Answering "The Call" for a TRUE Experience

we're all going for that ex you know that that experience in some some regard you're trying to capture that experience and it's just a it's just a wonderful thing hello and thank you for joining us today here on the townsends channel my name is Ryan Kerr and I have a special guest Ethan yazel I met him a while back about a month ago in person but on the internet even longer than that I yeah he runs a channel on YouTube and on Instagram called I love muzzleloading and the content that he was putting out just really caught my eye and I like the aesthetic a lot so I thought man I want to meet this guy and then we're at five medals and you walked right up and said hello yeah yeah it was great to see you there and catch up a little bit Yeah so again five minutes is an event here in Northern Indiana it's kind of the event that closes down the reenacting season and uh I guess it's one of those that you don't really look like go into thinking you're going to meet new people but say goodbye to friends for this season and it was just really nice meeting you thank you very much absolutely yeah so can you tell us a little bit about let's start with what I love muzzle loading is I love muzzleloading is really just a passion project for me to share my love of muzzleloading I grew up in muzzleloading both of my grandparents on both sides of my family were into muzzleloading and so I grew up for a long time just being involved with muzzleloading that was kind of our family thing and our summer trips involved muzzleloading competitions and events and it was just kind of a thing that we always did and as I aged and kind of went through school got out of it a little bit came back into it and wanted to kind of use my passion and kind of my knowledge of you know modern cameras and the internet and things to bring some attention to it where I could and give it a little press as much as I'm able just as you know one guy out in the woods absolutely if you guys are interested in that the channel is really fantastic go check it out on YouTube I think that you'll really like it now one of the interesting things about this is there are a lot of times where I will find somebody whose content I like on the internet and then I'll finally meet them in person and you know it's just like it doesn't match it doesn't match the content right it doesn't feel like that's the same personality that is putting that out there but when I met you it matched and I really appreciated that so yeah absolutely we have a lot of mutual friends in the reenacting World last night we had a phone call just talking about Okay so because we're fast friends I didn't really know where this was gonna go but uh let's just talk a little bit about growing up in reenacting because that kind of goes hand in hand with Flintlock muzzle loading yes yeah absolutely I mean for me my my folks set up and demonstrated traditional crafts and trades for a very long time it was kind of the family business when the the week with my mother's a school teacher and when the week would finish up we'd gotta get out of school my mom and my sister and I we'd load up in the van or the truck and we'd go to an event set up before dark and be ready for the event you know the next morning or or set up you know kind of take a a day away from school to go then and educate other school kids about it you know so going to those events was just kind of a family road trip you know just about every weekend in the fall and with that you have a group of you know an extended family I'll say of folks that are at those events that you catch up with at the first event of the year you kind of see every weekend then as you run through the gauntlet of events here in the Midwest and then kind of say goodbye for a year and I'm young enough to remember or I guess old enough I'll say to remember before the internet really caught on for this community and those events were the only time that you saw those people and you saw those friends I mean many friends that I'm now able to connect with that are a similar age there were times where we just saw the saw each other at events and that was it and then you come back the next year and everybody was a foot taller into something else you know and as I as I got older the internet really caught on and really you know everybody started to use it in the community so you're able to keep track in that of everybody and keep those friendships going year round where previously it was just kind of at those events and it didn't necessarily take away from those events being so special but it just extended that community and that family that you had at these events it wasn't just now meeting just for the weekend you can catch up and follow everybody and and keep that friendship going yeah I was so when I started working here at townsends I had a general love for history but not necessarily a particular time period and um I didn't know what historical reenacting was other than the Civil War reenacting I saw when I lived in Kentucky and so when I first started going to events with John the only things that I could think of that it reminded me of was of was the independent music community and this idea where you have these these friends but you're not like really close but you really connect with right and a lot of times it's just the two ships passing the night thing you never see each other and then all of a sudden you end up at the same show or in this case at the same event and you get to spend a night or a weekend together and then you're off again and there's something about there's something about those kind of people that live a very um I don't know nomadic lifestyle where they they roll up they get their sleeves and they get the job done but there's something that's pushing them past the job yeah and you just said it a little while ago where it's there's education and then there's a fun family camping trip but like what what do you think it is that just like comes together and culminates and keeps people so passionate about doing this Hobby People come into this from so many different Avenues I mean for me it's something I've always known so when I talk to somebody that's getting into it even if they're my age or even older or younger you know at any age really it's hard for me to diagnose I'll say what makes them passionate about it but there's something that I think in this kind of historic reenactment Community there's this tie to our group history and kind of our Collective cultural history here that no matter where you're from there's somebody 200 years ago that does something similar to what you do today and you can relate to if it's not your ancestor an ancestor in your area and when especially when you look at the living history and the reenacting community everybody today can go back and connect with that aspect of it and there's like a draw to that I think I think as our lives become increasingly you know digital fast-paced I mean you work a nine to five it's not really nine to five it feels like anymore there's emails and there's calls and there's the hustle and bustle and the commute and everything and there's this call I think there's this call to going back to a simpler time and I think with that you have those those connections you know this sitting down with somebody you're sitting like right now we're sitting down outside and it sounds you know you kind of sound like a 60s hippie a little bit but you're it's just this right here in there whatever that is you know whether it's the you know it's a chilly fall day we're just having a conversation there's this connection like there's a line that has connects you know the two of us to everything that came before yeah and I think no matter where we go in life and how things change we drive around in cars you have air conditioning all of that you still have this core human connection of everything that came before that your your brain or your body or however you want to put it still wants to connect with and then you have these groups of people coming in that all have that same thing and like you say you might not know the person but you can sit down at an event and then come up to your campfire and you can share a meal you know you can share a baked good that you brought into the camp and sit down and just start talking yeah I think that that is a really strange uh thing about now I'll go ahead and say I use the dirty word and I said Hobby and for most people that do this they wouldn't consider it a hobby but I don't know that there's actually a word that yeah that make that hits it I liked how you said there's a calling to this right yeah but there are not many communities where there are no doors there's nothing that like walking up to somebody's campfire at eight o'clock at night is what you're supposed to do right that's what people want you to do and that's how you uh kind of form these relationships and dig deeper and it's interesting that all the conversations whether you start talking about something modern they tend to lead to what those connections are to 200 years ago like you were saying so I just feel like there's there's something special about that community that is really hard to nail down it's hard to get into a couple of words we've been trying for years yeah I'm sure yeah but uh was there ever like an exodus for you did you leave the hobby or the application and then come back to it yeah so getting out of high school and going into college I think you know for many people and and many of my friends in the you know living history muzzleloading Community you kind of have that moment where you're you you're gonna go do something else whether that's you know your trade school or if you're just getting a job and starting a family we see that kind of across the board where even if you start to look at some of the the data you know online of who's watching this stuff and who's interested in this who's buying this stuff you can see that people get into it and then there's kind of a gap you know the 20s are kind of a a lull and I think a lot of people see that at events there's not a lot of 20-somethings at an event where and I went through that as well I loved it my family was still involved with it but there's this kind of period of time there where I needed to go out and do something and you know went to school studied met my wife you know fell in love went on some adventures and then you know it just kept calling me back okay you know and it was you know I was gonna go uh you know work in an industry and go move to a big city make some money and then might come home you know might come back to it come back to a simpler life and uh you know that calling just became it's something I couldn't ignore you know something that needed I just I was sick of listening to it and just wanted to start living it again you know and it's no matter how long you're away from it it's always there like you said there's not a door you can just walk back into it and you know you might get a little razzing here and there you know but it's it's a rising of love you know even if you've just known somebody for a you know a couple events you know there's going to be some jokes passed around but at the end of the day like everybody's happy that you're there you know and it's and it's not just it's not just because I'm taking pictures or taking video I didn't even like people are genuinely happy to see you when you come back you know no matter who you are so let me direct this question at you what is the reason that you are doing this you you left it you came back to it you're drawn to it there's the calling I understand all of that but does something go a little deeper than that I mean is there like something that's just driving you that you can put your thumb on yeah I mean for me the period of time where I came back to this there was that there was that calling and and I think part of that calling was was the loss of both of my grandfathers within a few years which they were kind of the family Patriarchs of muzzleloading they were dragging my parents and their siblings around the country going to muzzleloading events and so everybody kind of came back you know the whole family kind of came back in those in those moments and you think back on those periods of time you know all of us could multiple Generations could look back on those periods of time and there was there was that shared connection that I talk about you know we've talked about here where we could all connect with that point you know in those events and going back to that American culture you know that was that was their my parents and their siblings culture going up it was my culture growing up and for everybody else there's that there's this line there of of connection back to that history and for me American culture isn't white picket fences and big cars and holidays where you grill cheeseburgers you know there's nothing wrong with that but to me American culture is like the understanding and of the history that happened here like we can look back on the history now and and we can understand it you know understand multiple sources as to why and how things happened and we obviously no point of history is ever going to be cast in a totally good light you know there's there's things that happen that we wish we could go back and change right but we have to go back and understand them you know and like it or not that's where it is and and that's what we all came from and I I tell my viewers like at some point in their life the odds are somebody in your family carried a muzzleloader and every time I pick up a Muzzleloader even if I'm just oiling it in the house you know if I'm just keeping some rust on it I'm feeling that connection and everybody can feel that connection so my family is fortunate enough we have my family muzzleloading rifle from the 1820s or that that period you know the early you know before we got into smokeless you know cartridge rifles and things we have our percussion muzzleloader it was made a couple counties north of here you know the Maker's name is on it my family were just we're hog farmers at the time but that was the rifle that fed them you know that was the rifle they hunted with and I didn't know them I have you know some photographs some documentation you know of of their ancestors but that's that's a section of that and I I can't deny that yeah you know and that's just that's just it you know I can you know my grandmother collected various Antiques and things I can hold on to that but there's something personal about this era and the trials and the tribulations that people went through so that we could be here today like life right now is kind of crazy you know I mean everybody is experiencing what's going on right now it's so different than anything that we've gone through before but when I'm reading a journal of somebody or or reading about a town and what it took to establish you know a homestead you know it it brings me a lot of calm you know even though I'm not trying to build a house out of you know a woods and I'm not dealing with you know War you know thank goodness in this period of time like we were you know in this era but we've gone through as Humanity a lot of things before and for me you know putting on these clothes and going out and experiencing that stuff you know I'm just shooting a Woods walk I can kind of step back and and see like we've we've gone through some things as a people and I have that connection to the people that went through it if that makes sense yeah and it's like you know you can say that they're they're with me you know or or I'm just kind of understanding what they went through but there's you know just that that cultural there's just a line you know whether it's a heart line and a piece of wood or if it's a vein you know in your body there's something that you're just it's just right there you know I don't know if that makes any sense but that's great there's just this and I I see other people talking about it too like you you can't really explain it but for me there's that cultural connection that we need to talk about we need to discuss yeah I think you're absolutely right so what we're seeing right now finally and and I think it took a little while to catch on or people had the tools but they didn't know how to use them and and we were the same way but you finally see a more YouTube channels that are dealing with history right specifically American history you see more people that are utilizing their skills technologically to tell these stories right yeah so you work in animation and you're an artist yeah and you uh I'm guessing we're doing that when you were away from reenacting yeah and you came back and you brought that with you can you talk a little bit about that yeah so it's just when you come back you know you you kind of come back a little bit of a different person you know as a kid I was always carrying around a Sketchbook and always drawing you know at events and or reading at events you know kind of observing and coming back I came back with kind of a sense of Storytelling at a you know at a base level you know I I'm not an expert by any means I'm just kind of figuring this out as I go you know I joke I'm a hillbilly out here trying to figure this stuff out but I grew up always hearing you know that we needed to promote this we needed to get the word out we need to talk about this and that's something that always stuck with me as somebody who grew up in it because I didn't I would tell my friends about it you know they might not necessarily have been interested in it you know but I wanted to help you know I wanted to come back and and use some of that talent I mean we all use our talent in the community to help it flourish you know whether you're cooking for the camp whether you're driving you're loading people's gear whatever you're doing you're sharing you know hey you can improve your kit this way or that way you know or check out this book everybody is contributing to the community somehow and for me it kind of felt like this could be how I could help I could help spread I joke that I helped spread the good word about about muzzleloading and about history because you can reach so many people now like you're an apostle yeah yeah you know you know I joke with with friends that you know you know you're a sinner you know you're shooting you're wearing modern clothes you're shooting you know something modern you know you know just all in good fun but you know just trying to get the word out about it and it's it's a lot of fun I mean and because I grew up in it I have so many friends and all those friends see the same things you know they see an aging demographic or an aging populace and we all recognize it but all together you know we it comes up at events all the time what do we do about it and I think for me I've been very blessed that those friends have been willing to come along with me and share you know part of what I do is try to sit down and interview and talk with these people that have been in it much longer than I have to share their expertise and share their stories about how they got into muzzleloading or living history or any aspect of it you know whether you're just you like making traditional Furniture like right how do you how did you get into that because it all Associated you know it all connects with all this you know it's not just about the muzzle loaders it's not just about the clothes it's about everything it's about the material culture we like to say of the period and as you talk to people and as you ask them how did you get into this there's always somebody out there that said hey come with me come to the shop come to an event or check this thing out check out this weird thing I've got yeah and I think the more that we share those stories and share the how you know regardless if you got into it 70 years ago there's going to be somebody else today that is willing to bring you along and you you can find that person or you can become that person and I think where communities used to be very close you know that was a neighbor who was in the muzzleload and you saw them shooting outside or you saw them dressing up and camping out in the woods now you've kind of shifted into for a lot of people that's the internet that's their exposure to it you know they have that call in where they're looking for something and they can find it and they can go and watch as much as they as they want about it and so many people it's like how did you like I'll ask people that come up to me in regular clothing and I'm in regular clothing and I don't know that they watch the channel they say oh I appreciate those videos and I'll say how did you get into that and they're like I don't know there's something about a thumbnail that just stood out to me and I've been watching ever since it's like I feel like people it's like they're looking for something they don't know what it is and they find it's like man that's just kind of neat yeah you know yeah it's that shared history again you know some part of them knows that there was a time where that's what they're they did or that's what they would have done you know and it's it's always out there calling I'm just really grateful that we're we're at a time we're like literally anything that you're into can fit into this somehow oh yeah I don't know that there's ever been a time that that wasn't true but it is absolutely true right now I mean even if you don't care about the clothing and you're not even so into the history if you like shooting video with natural light yeah this is perfect for you it is so much fun yeah so it's just like you can touch this and be challenged by it or be charged up by in several different ways yeah I mean I know people who just study art from the period and the sketches and the sketchbooks from the period there might not be interested at all in going out and doing that but they're fascinated with how people were recording this time period and for me that's that's kind of a part of it as an artist you know traveled around and we're always was always drawing people and drawing the things and so for me it feels like a natural extension to use a camera as part of that and as a kind of a vehicle or a medium to share that now I still love going and just sketching you know just drawing at an event but it's just it's something else to be able to share that video you know you can go you don't need a van and a crew to go out to an event and share that love you know doing my best to talk to friends all over the country they're like hey you know I have this club what what do I need to get started it's like here's what you need yeah for a couple hundred bucks you can start sharing And archiving those stories start talking to these guys start talking to people in your groups and start recording that so we don't lose that right so we talked about the Aging out feeling right there is something I feel like that is kind of coming against that right there's a small group a coalition of reenactors that are younger generally and saying I'm not sure if the big reenactment is my thing but I really want to touch this somehow and so we're seeing like groups of 5 or 10 or 15 individuals just saying I've got 10 acres of land yeah and I've got a group of friends and there's a river right down there let's do something yeah I think that that's super encouraging wow I don't want to see them decide to never go to a reenactment because I think that that's really neat and important absolutely but at the same time people it's just taking a complete DIY ethos and saying I'm going to do this how I'm comfortable with it right now and then I'm going to grow from there yeah I know that you've taken part in some camps like that yeah I have with John and it's been a lot of fun what do you think about that I think it's really important you know just like these large events that we're talking about are important you know those are have become real touchstones for cultural impact we'll say because you have the you have the public there that's a real public experience but when you're just getting started and just trying to figure this stuff out it can be really intimidating you know a lot of times there's a jury process there's a lot of people there and you can be really self self-conscious about what you're wearing and how you're doing it but we're seeing more and more now these private camps these small groups getting out there as a means for everybody to learn alongside each other and kind of start at the group Comfort level you know get some buddies and go out and camp in the mud in the dirt you know and kind of work your way through this what what part of your clothing Works what part of it doesn't you know do you really need this in your pack or don't you you know and you have wide ranges of that where it's you know for me a lot of this stuff is just getting started and I do my best to kind of bring people along with with me you know like you can watch the perfectionists and and again get kind of intimidated about it but you're seeing more and more of these events where people are saying okay I've got my first set of stuff I'm going to go out and try it and then it's it becomes that learning process for them and it's a it's a safe learning process you know because you're just with everybody who you're all learning together and I think that's really important and that jumps back into the community of it is you're you're building and growing with each other and you're creating those bonds where you know you might be interested in going out and going hiking and camping you know the only difference is what you're taking out with you right you know and that's that's what I tell people tell my friends you know you love to go hiking and camping this is just one step to the side of that and it's the same thing yeah I think that that's a really great way to get to know a group of people too it's like if you really want to just cut through all the fat and get to know a group of people and you do something like you jump in the van with them or you get in the dorm room with them or you go camping with them it just it takes six months worth of the beginning of a friendship and it just smacks it all together yeah you really get to know your group of friends when it's pouring down rain and all of your food is soaked and you're trying to get a fire going and you're just sitting there in the mud and you're just you're sitting there like drowned rats yeah that whole idea of just like being completely miserable but so happy to be there doing it yeah absolutely and it's it's neat too I mean I talked to some friends as we kind of everybody kind of holds up for the winter now there's some die hards out there that are going to go out and Camp next month you know but winter is kind of a planning and a retooling and you know and talking about all of this with those guys in that group as you're planning for the next year's treks you're kind of trying to understand how far you want to go you know are you wanting to camp in the car you want to sleep in the car you know get up the next morning you kind of everybody kind of agrees on how far are we going to take this for this trip and you can take it the whole way you know where you're hiking in you know you're a mile from the car everything's 18th century you know everything there's there's no modern equipment or you can dip your toe in and whether wherever you are in that Journey there's a group of people out there that are willing to to bring you along and encourage you if you want to go to that next step you know here's who you need to talk to and there's you know one of my friends put it really well there aren't any doors you know in this and like we talked about I think a little bit earlier here there's not a door holding you off there's just a door waiting to be opened into another group and another group of people with a different ethos about it and you know whether it's a different period of time that you're involved in or just the degree of authenticity that you're going for we're all going for that ex you know that experience in some some regard you're trying to capture that experience and it's just a it's just a wonderful thing way back when we started this YouTube channel a lot of the focus was on a product line which is hey reenactors this is how you use this product and a lot of it was focused very much to reenactors even in the cooking videos uh was these are dishes that you can do at camp and as our audience has grown we have to do our best to try to speak to all these different types of groups within that audience and so it's not so much reenactor focused all the time but I'm really excited that you came out today to have this conversation so that we can make more videos that are focused on reenactors solely again and I hope that people that are not into reenacting watch this and they get something out of it I think that they really will thank you so Ethan thank you for being here today thank you for having me yeah absolutely if you want to check Ethan out and anything that he's doing it's ilovemuzzleloading.com and I love of muzzleloading on any social media platform that you get onto thank you so much for watching today

Channel: Townsends

Views: 103,779

Keywords: 18th century, 18th century cooking, 19th century, history, jas townsend and son, jon townsend, reenacting, townsends

Id: vcOgys_Jieo

Length: 28min 40sec (1720 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 17 2022