MOONSHINE
ioned way means that I mix
everything by hand, add in
gredients by hand. Modern
stills run off an iPad. You set
it all up on the computer,” he
said. “And it’s more efficient. It
strips the alcohol out better, but
you don’t get all the flavor. It’s
the byproducts, the com and
the sugar that make it taste so
good.”
Bradford said he uses the
freshest com he can get his
hands on to make sure his
moonshine tastes good.
“It’s really difficult to find
com this fresh. It’s the ground
com meal that gives it this great
com flavor,” Bradford said.
The first process is called
mashing. It involves mixing
com and water and cooking it,
and then adding lots of sugar,
Bradford said.
“The whole process takes
hours and hours,” Bradford
said.
Bradford calls the next piece
of the process a run. It’s the
distilling process, extracting
the alcohol. Alcohol evaporates
before water, so when Bradford
heats the liquid, the alcohol and
water separate.
“So the pot heats up and
keeps the liquid, which pushes
the liquor through a pipe. It
is then cooled down again,”
Bradford said.
continued from page 6
The alcohol goes from being
a liquid, to a gas, and then back
to a liquid.
“We actually add some beer
in, it brings the proof up. It’s
weird how that works,” Brad
ford said.
When Howling Moon Dis
tillery first opened, Bradford
worked 18 hours a day, seven
days a week, and they only had
one still. Now, Howling Moon
has three stills, and Bradford’s
working day has shrank to 13
hours.
Dan Pierce, a professor of
history, department chair and
recent author of “Com from a
Jar: Moonshining in the Great
Smoky Mountains,” said Brad
ford’s moonshine is available
in ABC stores. There are tradi
tional, strawberry and apple pie
flavors.
“We should support UNCA’s
alumni. If you’ve got a mind
to drink moonshine. I’d rec
ommend you drink Cody’s,”
Pierce said.
Bradford said that he loves
what he does, and doesn’t have
any plans to stop.
“If I ever did sell it. I’d just
turn around and open up an
other one. I’m still gonna do it
either way,” Bradford said.
KELLY
continued from page 8
do all that with so many camera
angles flashing because I kind
of wanted it to resemble ‘Para
dise City’ where at the end of
the video it’s just all these shots
and clips,” Kelly said.
The next step for the band is
working with Jack Mascari, a
local producer who, according
to Kelly, has a close relation
ship with the Allman Brothers’
guitarist Warren Haynes.
“This next record that we’re
working on is going to be
shopped and worked toward
that angle. We have a big name
and a guy I really look up to in
Jack that is going to take this
album, produce it with us and
really do a lot of work to get
this thing big,” Kelly said.
In the meantime, Kelly said
the band works hard every day
to make the record possible.
“We’re playing gigs Thurs
day, Friday, Saturday, and then
we take Monday and Tuesday
and we work hard in the stu
dio. Wednesday, we gear up to
get back on the road again. We
don’t even rehearse anymore,”
Kelly said.
Whether playing for friends
in local bars or touring for two
weeks in Europe, Kelly said it’s
all still work.
“As crazy and fun as it might
seem, and partying and all that
kind of shit, there has to be a
uniform understanding no mat
ter, what like a job. But it’s a
fun job,” he said.
ARTS
FUTUREBIRDS
continued from page 9
you’re inspired or it’s coming to you, you get
that down,” Johnson said.
The name of the Futurebirds’ album comes
from Russian folklore. In the legend. Baba
Yaga was a witch who lived in a house made of
chicken legs. She would provide the protago
nist with something essential to his quest, but
she would often destroy people’s lives. John
son said they chose the title because they felt
it was a metaphor for the record itself. John
son emphasized that the album was difficult to
make and had the potential to destroy the band,
but they had to get through it to get to what
they ultimately wanted to do.
The new album has a variety of songs. Den
nis Love, a member of the band, says his fa
vorite track from the album is “Virginia Slims”
or “Dig.”
“It changes nightly. The songs that you play
the least or the songs we’ve just started play
ing are typically my favorite to play,” Johnson
said.
It was harder from Johnson to pick a favorite.
According to Johnson, picking a favorite song
proves as hard as picking a favorite child.
The band tries to keep a group mindset on
and off the road. Johnson says as a group they
try to focus on being considerate, selfless and
have as much of a group view as possible.
The group has a casual relaxed feel to it. The
band members lightly make fun of each other.
“We mainly just talk ... about each other be
hind each other’s backs and wait ‘til it comes
to a boiling point and it explodes, and we just
hate each other for the rest of our lives,” John
son joked.
Johnson recognized the stress of being on the
road and the strain it puts on the band.
“On some level deep down in there we’re
friends,” he said.
After the band’s performance in Asheville,
they will continue to tour to gather support for
the band. Futurebirds hope to grow and be
come more successful and widely recognized.
Miles emphasized that they were still waiting
for that million dollar deal.
SGA
continued from page 7
dally effective.
“At a larger school I might get stuck sending
countless emails or having meetings postponed
with important members of the university com
munity. In student government, I find it easy to
get in touch with the faculty and staff members
who I need to help make changes on campus,”
Zeman said.
Zeman said her heart is set on a politically
oriented career, preferably on a global scale.
Her ultimate goal is to attend law school and
work in international law.
“A political pet peeve of mine is American
exceptionalism in international law and our
nation’s reluctance to cooperate on a global
level,” Zeman said.
Three months spent in Japan this past sum
mer gave her a good handle on speaking Japa
nese.
Zeman is clearly on her way to a global po
litical career.
SKATE
continued from page 7
remarkable degree of reservation.
“It was great. I’m not really big on it. I
don’t really care. I just skate to skate,”
Webb said.
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