Dear Anthony Bryant, 

(and Patrick, Stevie, Ryan, Jones, Jeremy and the rest of the team). 

Although I have been listening to podcasts obsessively for the last decade, I have never sent an Email such as this.

To make a long story short, you guys changed my life. Anthony and Stevie, you have probably seen me commenting on and liking your posts on FB and IG, yet those actions are nowhere near enough for me to show my gratitude for your work and dedication.

About myself: My name is Or Barnea. I am 43 years old and from Israel. Like you guys, music has been everything to me since early childhood. The roots of my family are in West Lafayette, Indiana and most of my family is from there (My late aunt Sheila was Axl Rose’s high school teacher and a good friend of his grandmother haha).

I’ve been playing drums since I was a kid and am deeply into anything Rock that still dictates my life. Today my almost 13-year-old son, Rocky, is also deep into it, playing the guitar and living by the code of rock and roll, and of course, Hair metal (not to mention he is a huge fan of Charlie). He and I have a very special bond through life and music, and we just saw Metallica and Pantera in Budapest a few weeks ago, which was amazing. I also have a 16 year old daughter named Hayley.

I run a successful digital media agency called “Lemur” and work with many major artists in Israel. For years I worked as a music journalist here for a major media outlet. And I was very lucky to meet, talk with, hang out with, or interview artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, Bret Michaels, Chris Cornell, Mike Patton (this one’s for Patrick), Trent Reznor, among many others. I truly Idolize the way you, Guru, interview the artists on the show and I highly anticipate each new discussion.

For the past year and a half, perhaps more, I have been living and breathing the show daily. The amount of shit I’ve learned and discovered from the show is insane. It has stayed with me and continues to do so only because of HOW you do it and not WHAT you do. There are millions of podcasts such as yours (and I’ve listened to so many of them), but only you guys present it in a way that brings love and passion to everything. The personal stories, the way the music combines with everyday life—the past, the present, and the future—is remarkable and touches exactly on all the little (yet huge) things that make life worth living for.

Being a part of a camaraderie is everything, in my opinion. And although I have tried many times, I haven’t been able to lead or be a part of a stable one for many years. This show has given me the spirit to be more creative and try harder.

Congratulations on all your recent accomplishments: The Hair Metal Chaos podcast (Needless to say I am a backer of the channel and of course ordered a Tuff Tee from Stevie’s site), the 20K subscribers and many more deserved successes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please never stop. With much love and gratitude,

OR