Lochwood resident Lindsay Graham is taking his history podcasts on the road. Photo by Jordan Fraker.
East Dallas resident Lindsay Graham is taking his history podcasts on the road across the country, and his first stop is at the Granada Theater on March 6.
“The Days That Made America Tour” will infuse elements of Graham’s podcasts American History Tellers, American Scandal and History Daily with live music. The narrative will focus on six key moments in U.S. history, and no, Graham didn’t say which moments he would pick so that it can be a surprise for the audience.
“I want to bring elements of all of those shows into this live event and have it more be a variety show,” Graham said. “Each of those six days is told in a very different manner. I’ve deliberately made this so that it’s not six days in the same manner, rinse and repeat. Each one of those is going to be a little event to itself.”
Graham started American History Tellers in 2018, and American Scandal came out about six months later. Then, he started History Daily in 2021. The Preston Hollow native lives in Lochwood and records his podcasts in Junius Heights. Read on for more information about him and his live show:
Where does your interest in history come from?
I’m not trained as a historian. There’s no reason for me to be doing what I’m doing if you look at my resume. I think an interest in history was brewed early in me. A lot of my best teachers happened to be the history teachers, and they rose to the fore because they told stories. They were captivating, and they made history much more than just dates and names. When I went to college, I had imagined that I would be a history teacher. I think that was naivete just because I hadn’t known anything really but teachers in my life. My dad was an engineer. My mom didn’t really work. She then became a teacher, so I didn’t have a lot of exposure to the wider world, so being a teacher, that’s what was modeled for me. I changed tack in college and moved to business because that was much more practical, and honestly, the company I was working for at the time, part-time, offered tuition reimbursement for business classes. There’s a big incentive to switch majors. But it’s always been there in the background, and as I grew older, I started reading less fiction and more nonfiction. And I think it’s a standard path; it’s almost a cliche (that) as a man gets older, he starts getting interested in history. But I was there all the time. And then, of course, this certainly brought that to a much bigger conclusion. It wasn’t, ‘I’m just interested in history.’ It’s now, ‘My career is in history.’
How did you choose these six moments you’ll be featuring in your show?
We’re celebrating the 250th anniversary of the nation, America’s birthday on July 4. And everyone knows July 4, but that was certainly not the most consequential of days in America’s history. So I started thinking about what other ones are there, and what does that say about our nation? They indicate that we’ve been in flux and in change and rethinking what America means the entire time. Even the signing of the Constitution, that was our second constitution. We had to redo it because the first one wasn’t working. And I wanted to take that idea that there was no birthday in America. We just didn’t come fully formed as a nation. We’ve been evolving ever since, and we continue to evolve. The days that made America are today and tomorrow as much as they are any other day in the past. So I picked six. One is obvious, four are less obvious, and each one has a different character — good, bad, inspiring, defeating, and then a sixth one that is very personal to me.
How important was it to have that live band?
I think half the reason for the live show is just an excuse to get up and play guitar in front of an audience. It’s been 20 or 30 years since I’ve done that, and I’ve never stopped playing guitar or really enjoying the music production and playing music, but I haven’t been doing it, so this was a fantastic excuse to do it. And it’s funny, some of the musicians I most admired back in my days when I would go to Deep Ellum and see these bands live and then later, a few years later, record them in my studio, I get to play with them now because I would call them up, and we put together a band. And so I’m really, really excited about that prospect. They will be playing most of the music because I will be busy doing other things on stage. But there will be some moments in which the three piece will suddenly become a four piece, and we’ll get through some songs. It’s all original. So we’re not playing covers or anything. It’s a fun time.
Is this a show that kids of a certain age can come to?
Absolutely, it is. When I set up that website to ask where listeners lived (to plan the tour route), I gave them an opportunity to leave me a note, and I got probably most of the notes that weren’t just like, ‘Love the show,’ most of the notes were from families saying, ‘I listen in the car every day with my 10-year-old son. He’s a history fanatic,’ or, ‘I listen with my dad,’ or, ‘My brother lives across the country, but we talk about the show. It’s something that brought us together.’ That happens way more than I thought. No. 1, that’s very encouraging to me because I can look at my podcast analytics and say a good percentage of those downloads are actually not just one person but maybe two or three people listening to that show. So my audience is probably bigger than I think it is. No. 2, man, it’s just heartwarming. I haven’t whitewashed (the show), but it is appropriate for middle schoolers, upper elementary schoolers, probably 10+. It’s an all-ages show, and I expect there to be quite a few families.
What does your family think about your tour?
They’re delighted. My daughter has shown a real interest in theater and musical theater in particular. The idea that her dad is kind of doing the same thing (ish, I’m not singing anywhere), is, I think, encouraging to her. We have a similar language, like, ‘How were rehearsals?’ We can say that to each other, so that shared language is interesting. And our daughter is now a preteen, getting into the high school age, and this is a moment in which my wife and I also, it’s a little less hands on. So we have more time to ourselves, to be ourselves. And so I think my wife is delighted that I get to go play guitar for people knowing who I am. I think it’s a good experience for everyone.
Do you like living in Lochwood?
We really enjoy it. Garland Road can get a bit busy or rambunctious sometimes, and we’re not too far away from it. But I like the neighborhood. It doesn’t feel suburban or ex-urban. Certainly, there’s not like a Chick-fil-A on every corner or whatever that you might get in North Dallas, but it feels very family-oriented. It’s probably the smallest suburban experience you can get in the city of Dallas. It’s right next to White Rock Lake, and our daughter’s school, which is fantastic, is nearby. There’s a lot to be said for it.
“The Days That Made America Tour” is expected to start at 8 p.m. Friday, March 6. As of this writing, the cheapest tickets are $46.51 and can be bought here.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
