This episode delves into the remarkable legacy of Old Arthur's Barbecue, as we engage in a profound discussion with Udell Watts IV, a descendant of Old Arthur himself. Throughout our dialogue, we explore the fascinating anecdotes surrounding Old Arthur's life, including his resilience and the poignant narrative of his longevity. A pivotal theme emerges as we examine the integral connection between the exceptional flavor of Old Arthur's sauces and the rich history that informs them. The conversation further highlights the significance of storytelling in enhancing consumer engagement and appreciation for culinary products. As we reflect on the journey of establishing a brand rooted in tradition, we contemplate the aspirations for Old Arthur's future in the competitive market of barbecue sauces and seasonings.
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Transcripts
Speaker A:
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
Speaker A:
The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:
Hey, everybody, it's JT and this is a special version of Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:
It is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:
Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:
That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:
Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:
I'm JT along with Leanne Whippen and Udell Watts.
Speaker A:
The fourth comes from a long line of Udells, and he and his family own and operate Old Arthur's barbecue sauces and seasonings from his great, great grandfather, Old Arthur.
Speaker A:
That's his picture on the label.
Speaker B:
Yeah, it's from a photo from:
Speaker A:
Well, there you go.
Speaker A:
So out of all of this and as you keep uncovering more stories about Old Arthur.
Speaker A:
And he was just a tough guy, but he kind of had to be.
Speaker A:
What's.
Speaker A:
What do you think is the most fascinating thing you've uncovered so far, Udell?
Speaker B:
There's so many interesting components to his life.
Speaker B:
It's the.
Speaker B:
The.
Speaker B:
For me, the, the most mind boggling piece is the whole concept of I'll never die broke.
Speaker B:
You know, the silver dollar story.
Speaker B:
That's just hard to fathom.
Speaker B:
How hardy are you as an individual that you can go through something like that at the age of 6 or 7 and still make it to 108 years of age, actually have an accident.
Speaker B:
He didn't die.
Speaker B:
Have a natural death at 108.
Speaker B:
He had an accident that took his life and, you know, he had still had four years left in the tank, we think.
Speaker C:
Wow.
Speaker A:
Well, yeah, that's, and that's kind of a sad story, but that's why I was talking about having a horse and wagon that would get, you know, aim at home and go take, take your nap.
Speaker A:
Maybe he was asleep when that happened.
Speaker A:
I hope so.
Speaker B:
Oh, he's definitely asleep.
Speaker A:
Yeah, that would be a good thing because if it wasn't, you wouldn't go out so calmly.
Speaker A:
Excuse me.
Speaker A:
Gosh.
Speaker C:
Bless you.
Speaker A:
Thank you.
Speaker A:
When you're, when you're out there trying to get your sauces and rubs in a, in a store, do, do folks you talking to, do they really have, do they develop, I should say, a big interest if they don't know the story of Old Arthur?
Speaker B:
You know, it's interesting if they don't know the story and they just taste it.
Speaker B:
They taste how exceptional the flavor is and that it's different than most other sauces and, or rubs that they've had.
Speaker B:
But it's not until they hear the story that they get that it's in context that they understand why.
Speaker B:
When you stop and realize that one man hands hand over the course of almost a century worth of refinement, that's why, you know, the flavor profile is so layered, so rich and so complex.
Speaker B:
You know, when you.
Speaker B:
If they taste it standalone, they taste the difference.
Speaker B:
It's just good.
Speaker B:
But when they.
Speaker B:
When you tell them the story, the history, now they've got to try it and they're hooked.
Speaker B:
Usually.
Speaker A:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
So our repeat businesses, pretty dramatic.
Speaker A:
Well, that's great.
Speaker A:
And I can see this going clear across the country.
Speaker A:
Leanne and I have some experience with both those things.
Speaker A:
But it's such a fascinating story.
Speaker A:
And, you know, I was going to tell you, I think somebody knew the story of Old Arthur in the Pirates are in the.
Speaker A:
There was a movie called Master and Commander with Russell Crowe, and that guy got shot in the head and they took a coin and they put it and they stitched it into his head.
Speaker A:
So they must have known Old Arthur copycats there on that story.
Speaker B:
No one said that before.
Speaker B:
I have to look for that movie.
Speaker A:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:
It's true.
Speaker A:
They.
Speaker A:
And they.
Speaker A:
They kind of show it, but the doctor, they get a silver doubloon or a piece of metal of some sort, but it looks like a coin, and they punch a couple holes in it and they basically kind of stitch it, nail it into this guy's forehead.
Speaker A:
I was thinking about that when we were talking there about Old Arthur.
Speaker A:
Do you.
Speaker A:
Where do you see Old Arthur's going?
Speaker B:
You know, that's a tough question.
Speaker B:
My goal.
Speaker B:
My goal with Old Arthur is I want to see it as a retail success.
Speaker B:
There are few brands, if any, that have the legacy that we have already.
Speaker B:
Into the brand itself.
Speaker B:
I don't see love for it to be immediate, but, you know, it's gonna take time.
Speaker B:
But I don't see any reason why, you know, a few years from now, Old Arthur's products aren't available pretty much in any of your big grocers across the country.
Speaker B:
That's my goal.
Speaker B:
That's what I'm trying to get to.
Speaker B:
We have a long way to go.
Speaker B:
Yeah, we're at the very beginning, but I believe that it's possible.
Speaker A:
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:
You got a great product and a great story, and having that great story is half the battle, I think.
Speaker A:
Yeah, you know, it can really.
Speaker B:
Interestingly, we, you know, we first got started and we were approaching, like, a lot of the barbecue supply specialty houses south.
Speaker B:
So we're In Illinois and I did a quick road trip down through like Missouri, Tennessee and where else I go, like Kentucky.
Speaker B:
And so I just hit some barbecue specialty places and the consensus was really like your stuff, it tastes fantastic.
Speaker B:
But you know, do you guys compete?
Speaker B:
And we don't.
Speaker B:
We've never really competed, we've never been tournament tested.
Speaker B:
And he's like, well, you know, they would ask, do you guys compete?
Speaker B:
What have you won?
Speaker B:
And so I didn't really have anything to fall back on.
Speaker B:
But if you look at like, you know, this NBBQA award that we just received, it's one of several that we've received like this in the last couple of years now.
Speaker B:
But this is a big validation for us that our flavor profile is acceptable to the NBBQA judges.
Speaker B:
So it's a big deal for us.
Speaker B:
In order to be able to go,.
Speaker C:
It is because you're against the best of the best.
Speaker C:
And you know, the retail market in sauces and rubs, it's just exploded.
Speaker C:
I mean there's so many.
Speaker C:
You get cross eyed.
Speaker C:
I love your label.
Speaker C:
I think it's eye catching, the story.
Speaker C:
Yeah, it does help to have these awards.
Speaker C:
You know, people are going to ask that question and to get a first place at the National Barbecue association, that is a huge accolade.
Speaker C:
So it definitely is a testament.
Speaker C:
And run with it.
Speaker C:
Run, run, run.
Speaker B:
That's the plan.
Speaker A:
He's gonna.
Speaker A:
So how much barbecue do you eat every week?
Speaker B:
Oh, you know what, my grill, I got brisket or pastrami on right now.
Speaker B:
So we, if I'm home, my smoker is usually rolling.
Speaker A:
Ah, I like that.
Speaker A:
I like that.
Speaker A:
Because when we get done with this show, I'm going to go throw some ribs on one of the smokers out there.
Speaker A:
So I'm with you all the way.
Speaker A:
What does your wife think about this?
Speaker B:
You know, she's funny.
Speaker B:
We've been together now, we're coming up on 30 years.
Speaker B:
We've been married for almost 30 years.
Speaker C:
Wow, congrats.
Speaker B:
Thank you.
Speaker B:
And she always says the same thing.
Speaker B:
She remembers the first time that we road trip from Chicago together back to my family's home on the other side of the state.
Speaker B:
And my, my dad had made barbecue and you know, she grew up in Chicago, ate at some of the famous Chicago barbecue spots over the years and she just, she always says she remembers the first time she tasted like our barbecue sauce and she was absolutely amazed at how rich and different the flavor was.
Speaker B:
And she's like, this is incredible.
Speaker B:
This is better than anything I've ever had.
Speaker B:
Before, so she's always been a fan, and I think she's probably wondering why we didn't try to do anything with it sooner.
Speaker A:
Yeah, they'll do that.
Speaker A:
They'll question why you didn't.
Speaker A:
Why all of a sudden you got an epiphany one day and you should have thought of it 20 years before.
Speaker A:
I've been through that.
Speaker A:
So it's all good.
Speaker A:
It's all good.
Speaker A:
Leanne would never do that, though.
Speaker C:
What do you mean?
Speaker C:
I wouldn't do what?
Speaker A:
I was just seeing if you're awake there.
Speaker C:
I'm awake.
Speaker C:
I am totally awake.
Speaker C:
So he eats barbecue a lot.
Speaker C:
That's good.
Speaker C:
I do, too.
Speaker C:
Yeah, you guys are talking about meat.
Speaker C:
I'm going to smoke some fish and do a smoked fish dip after this.
Speaker A:
There you go.
Speaker A:
You, Dell Watts IV from Old Arthur's Barbecue.
Speaker A:
I want to thank you for joining us here on After HOURS today.
Speaker A:
It's a pleasure.
Speaker A:
And, man, do I wish you the best of luck with.
Speaker A:
Out there with Old Arthur's brand of sauces and seasonings, rubs, if you will.
Speaker C:
What.
Speaker C:
What is the social media handle?
Speaker C:
Is it Old Arthur's Barbecue or what is it like on Instagram?
Speaker B:
Instagram is.
Speaker B:
It's Old Arthur's Barbecue, and if you just look up Old Arthur's, we're the first thing that pops up.
Speaker C:
Well, when you do that traditional barbecue that you're talking about doing down the road, please extend an invite.
Speaker C:
Yeah, we would love to have some.
Speaker A:
We'll be there for.
Speaker B:
Certainly do that.
Speaker A:
We'll be there for lunch or dinner.
Speaker A:
I guarantee it.
Speaker A:
You know, we have direct flights to Chicago, like, every three hours out of Portland, so it's not a hard deal to get there.
Speaker A:
Udell Watts, before, thank you so much, man.
Speaker A:
It's been great to hear your story.
Speaker A:
We will have you back again one of these days.
Speaker A:
And I really appreciate your time, bud.
Speaker C:
Yes, thank you.
Speaker C:
And congratulations on your success and your future success.
Speaker A:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker B:
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker A:
You're welcome.
Speaker A:
We'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:
Until then, remember our motto, turn it, don't burn it, and go out there and smoke or grill or barbecue something.
