like do you have? Like just kind of, just like fell off. But like, oh my God, that's right. Like I haven't thought about him in a while. And he's like, well, like I mean, gotten has been in some trouble. Um, I think he's doing a little better now, but life's been hard for him.

Erik Nilsson: 37:59

And that's when I like pulled over for like 20 or 30 minutes and just open up Facebook. Pulled up your Facebook, angie's Facebook, and just I mean saw a lot of the like, the issues that he was going through and the demons that he was facing. But then also I mean it was good to catch up and see, you know, you guys have been doing, the shop has been doing, and it was fun to have that moment. And then I know I mean, then the next like true touch base was, I mean, like I said, when I was working in Seattle and I mean investment banking, where I was spending a hundred hours a week at the office and was there.

Erik Nilsson: 38:27

I think it was like a Thursday afternoon and I get a call from a friend, tony Farley, who I mean as a friend of mine we're not the best of friends, always excited to see him and catch up and would never expect a call from him out of the blue and then he's like hey, like, do you have a second Like, yeah, like, what's up? And he's like well, just wanted to be the one to tell you. I know that that was like an important person in your life. And then there's like, like, and I like it's like this sack of bricks to the face that I wasn't anticipating Thursday afternoon and it was. Yeah, it was just very eyeopening to to have that and see that and like just reminisce on him and you and Angie and like all of those relationships in my life.

Kevin Kirk: 39:08

Yeah, yeah, we were. We were fortunate to have that last year with Joey. You know, I don't know if you know we went looking for him in in California and found him and that fact, that story that's. It was 2016. He was hopping trains um, um with a friend and they got separated and say, you know, he would always keep in touch with with Angie no-transcript joey too because I had to pay for he was in a program. I had to pay for it and so I went back cutting meat part-time just to pay for that and I ended up staying there and got you, had the insurance and stuff. But so we went looking for him in california and, uh, went up the coat, found like a lot of his art, met people that knew him, like, oh, joey was here last week and you know, and people you know, all these- which has got to be like a hard scavenger hunt of like characters yeah, it was like, uh, yeah, it was, but we found, we went where the trains went and so we found his art.

Kevin Kirk: 40:24

You know, we, and it was actually it was we went to one little town and we went to the, to the police station, talked to the sheriff he's a good old boy, you know, and he's like, oh yeah, he goes. I, when the kids come through on the trains, I like to find out who's in my town, you know, and he goes. I remember Joey, he's a pleasant fella and he and he says, I give the, give the kids like a food thing to, you know, you know, get to kind of get to know who's in his town. And he, you know, he liked Joey, which was, you know, I thought, yeah, that is Joey, he could do that. He was like he had, really, he had kind of Angie's heart really. So anyway, we so, we so we hadn't found him, you know. So it was like sad, it was like, well, we got to go back, we got to go back home, angie's got to go back home and she's got to go back to work. I gotta go back to work.

Kevin Kirk: 41:16

We're driving down the, the freeway in uh, in northern california, and it's father's day and get a call in the car. Hey dad, happy father's day. It's joey. I'm like where the hell are you? Yeah, and he was in oakland and we were just, you know, not that far from. We were up like in roseville, okay, and so we went down, picked him up, um, and she found this really beautiful place to stay. Um had our own rooms and we ended up staying a few more days to call us like, yeah, we're not coming back, for you know, we're going to spend time with our son and he decided to go home with us and, uh, we talked to him. You know it's like I can't imagine.

Erik Nilsson: 41:42

How reassuring.

Kevin Kirk: 41:43

That is so. It was like so, angie, you know. So when we actually did lose him, she thought her timing was off. It was like it was. You know it's gonna happen, but it hadn't happened yet. So it gave us another year with him, which was a great year because, you know, we went to a lot of shows, joey and I. He came to a lot of the in-stores. He was painting houses with his friend making some money, um, he was going to, um, aa, you know, getting sober. He never, you know, he never got that deep into it. But enough, where he needed to, you know, he knew he needed to stop to, you know, and so he was really happy, he was really. Things were trending well. Yeah, he was doing very well.

Kevin Kirk: 42:15

Back the day that it happened, he was on his way to an, a meeting, and I was I usually don't, I didn't, usually didn't go home between jobs, like for meat shop, I'd go to the shop, um, take a nap, take a shower. You know I had a little bit of time before I'd open. In that day, in fact, joey drew that, that, uh, the bloody skull logo. He gave that to me for christmas. Before that, you know, the uh, our last christmas together, which would have been um, let's see, 2016. He drew it for me on christmas eve. Angie has had a video of him drawing it.

Kevin Kirk: 42:45

So what are you doing? I'm making dad a christmas present, so so, anyway, what I was going to pick up, we were doing I did t-shirts with that art and I was going to see if go to my printer, see it had other stuff I needed to pick up, and then we were going to do hoodies. I remember that and I went there. He wasn't there yet, and so my printer was in sandy and we'd moved to draper by then. So I'll just go home and have, you know know, have breakfast with Angie and Joey.

Kevin Kirk: 43:08

Kids were in school, my grandkids. So I went home and I actually made breakfast and we all had breakfast together. You know, I still picture Joey and the kid when I was leaving him saying you sure you don't want to ride? Oh, no, cause he was going up to paint houses with his friend and Jordan, yeah, jordan. And so Angie actually drove him to the track station and that's when he took that tracks and and he, you know, he took it a lot and he went there and he got off and the other train was coming in late, which Angie figured that out. She went and rode the trains and figured out the timing and everything. She figured out. This train was coming in late, it was fast. There was a no honk zone by the hospital.

Kevin Kirk: 43:51

Joey didn't see it, he watched. Angie watched the video. I couldn't watch the video. They don't show it right, as it happens, but right before I it happens, but right before um, I saw a little bit and I couldn't watch it. I was like I can't. Yeah, you know I can't. I wouldn't want her either. She wanted to find out what the hell happened. Yeah and uh, anyway, that that was the day. But we got yeah, we got another year with him, so it was nice yeah, I mean I'm so glad that.

Erik Nilsson: 44:11

Hey, thank you so much for sharing that story. That's, oh yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's. I mean I mean I was like filming me feel a little emotional about it, cause I mean he was at the end of the day. He had such a great heart. He had Angie's heart oh, definitely, and he and it's like kind of like sad, but just kind of kind of terms with it, but like, like, the two earliest best friends in my life have both passed away.

Erik Nilsson: 44:31

So there's a kid named Lucas Allen who grew up two streets down from me no-transcript little sister, uh, flaking on her name right now. And then I was like, oh, like, let's again like remind her. Let's pull up Facebook see how miss you and like, and I was like what? And then I pull up the obituary and like sad Cause they just went boating one day, got carbon monoxide poisoning. They were driving home. He's like I feel a little dizzy and then just like passes away in the back seat and then I mean Joey was my next best friend in fourth grade.

Erik Nilsson: 45:14

Like I had friends in between then but like not best friends I would spend almost every day with, and joey was that person and I mean so much time I spent there, I mean with angie, at your guy's house. It was such an influential part of my like introduction to the world and like I can't imagine or have asked for a better way to go through that. It's nice to hear and so and I know and it's amazing that you got an extra year with him that I mean operating on borrowed time, but then you also get to have that breakfast with him that you're like yeah like, and that was just, you know that that even happened.

Kevin Kirk: 45:41

Yeah, that, because I usually didn't go home. So anyway, yeah, yeah, but I wasn't, yeah, I certainly didn't expect that to happen. And then, and then losing angie so fast too, yeah, that's. But you know, when we lost joey, you know it that really that was really hard for angie, harder than it was hard for me, but it was much harder for her, yeah, cause they were very close. They were like different than than Angie and me and our relationship they were more like soulmates, like they. You know, that was her beautiful boy. Yeah, really yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 46:11

Taken away and too soon. And then I know, um, yeah, with Angie, cause I was back in Salt Lake at that time and cause I always wanted to go swing by the shop and I mean just pay my condolences for Joey and like the impact he had on my life, you guys had on my life and I always kick myself that I didn't. But and then when I saw I think it was an Instagram post that the Trib did or something about saying oh, I mean Angie Kirk, and I was like, oh, like that one. And I was like now I have to go swing by. And so that was when I came by and came and said yeah, see, that was something.

Kevin Kirk: 46:46

I had the shop, so I had the people, I had that whole community that I so I'd talk to people. You know I took like a month off when we lost Joey and then went back, but you know I had that was helpful for me being able to talk to. You know people and and, uh, you know people that love Joey.

Erik Nilsson: 47:02

Yeah, I mean that's the beauty of the community that you've worked for, I mean since 86, to to build and what you'd realize the strength of your community. When there are hard times you do need an arm around you and to feel supported during that.

Kevin Kirk: 47:14

So I'm so glad that yeah, Lots of love in this town. Yeah, and anybody that knew Angie, I mean they, yeah, so much love for her. A lot of people met her, like at the shop, because she would come. She had her office in the back and she'd be there if my kids were running around, you know, and and uh, or she'd come there on her lunch. You know, I saw her a lot at the shop, so people did meet her at the shop a lot.

Erik Nilsson: 47:33

Yeah, I don't think anybody could have met her and be like, uh, maybe not. Oh yeah, she'll even impact on you. Yeah and yeah, and that was at the. What street is that Downtown by Green Pig that you were on?

Kevin Kirk: 47:46

We were on Exchange Place, yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 47:47

Exchange Place. That's the one and I love. I can't remember whose tour bus it is, but it's someone. Oh, yeah, it was Travis Barker's. Yeah, travis Barker's tour bus out front and just I said I think you can Willing to try, and he and they did.

Kevin Kirk: 48:10

And then he came in with his kids, um, he bought, bought them metal shop shirts, that's so cool. And then he bought that murder in the front row book which is about the San Francisco Bay, uh, bay area. Thrashing yeah, um, you know, exodus and Slayer. That's so sick yeah.

Erik Nilsson: 48:20

Yeah, I mean and that's just one of many.

Kevin Kirk: 48:22

I mean this has always been kind of like the if you're going to Salt Lake and you're a rock band, like yeah, we got to go pay respects to heavy metal, I guess, if you stick around long enough cause it's yeah, Well, I guess that that happened early on too, but yeah, more so you know, in the business Totally and, yeah, a lot of the musicians that come in and it's been wonderful.

Erik Nilsson: 48:42

Let's do like a couple more minutes. I just want to ask three questions actually. So first is I mean now you're, I mean in this new location on 9th South in Maven District. I mean, what do you look forward for the future outside of?

Kevin Kirk: 48:55

Well, I love it here. In fact, when I first moved in, it was right off and I'd only signed a year lease. I told myself I want to sign a five-year lease because this is the place. Yeah, Kind of like when the Mormons got here Same way.

Kevin Kirk: 49:06

This is the place yeah this is the place and I love all the. It's the Maven District, so it's all these women that own these businesses. I'm the only guy in here. Yeah, there's guys that, as far as shop owners, and I had to meet with them before and my real estate lady was a you know a lady too, and she found this place for me right when I I had to move, so it was perfect timing, but I had to meet with them. I was like, oh shit, they're not gonna want the heavy metal, like guys.

Kevin Kirk: 49:32

So I, that morning, I met with them. Uh, it's across the street and I I'm walking down the sidewalk and this lady's walking. I said, oh, good morning, you know, just, just, you know being nice, saying hello, we go inside. And this lady's walking. I said, oh, good morning, you know, just, just, you know being nice, saying hello, we go inside and we, she's one, she's like the main lady. She says, oh, I had a good feeling about you, cause once we started talking, I was like, oh good, I'm glad I wasn't a dick, yeah, and uh, yeah, so right off, yeah. So there was like five or six ladies and I talked. You know, they knew about the shop. You're like, oh yeah, we know, you know, I guess seeing shirts, yeah, you'd have to be blind to not. They didn't know me personally, but then, you know, then they met me and moved in. It's just been. You know, great neighbors become friends with. They all have big dogs. I got my little Chihuahua dog and yeah, it's just a great, great neighborhood.

Erik Nilsson: 50:16

Yeah, no, I'm excited for the like the neighborhood's great and blowing up.

Kevin Kirk: 50:20

And we got wiener dog races in September, which we did that for the block party last year.

Erik Nilsson: 50:25

Oh, hell yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 50:26

Which was huge, you know. And then I find out the owners they have wiener dogs and they brought their dogs down for the races, yeah, so it was like it was a very serendipitous, the whole thing Totally.

Erik Nilsson: 50:35

It's all these signs that come together. It we think.

Kevin Kirk: 50:37

Angie is is behind the good things, you know.

Erik Nilsson: 50:40

I don't doubt it for a second Her and Joey yeah, they're, they're, they're, they're nudging you along in the right direction.

Kevin Kirk: 50:46

And I can, you know, almost hear her laughing a lot of the times. You know, just like Jesus Christ.

Erik Nilsson: 50:50

Yeah, still there. So last two questions I always end with with everybody is first, if you could have someone on the Small Lake City podcast and hear more about them, their story, what they're up to. Who do you want to hear from? Oh, people in salt lake yeah, well, let's see.

Kevin Kirk: 51:03

Hmm, brad wheeler is kind of a. He's helped me a lot. He does. He emcees our wiener dog races, okay, um, and he used to. He used to have a show on krcl. He had me on there a lot, oh, interesting, so he's our wiener dog guy. So that'd be a good I mean a good interview about.

Kevin Kirk: 51:19

I grew up with a wiener dog, so I actually we did the races. We did it. In fact, joey was there for the 30th party. That was our first wiener dog race and I had brad and he loved. He doesn't have a wiener dog, but he's like I'm, he said. Instead, watching them race is like visual poetry, yeah, and so so he actually has done other events wiener dog races. We bought some astroturf and he did one up at the at the mill creek commons, yeah, and they had, I don't know, hundreds of dogs, thousands of people. It was huge and I told and he thanked me, so thanks for you know, introducing me to this whole thing and I said, well, you know, you took it to the mountain because you, so that would be something to interview about. Wiener dog my.

Erik Nilsson: 51:58

I grew up with the wiener dog. I would love my mother, would love it more than anything.

Kevin Kirk: 52:01

She's the biggest yeah, we and she had. We still have angie's wiener dog at home, like he's. He's a little too old to be hanging out here well ages.

Erik Nilsson: 52:11

We're about the same age, um, and then I guess, lastly, uh, if you want to find out more information about you, the heavy metal shop, I mean, what's the best place?

Kevin Kirk: 52:19

to find that. Oh, just probably on our Instagram heavy metal shop, salt Lake city. I have one on there. It's just a heavy metal shop. In fact Joey got me to. He's like you got to have an Instagram and I'm like, yeah, sure, I did it and I, you know, I made one with an old email and never did anything with it. So that's like in's just, you know, and it's got one picture and then I comment on their. Go to my. You know my real one. Yeah, I knew everyone Interesting.

Erik Nilsson: 52:43

Yeah, I mean, it's a fun follow. Yeah, there's a lot of fun things that happen at the shop. Well, thank you yeah.

Kevin Kirk: 52:55

I love doing it. So, yeah, thank you. Sorry for hitting that microphone.

Erik Nilsson: 52:58

Hey, you can beat it up all you want. No worries, yeah, no thanks for everything. Thanks for everything you've done for the city. Thanks for what you've done for me. Excited to have this be a part of the city moving forward.

Kevin Kirk: 53:06

Well, that's nice to hear that you know our family had an impact on you.

Erik Nilsson: 53:10

I would guess I'm not the only one, so thanks for everything that you've done.