Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 469
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Kevin Godbee - Sep 7, 2021
- 1 min read
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 469! Our featured interview tonight is with Jody Davis. Jody is a renowned pipe artisan, and the lead guitar player for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band, The Newsboys. His pipes are extremely high quality with Danish style designs, and they are not easy to come by. We will talk about the process of creating a new pipe shape, which Jody has done. It is called the Amore, which is a variation of a heart shape. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss his thoughts on when you should buy a pipe. It is in response to Country Squire Radio’s recent episode on the same topic. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
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The Pipes Magazine Radio Show features interviews with pipe makers, tobacco blenders, pipe and tobacco aficionados, collectors, and more. Episodes air every Tuesday.
Our show is sponsored by SmokingPipes.com, Cornell & Diehl, Missouri Meerschaum, Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 687. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is Canadian pipe maker Evan Wiseman. Evan has been making pipes for ten years (minus a two year break) and is quite well-known and respected in the field. His path started with cigars in college, but they became too expensive, so he switched to smoking pipes, and then decided to make them. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 686. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the founder of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Mike started his podcast in 2018 and turned over the show to new co-hosts Bo Parker and Jay Furman in January 2025. Now that Mike hasn’t been doing the podcast, he has even more time for pipe smoking, collecting and going to pipe shows. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the Las Vegas International Pipe Show that just occurred the last weekend in October.
The 2025 Vegas Pipe Show was a whirlwind of handshakes, conversations, friends new and old, in what has come to be a very social event of the year, and of course, the obligatory pictures of Nate King getting two double-doubles from In-N-Out on the daily. See previous years’ posts about that ongoing joke. The show really kicks off early every year with many folks arriving Thursday and Friday to head to the 14th floor, which is an all-smoking floor, room-hopping, enjoying the smoking lounge, and then the registration/check-in table opens Friday evening. This year, I arrived at the back of the line just in time to snag my tickets, and then our small group was off to Cleaver, which is a hidden secret in a Vegas strip mall. With more attendees, the show did look a bit more crowded down the aisles, and there was rarely a spare seat in the smoking lounge area. I chatted with Brian after the show, talking about this year’s changes, challenges, and numbers. The geopolitical environment (tariffs) affected a decent number of the international crowd, so we had a handful fewer tables this year, but the delta was made up by more attendees than last year. Domestically as well, some of the tariff costs were impacting folks who bought fewer tables than before, as they had to absorb those additional costs. Without some sponsorship this year from MacBaren and Sutliff, the show barely made it financially, just breaking even. The show had around 455 attendees and vendors, adding around 50 more than previous years. Additionally, there were fewer hotel nights booked where folks opted for 1-2 night stays compared to 3-4 night stays in years past. Next year, the show will be on Oct 23-25, 2026, and registration will open early on November 17th of this year so that you can reserve your spot! Preliminary prices may include some discounts for early registration as well. At this year’s Vegas Pipe Show round-up, I’ve got a handful of things to share in no particular order: a new carver interview, a new product, an old product, an insane carver, and things set on fire… I guess, really, the usual. So strap in! New Carver Spotlight: Dan Butler I met up with Dan, by suggestion of Neal Osborn, and chatted with him as the pipe community’s newest pipe carver. James: You’ve been carving for a little over a year and sold out this year at the show. How did you get into pipe carving? Dan: Well, I’ve been a pipe smoker for about 10 years or so, and I’ve always wanted to give it a shot for myself. You know, I always wanted to do it for myself, but there were always things that got in the way — until my wife, on my 30th birthday, got me a pipe-carving kit, and I carved it up. But I wasn’t happy. I couldn’t stand having the pre-formed stem on it once I carved the stummel. So at that point, I wanted to do it for years. I had researched it many times. I finally just bit the bullet, got the lathe, and then everything snowballed. James: Did you do any of the Chicago, like the workshop or seminar, or anything? Dan: No, haven’t done that yet. I hadn’t done any workshops. The thing that made the most significant difference for me is that I haven’t worked with anybody in person, but I did start talking with Jeff Gracik. He has a fantastic way of talking to you or getting feedback, where he’ll tell you what’s wrong without making you feel bad. You want to be better for him, you know. So, yeah, I think his critiques and help are responsible for a lot of the growth I’ve seen over the past year. Just having the right critiques and then digesting them with his help has made a massive difference for me. James: What has been the pipe shape that you feel you’ve nailed and you focus on? Dan: I got a kind of a weird answer, because I think it’s honestly the Fugu to say that I nailed the Fugu shape. 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And so that’s maybe why I would say the fugu was good: because of all the failed iterations, finally leading to the two here at the show —the first two I’ve sold. And even though they’re not perfect, it was still so satisfying to go through that process and then share. You can catch Dan next at the 2026 Chicago Show sporting some more pipes. Adam Davidson Torch Pipe James: How did this new “torch” pipe come about? Adam: The inspiration actually came from me smoking meat a couple of weeks before the show. I had a partially burned piece of oak in my smoker, and thought the charred crackle was so pretty, […]
A number of years ago, I was fortunate to be able to visit historic Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va. The famous military stronghold in later years became a museum and a national monument. It was notable for its place in history at the end of the Civil War for the incarceration of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. Much later in a pipe shop in Atlanta, Ga., I came across a remarkably close replica of the Davis pipe. Mine is now quite nicely colored with age, which reminds me not of nostalgia for the man, but of the unexpected ways history is often embedded in objects we encounter. In my tour of the fort that day, I was drawn like a magnet to metal to a glass display featuring the meerschaum pipe Davis smoked during his incarceration. As a longtime admirer and collector of meerschaum pipes, I was enthralled by the fact that Davis smoked a meer, and the stunning beauty of that pipe. Meerschaum is mined from a rare mineral located in deep underground Turkey. Meerschaum is molded from mounds of seashells pressed for eons in deep mines once on a sea floor. It is porous, light and produces a gentle, cool, and dry smoke. Meers are also prized for their artistic aspects. When the meerschaum is first brought up from deep mines in Turkey, the material is soft and can be carved. Skilled artisans carve a wide variety of shapes, from mythological scenes and realistic figures to intricate patterns and abstract designs. Each pipe is a work of art. These unique shapes become highly prized in a collection, such as Pundit has worked toward for years, reflecting both my passion for pipe artistry and my interest in the way such objects serve as vessels of personal and historical stories. I fell in love with meerschaums the first time I saw them on display in that Atlanta pipe shop. I just had to have one and have been hooked since. My meer collection is a large part of my present pipe herd. Thus, the Davis replica. However, my love of history extends beyond artifacts. I have been fortunate to interview Shelby Foote, the renowned Civil War historian and author, several times. Foote, himself a dedicated pipe smoker who blended his own tobaccos, often spoke about how pipes were an integral part of his writing routine. His insights remind me that objects like pipes can serve as quiet witnesses to history—connecting us to the past, while also inviting us to reflect on its complexities. Research has turned up several notable meer pipe enthusiasts, including poet Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Dunhill, known for manufacturing the majestic Dunhill pipes—of which Pundit has snagged a few—and Albert Einstein, whose image also appears on meers. A couple of reasons why meerschaum pipes are quite popular now is craftsmanship and cool smoking properties are highly appealing. And the more a meer is smoked, it develops a patina that darkens the pipe. The creation of a beautifully smoked meer is a kind of personal history of the pipe smoker’s preferences. As a point of pride, Turkey’s government halted the export of freshly mined meerschaum in the 1970s, according to online reports, to safeguard its national carving commerce. This also ensured training new pipe makers with crafting skills for carving meers remained strong. Now for some notable quotes from Pipe Smokers of the Past: Walter Cronkite was born Nov. 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Mo., and died July 17, 2009, in New York City. “Uncle Walter” was the top broadcast journalist for CBS for 19 years. He smoked a Wilke pipe and Wilke’s Mixture 72, according to research on his pipe and tobacco preferences. And that’s the way it is. I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got—Walter Cronkite Archibald Alec Leach (aka Cary Grant) was born Jan. 18, 1904, and died Nov. 29, 1986. Grant, the famous American film star, was born in Bristol, England, before his movie acting days in the U.S. He notably smoked pipes and pipe tobacco especially blended for him by Kramer’s Pipe Shop in Beverly Hills, Calif. The blend was the “Blend for Cary Grant.” It was a mild English aromatic mixture of Virginia, Latakia, Orientals, Black Cavendish, and a light Irish Mist for flavoring, according to his printed history. Destiny is not necessarily what we get out of life, but rather, what we give—Cary Grant And a Parting Thought: Many days we worry about small things in life, but our pipes and tobacco invite us to reflect, keeping us rooted in the occurrences that really matter.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 685. Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Garret Woo. He has an undergraduate degree in Classics from UC Santa Barbara. He was a teacher for a while, and then a private investigator working with his dad that is a former FBI agent. Now he is a durometer technician and pipemaker living in West LA. He started smoking pipes when he was 18 years old. At the top of the show in Pipe Parts, Brian answers a listener’s question on how to smooth down a blend.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 684. Our featured interview tonight is with Skeet Stribling from The Story Teller’s Pipe online pipe and tobacco shop. Skeet first took up pipe smoking in college. In later years, his friend Sean blended tobaccos for him, and he was the original owner of The Story Teller’s Pipe. When Sean decided to retire, Skeet, also in retirement took over the online store which he runs with his wife Cindi. He is continuing Sean’s blends and has added some new ones. Check out their store if you’re looking for some new unique tobaccos to try. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Jody’s description of the creative process involved in producing the Amore pipe was absolutely fascinating. However, the sound was extremely annoying. It was as if Jody was busy building an ark for the coming rains as he popped into whatever crappy devise he was using. Great conversation, lousy sound.
I loved the song from “Pops.” You can never go wrong with Mr. Armstrong.
Your closing remarks were quite affecting, real and will probably help someone who needs a “perk-up.” Nicely done. Thanks.
Dino
As always a good show. The pipe parts segment was good discussion of the factors that go into selecting a pipe. Assuming the pipe is in the guy’s price range I’ve always felt his next criteria was does it fit his minds eye. If it doesn’t suit him he won’t buy it if angels were to promise him it was a great smoker. Then when you put it in your mouth how does it feel? If it feels good you’re one step closer to the sale. Most pipes you can’t take for a test drive before you buy so that pretty well sums it up.
Jody Davis makes some fantastic pipes, well out of my price range, but I do like them a lot. Except for this thing he called “[I]Amore[/I]”. I hope this pipe set was a commission. On the discussion with Jody he was a little stiff in his comments. I felt this was do to with questions about how did he dream up the “[I]Amore[/I]” pipe. It’s hard to say where creative people get their vision from. Who knows maybe he has a muse. It’s what separates the journeyman pipe carver from the guy who is getting $1000+ and up for his pipes.
It wasn’t one of Satchmo’s classics but it was a pleasure to listen to.