On September 14, 1814, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry raised the American flag to celebrate a victory over British forces during the War of 1812. As the story goes, the sight of those “broad stripes and bright stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a song that eventually became the United States national anthem – The Star Spangled Banner.
On April 15, 1929, Representative John Linthicum of Maryland introduced to the House, H.R. 14, a bill to make The Star Spangled Banner the national anthem, and on March 3, 1931 President Herbert Hoover signed into law.
The national anthem is meant to be a reflection of the history, struggles, and traditions the nation and its people and serve as an symbol of national identity.
“I grew up with national anthems embedded in my life,” The Crude Life founder and Chairman of the Board Jason Spiess said. “From being played before school at times to watching the television station sign on before Saturday Morning Cartoons to every sporting event I ever attended or played in.”
National anthems are often performed during cultural and other festivals in the country, usually marking off the beginning or the end of such events, festivals and productions. For example, in the Olympic Games, the national anthem of the winning team is played during the medal ceremony. National anthems of the participating nations are also played prior to the start of a game and usually, the anthem of the host nation is played last.
The National anthem is also an integral part of a school’s daily routine in some countries. In countries like India, it is mandatory to play the national anthem at the beginning of a movie in a movie theater. In China and Colombia, the national anthem is played at specific times of the day by radio and television channels, like the United State before 24/7 programming.
“After my first year being embedded into the Bakken oil and gas culture, I noticed there wasn’t any conferences or events that performed or played the national anthem,” Spiess said. “A few of the small group networking sessions did the anthem, but I believe there was more opening prayers than national anthems.”
Spiess, who is an ordained minister, former Sunday School teacher and alter boy, saw an opening to insert the national anthem into the Bakken oil fields and it’s culture. In 2014, The Crude Life presented the idea and sponsored Mark J. Lindquist’s performance at the 2013 Bakken BBQ then a year later at the North Dakota Petroleum Council’s Annual Meeting.
Lindquist was brought back the following year by the NDPC to kick off the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference with the national anthem and also performed it during an event involving peace during the DAPL Protests.
Mark J. Lindquist has performed for the the NCAA, The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Minnesota Twins, The College World Series, and The Minnesota Vikings on the 200th Anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner.
He is the full-time National Anthem singer for the University of North Dakota Men’s Hockey team as well as a frequent guest artist for country music stars, opening concerts for Dierks Bentley, Brooks and Dunn, The Band Perry, Craig Campbell and Jarrod Niemann.
The Crude Life continued it’s relationship with Lindquist in other areas of energy empowerment too. This past Spring (2022) United States Air Force Veteran Mark J. Lindquist joined Jason Spiess live from the Ukraine with a boots on the ground report for media platforms The Crude Life and the Bismarck-Mandan KLXX SUPERTALK 1270AM.
“Jason, our here in the Ukraine, we call this the first Instagram War,” Lindquist said. “This war is being fought on social media.”
Lindquist continues sharing several examples of why they are calling this the Instagram War, including soldiers wearing GoPros and body cams. The two discuss how the citizens are getting involved in social media too.
“The people of the Ukraine are so much more technologically accepting than the United States,” Lindquist said.
After sharing several “boots-on-the-ground” stories and examples of his experience why the U.S. is being the tech-times, including a money and tracking App, the two discuss how the media has evolved.
“I can remember the first war via in my lifetime was George Bush Sr. and his Iraq War really brought CNN to the mainstage,” Spiess said. “Then George Bush Jr’s Iraq War was fueled by the 24-hour news stations, not just CNN but other 24-hour news networks too. So to have everybody being a reporter 24-hours a day, I wondered when social media would become where we are calling a war the Instagram War.”
Click here for the GoFundMe Link for Mark J. Lindquist and his fellow Air Force Veterans
Next Spiess asks Lindquist if anyone is citing the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline as the reason for the war, or at least one of the main impetus.
“I haven’t heard anyone out here talk about the pipeline at all so I think that is primarily a Western perspective and narrative,” Lindquist said. “However, I will say this, after experiencing what I have here in the Ukraine, when I am back in the United States, I will be a big advocate for pipelines.”
Lindquist paints a picture that is similar to the 1970’s in America with gas shortages, rations and lines at the pump.
“I don’t think this was reported in the American media but in the months of March, April and May, I counted 90-plus cars the other day at one gas station,” Lindquist said. “It’s lines like the 1970’s here and people are waiting in line for 10 liters of fuel is all you could get, that’s 2.5 gallons!”
Always a servant, as his mother and father taught him, Mark continued his service in the United States Air Force and served honorably at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii. There, he had the incredible opportunity to sing the National Anthem for the US Military as well as for a world touring entertainment unit called Tops in Blue, which is similar to a USO or Bob Hope show. During his time on the Island of Oahu, Mark earned a few roles on ABC’s LOST, CBS’ Hawaii Five-O and in the Universal Studios Hollywood movie “Battleship“.
Since launching his motivational speaking firm (Mark J Lindquist Motivational Speaking and Entertainment) and his consulting firm (Lindquist and Associates), he has had the opportunity to speak for the largest companies in America (McDonald’s, Walmart, Starbucks, IBM), sing for the largest crowds in America (National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball, NCAA), and perform for the President of the United States of America. He is widely known in the professional speaking industry as the fastest growing motivational speaker in America, having been invited to deliver guest lectures to over 1500 aspiring and professional speakers, including many Hall of Fame Speakers.
Mark is a United States Air Force and Afghanistan War Veteran.
Click here for the GoFundMe Link
In 2020, The Crude Life sponsored the addition of America The Beautiful, performed by singer-songwriter Alma Cook, to the Bakken BBQ.
America the Beautiful is considered an American patriotic song with less war-like imagery in the lyrics and range in the composition. According to Spiess, it’s more like VH1 and the Star Spangled Banner is MTV.
“I actually prefer America the Beautiful to the Star Spangled Banner, and I am not ashamed to admit I teared up when Alma performed it at the Bakken BBQ,” Spiess said. “I am so grateful to Tiffany Steiner, Jackie Jenkin and the rest of the Bakken BBQ committee for being open-minded to new ideas to make the community event more diverse, inclusive and engaging.”
America The Beautiful’s lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.
Like with Lindquist, The Crude Life maintained a professional relationship with Alma Cook.
In 2021, Alma Cook joined Jason Spiess talk about her new music video “5000 Candles” and the final stretch of completing her music album. Spiess contends that while many in the oil and gas industry are still searching for ways to connect with tomorrow’s leaders today, Alma is singing her way into their hearts and minds.
The two discuss the music video from the production elements to the industry workers in the video to the Bakken communities and the video footage included in the video. Cook who works for Cook Compliance Solutions during the day, found time on nights, weekends and in dreams to write and produce a song about flaring in the energy industry.
At the Bakken BBQ, Alma opened and closed the event with performances. After opening with America The Beautiful, she performed “5000 Candles” at the Bakken BBQ with children on stage to raise awareness about not only the issue with emission management, but also the solutions.
“5000 Candles” is the story of unexpected love for people, place, and industry. A tribute to the North Dakota oilfields, it humanizes a part of American life that’s typically kept behind a curtain.
Furthermore, the music beds heard on The Crude Life Week in Review are written and performed by Alma Cook, who also works in the industry at Cook Compliance Solutions.
Support her music career at www.hearalma.com
Later that Summer (2020), The Crude Life sponsored Zakk Ross, high school student and guitar guru, who performed the Star Spangled Banner on electric guitar after the Wyoming Color Guard marched in the flags and before Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon spoke at the Energy Exposition.
“It was just awesome,” Spiess said. “Governor Mark Gordon was blown away by the authentic energy and enthusiasm put into the national anthem at the Energy Exposition. In fact, the following year when I interviewed him and the Expo he was still talking about that rockin’ anthem. He said it was his most memorable national anthem moment as Governor by far.”
In the world where sustainability, ESG and capitalism attempt to co-exist, a national anthem during an event can completely change the energy in the room. Adding a layer of America The Beautiful and one can inject inclusion and diversity as well.
National Anthems can become a job creator too. Often time singers and performers get paid for their craft and service. Too often opportunity is used as currency by organizations. Singing, writing, painting, graphic design and other professional arts are critical for a healthy marketplace and it’s survival.
The Crude Life is a big advocate for STEAM. It’s STEM with the word ARTS inserted into the acronym.
“I understand and agree that STEM is critical for our education and the future of innovation,” Spiess said. “But arts are critical for a marketplace to be innovative. That’s one of the reasons Steve Jobs hired poets, painters and artists to teach how to code Apple software. The Crude Life will support the empowerment of arts as much as we possibly can.”
“Personally, I am all about Real Life Rock Stars performing with and for Real Life Rock Stars,” Spiess said. “Arts and Innovation go together like peanut butter and jelly and beans and rice in my Libra world.”
The Crude Life embraces all forms of Real Life Rock Stars and their literal and metaphorical energies with a decade of documentation and work to validate the body of work’s claim, mission and continued engagement.
Supporting singers to perform The Star Spangled Banner and America The Beautiful is one way to ensure an event or production is not only honored and patriotic, but also energized.
The Crude Life: A Decade Of ESG Empowerment, Environmental Innovations And Ethical Energy
Over the past decade The Crude Life’s evolution and achievements have enabled and supported a long-term vision for energy, empowerment and environment.
As digitization continues to change how we connect with our audience across the United States and the world. Our business model of sharing original content with other media outlets, has allowed The Crude Life to better engage with energy users around the world, particularly through the localization and non-polarizing content.
Toward this objective, The Crude Life became an “early adopter,” in many areas of youth engagement, environmental action and community communications. Every year The Crude Life Media Kit embraces a vision statement, mantra and goal for the following year. Generally it is released at the end of October the previous year.
2012: Living & Loving The Crude Life
2013: Content is King
2014: Engage & Educate with Environmental Energy
2015: We Don’t Think Outside The Box, We Bust Out and Kick It Around a Bit
2016: Real Life Rock Stars, New Cultural Connections
2017: From White Collar to Blue Collar to Red Collar to No Collar – Everybody Is Welcome At The Crude Life
2018: The Industrial Eco-Lution Has Begun
2019: Become A Champion of Innovation, Environment and Community
2020: Ready For Anything
2021: Think Beyond & Close the Digital Divide
2022: Using the Past Today to Prepare for the Future
2023: This Year, We Mean Business
In 2022, The Crude Life had a remarkable year characterized by achievements that demonstrate the brand’s creativity in a challenging environment and our ability to capitalize on evolving media trends.
The Crude Life was built to be a sustainable company from Day One. The low overhead, high content output model has allowed the multimedia brand to take advantage of dynamic industry trends, which will also drive future growth and engagement.
“All energy has a purpose, and we are all energy,” Spiess said.
Content Creation is the core of our business, and our non-political, informational and entertaining programs continue to increase our levels of listenership, engagement and followers.
“It takes a world-class team to do what The Crude Life does every day,” Spiess said. “It takes a considerable amount of energy and resources staying ahead of the competition and the changing marketplace by imagining and innovating new business models, especially with the increased uncertainties that impact our business and daily lives.”
The combination of strengths that we can offer current and prospective sponsors, namely our ability to design
custom, experiential content that can fully engage our audience with client brands, including utilizing Real Life Rock Stars
through integration into our shows and platforms.
The media industry continues to evolve in new, dynamic ways, fueled by innovations and technological changes, the consumer is demanding a diversity of ways to interact with compelling content.
“I am eternally and immensely grateful for the dedication and hard work of energy experts, industry professional, supporters and business partners,” Spiess said. “I remain confident in our collective ability as an industry to grow together as so many are embarking on their own professional and personal journey.”
About The Crude Life
Award winning interviewer and broadcast journalist Jason Spiess and Content Correspondents engage with the industry’s best thinkers, writers, politicians, business leaders, scientists, entertainers, community leaders, cafe owners and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and round table discussions.
The Crude Life has been broadcasting on radio stations since 2012 and posts all updates and interviews on The Crude Life Social Media Network.
Everyday your story is being told by someone. Who is telling your story? Who are you telling your story to?
#thecrudelife promotes a culture of inclusion and respect through interviews, content creation, live events and partnerships that educate, enrich, and empower people to create a positive social environment for all, regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical or intellectual ability.
Sponsors, Music and Other Show Notes
Studio Sponsor: The Industrial Forest
The Industrial Forest is a network of environmentally minded and socially conscious businesses that are using industrial innovations to build a network of sustainable forests across the United States.
Weekly Sponsor: Stephen Heins, The Practical Environmentalist
Historically, Heins has been a writer on subjects ranging from broadband and the US electricity grid, to environmental, energy and regulatory topics.
Heins is also a vocal advocate of the Internet of Everything, free trade, and global issues affecting the third of our planet that still lives in abject poverty.
Heins is troubled by the Carbon Tax, Cap & Trade, Carbon Offsets and Carbon Credits, because he questions their efficacy in solving the climate problem, are too gamable by rent seekers, and are fraught with unreliable accounting.
Heins worries that climate and other environmental reporting in the US and Europe has become too politicized, ignores the essential role carbon-based energy continues to play in the lives of billions, demonizes the promise and practicality of Nuclear Energy and cheerleads for renewable energy sources that cannot solve the real world problems of scarcity and poverty.
Weekly Sponsor: Great American Mining Co
Great American Mining monetizes wasted, stranded and undervalued gas throughout the oil and gas industry by using it as a power generation source for bitcoin mining. We bring the market and our expertise to the molecule. Our solutions make producers more efficient and profitable while helping to reduce flaring and venting throughout the oil and gas value chain.
Join Podcasters from across the world and all walks of life as they unite to bring civil solutions to life and liberty.
Studio Email and Inbox Sponsor: To Be Announced
Featured Music: Alma Cook
For guest, band or show topic requests, email studio@thecrudelife.com
Spread the word. Support the industry. Share the energy.
