marty smith talks bbq

The Marty Smith Podcast: Marty Talks Being Best BBQ Judge, How to Cook Brisket

Howdy, y’all. In case you missed it, on this week’s episode of The Marty Smith Podcast, Marty had the opportunity to talk with country music star Ashley McBryde about a multitude of things. However, before Marty interviews McBryde, he and his co-host Wes Blankenship reconnect on their week that was. And, well, Marty Smith had himself a pretty fine weekend where he got to enjoy a NASCAR race and judge some mighty fine BBQ.

Marty And Wes Talk BBQ Judges on The Podcast

Naturally, this led to Marty and Wes having a discussion about BBQ. For Marty, he worked with Pit Boss, along with Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, over the weekend at the race. As Marty tells it, there were five pitmasters at the event. They all did their own spread for the judges and, man, it was a hit. Making brisket the right way is difficult, though, as Marty talked about.

“Everything was out of this world,” Marty told Wes. It was an absolute delight. Hilariously, Wes asks Marty if he brought back any leftovers, to which Marty told him to send his complaints to Pit Boss. All the different kinds of meats that Marty got to enjoy on Sunday were giving Wes the “Meat Sweats” as he coined it.

“You eat like a forager,” Wes tells Marty. The latter maintains a healthy diet of salmon and fish and almonds. The reason he brings it up is that Wes wonders with Marty’s typical diet how he is able to accurately judge the best brisket and BBQ.

Ashley McBryde Joins The Program

Marty starts the interview by talking about how he first came across McBryde’s work in the first place. He was actually at a country music show for a different artist entirely. He got pulled to the side to listen to this new artist and her song “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega.” He was hooked and said, “It was one of the most badass opening stanzas you’ll ever hear.”

Marty loves the kind of role model McBryde can be for young girls who want to chase this dream. It’s a tough dream and it is not for everybody. However, McBryde says, “If I can do it, you can do it.” That’s the message. Mindset is everything in this industry. It’s a lofty goal to want to be successful long-term in country music. It’s hard and requires a lot of skill and a lot of luck. However, similar to Luke Combs in that you just have to chase this dream and that even if you are not famous you are still going to do it. She said, “If I don’t do it, I might die.”