Carpet Cowboys (2023) Movie Script
1
(soft music begins)
(water lapping)
(soft music continues)
- [Roderick] Everybody
wants to go to America
and live the dream.
Well, I had that dream.
(water splashing)
(droning music)
(machine clacking)
(droning music continues)
(steam hissing)
- I was unloading the truck
and I looked down at the ground
and I saw something shiny,
and I bent down and it
was a silver dollar.
This is a true story. I swear
to God it's a true story.
Started looking around, I
found seven silver dollars
in the dirt.
Why they were there, God only knows.
And I've been looking down
ever since "cause the money's
on the ground.
(ethereal music)
There is no other industry
that is centered in the nucleus
of one geographic location,
that has so much influence
on the world.
(ethereal music continues)
(keys clacking)
(light music)
- [Speaker] Welcome to Dalton, Georgia,
the carpet capital of the world.
85% of carpets in the United
States come from Dalton.
And we export nearly 50%
of the world's carpets.
That means we're home
to some big business.
With a great location,
favorable tax and regulatory
environment, our region
has long been a great place
to do business.
So prepare to be floored by
what our community has to offer.
(cars rushing)
(forklift beeping)
(forklift whirring)
- Nothing to it.
(both chuckling)
(soft music)
Back in the day, I
remember in the 80s, mauve,
an off pink kind of shade, mauve was big.
You can't find a mauve carpet
on none of these sample boards
anymore.
Plaid.
Real popular.
That's sort of a Christmasy plaid.
Or if you wanted something
a little more neutral.
Let's say infinite choices.
That's my favorite.
- This industrys really
put together by a bunch of
North Georgia hillbillies,
and half of them couldn't read
or write.
Just one thing led to another.
- No, I think it was probably
my early 20s, maybe 30
before I realized that
there was more to the world
than just carpet.
Our towns are all about wineries.
Yeah, carpet was always it here in Dalton.
- This is interesting right here.
Just this right here.
- So what you're actually
saying, when you photo-shoot,
you can take that and put into
your craft of hand drawing?
- Look, see.
I would manipulate that.
- [Jon] Wow.
- That could be a six by nine rug there,
and all of a sudden you've
got a bestseller, maybe.
You just call it the organic collection.
- Okay.
- That's awesome.
- [Roderick] That's a
rug right there, man.
- That's really cool.
- You see what I'm saying?
- So you're bringing
nature indoor for people.
- Exactly.
This is all designed.
That God gave us.
There's just so much that
you take for granted.
You just got to look, guys.
- Right.
- Okay.
There's a rug right there.
This is a part of my life
that I have grown to love and cherish,
is the American country lifestyle.
It's the truest form
of character that I've ever met.
And these mountains that
we're surrounded by remind me
of my homeland, of Scotland.
It's very similar
to the start of the Highlands.
Our highlands are very big.
So carpet design, country lifestyle,
it just fits.
It fits the mold.
And I am obviously building
my brand of home, hotel and
men's apparel line around all that.
And we hope it's going
to be a big success.
(soft music)
I'm a cowboy.
They call me a Scottish
Cowboy, but I'm still a cowboy.
I'm an entrepreneur.
I'm a politician in a way.
(soft music continues)
And I'm always pushing the
envelope to do it better
than anybody else has done.
I've never really met
anybody like me, in a way.
Come with me.
This was given to me from my father.
"To our Braveheart son, Roderick.
Defend freedom always, mom and dad."
So this was presented to me in 2001
when I had Scotia Design Group for
the Best Rug Award in a price point.
This represents a hand knot in the rug
in the handmade side of the business.
The whole industry was out in front of me,
and they stood up and applauded.
That was bigger than getting the award.
That told me I'd done something right.
Can you grab my glasses in there, Jon?
- [Jon] Which one do you want?
- Just the black ones
(Jon laughing)
Huh?
- 1 didn't know.
- Oh, it doesn't matter.
Thank you.
- I'm just a country boy.
Roderick, to me, is just
born to be an entrepreneur.
We met about a little
over three years ago.
He said, "Why don't you
move from where you're at,
and we just group up.
He just reaches out to people.
He's brilliant.
I think Rod and I getting
together, it's like
a Yin and Yang.
Roderick, to me, is one of the
big guys, I feel, in Dalton
that brought a lot of
designs here in our hometown
for the carpet industry.
So I'm real excited to just be working
with a part of history.
He does it from the heart.
And in America, a lot of
Americans have lost that.
And not only is he as a designer,
he and I, we'll be doing
music with Scotia and
doing commercial jingles.
But Roderick James is incredible.
He's the Lone Ranger and
I guess I'm the Tanto.
(Jon laughs)
(radio chattering)
- Hello!
- Hey there.
- I am here for some feces collection.
- Okay.
Let me find out where that is.
- All right.
So we'll just fill these bags up,
and then we'll put it in our freezer.
So we have some feces left,
there's some blood in there.
Sometimes we'll use ice cream and things
for different projects.
Here's some synthetic vomit that we use.
So, yeah.
(indistinct)
- One of the main concerns
in the carpet industry
is how well something resists
stains or can be cleaned.
Carpet is obviously on the
floor, so many things get
dropped on it, spilled
on it, tracked in on it.
This particular group of
stains would be urine, feces,
vomit and soil.
So that's a fun job too.
(spark snapping)
(door clicking)
They're actually testing steps.
They have to put so many
passes across the carpet,
20,000 passes, which takes two weeks.
(dog wheezing)
- It was great in it's day.
And it's advertising.
Portable billboard.
It works.
And a good friend of mine,
guru in the business,
this man owned a bank,
he owned a gold mine,
he owned a coal mine.
He had a jet airplane out
here that could carry eight.
And anything you ask him about business,
he'd have an answer right then.
We all know that onions sell food,
makes you hungry,
somebody's cooking onions.
So I ask him, "What kind of
smell do you want that sells
carpet?
He said, "Vanilla flavoring.
Sells general merchandise.
If you walk into a bakery,
gives you a warm feeling
back of your head.
And believe this or not, you
can buy little spray cans
of vanilla flavoring.
I just bought me a case of
them, every day I go through
the showroom and put vanilla flavoring.
But he was the one that told
me about this subliminal
sign thing, and drew
out a little bit of it.
Of course, the lettering,
I did take drafting,
and well,
a lot of sex stuff in it.
Like the bottom of the A
that goes across there,
you got those two little humps.
That's pretty obvious.
You got a whole lot of what
you'd call a penis sign on it.
Carpet just took a bad
beating about being dirty.
Because it's a little harder to clean.
And the best way to clean
is just plain vacuuming,
just to remove what fell on it.
- I find it funny, a
lot of people in Dalton
won't have carpet because
they work so much and they see
so much of it, they don't
want to be nowhere around it
at home.
(gun banging)
- The more I live, the more I
realize I don't like carpet.
Carpet is nasty.
Carpet collects dirt.
It's hard to clean.
It makes your floor warm.
That's one of the plus sides
of it, but I don't like carpet.
And after a while, being 60
hours a week in a building
and realizing I didn't even like carpet,
and I decided I'd do something else.
And I prayed about it for
divine guidance, okay,
and I started laying stone.
(rain pattering)
(synth music)
These are some of my favorite ones.
See how the light.
(lamp popping)
This one, we dug out of the pasture,
and he's the ugliest one.
But the facial features
to me, they just jump out.
Now, some people may
think I'm stretching it,
but I see the nose and the
eyes and the mouth here.
And I like this one.
You got the eyes and your
mouth here and your nose.
Some of them, it's all with light.
You've got eyes here and
you got your nose here.
This one sat on the mantle in
the rock barn for 20 years.
My son found it years ago.
And that's before we began
to see all the other ones.
Those are some of the spooky ones.
I would like to set these up
in a small museum somewhere.
This is a very large stone.
And when you get just the right
light on this, it's a face,
and it's looking up toward the
heavens like it's crying out
to the heavens.
In joy and happiness,
fear or bewilderment,
or sadness and pain from his soul,
and his emotions take flight.
To me, this is the basic
of all these carvings
that I've seen.
It's just an expression of this old.
I think that there were
people here 40,000, 50,000
years ago carving in stone.
And these stone carvings were
done so that possibly someone
would see these one day and
know, hey, we were here.
So, I think people feel a need
to express their creativity.
Maybe we're reaching back to
trying to be a creator.
- Hey guys!
- [Jamie] What's up?
- How you been?
(indistinct)
Yeah, man!
Absolutely.
These are my good friends.
This is Jamie.
- How's it going?
- And-
- Ethan.
- Ethan.
This saying,
I had to learn.
But this is a real country saying:
"How's your momma and them?
How's your momma and them?
Just fine.
(Roderick laughing)
Basically translate, how's
your mother and them?
When I come here, hang
out with people like this
who are the most honest, trustworthy
people to be around.
And they've welcomed me in.
So it's kind of cool.
It's kind of cool.
I did this.
This is carpet.
That's carpet.
And I added a little design
aspect to it, around it,
and then I think I signed it.
I said,
Roderick James, the Scottish Cowboy.
(Roderick chuckles)
So the country lifestyle has
brought a lot of authenticity
to what I'm doing.
It's just fantastic.
So it grounds me.
How do I hold this again?
- [Jamie] You just back
it on up a little bit.
- Back it up.
- Back it up about right there.
- Oh, that's right, that's right.
- Get you about right there.
- That's right, that's right.
No, I'm trying to remember.
And to be honest, this is just
the second time in my life
being a bachelor.
I got married at 19, the first time.
Second time I had two
weeks in between marriages.
Third time, she didn't feel secure
because I'd lost a contract.
She didn't feel like I would
get it back or keep going.
Well, I'm still here and
that's three years later.
I gave up on Western women.
I was actually looking at China.
But it ended up being
a Filipino I met in Hong Kong.
That wasn't on my list,
my list was to go to China
and set up shop there.
And this hit me like a ton
of breaks when I met her.
And really got to know
her via WeChat every day
for eight months.
You okay, honey?
- Yeah.
We all miss you here.
Yesterday, they keep asking
me when you're coming back.
(Roderick laughing)
- Well, we'll see. We'll see what happens.
- With carpet mills,
the neighborhood I was
born in is completely gone.
They took away 36 houses
over here to put in
Galaxy Carpet mills.
On my mom's side, her parents
had a cute little house,
and just the dozers dug everything out.
I used to play on that tree as a child
and swing on it.
And as you can see, it's all parking.
But I understand things.
This may have took away
homes, but it brought work
to other people.
You see what I'm saying?
So it's just part of the cycle.
- I slept right there for 18 years.
My bedroom was right there
where the drive-thru window is.
My daddy bought this corner
house in 1957 and he sold it in
1999, I think.
Somewhere in that range.
This used to be our backyard.
Me and my brothers would take off,
go all the way down to the creek.
It's just changed so
much, it's just unreal.
(window sliding)
- $19.92,
- Huh?
- What's y'all video
recording for?
- For free.
Smile.
(Harry laughing)
- Have a good day.
- Yeah, thank you.
(Harry laughing)
- I got it, Pawpaw.
I got it.
(plastic popping)
(plastic tearing)
(roll smacks)
Step on that corner.
No more roll, it's cold.
- This was made for the Masonic
the Greek.
It's called the Fellowcraft Lecture.
A 45 minute lecture that
goes with it and talks about
everything on it.
- He's one of the few that
know that lecture by heart.
I couldn't even begin 45
minute verbatim word for word.
45 minutes, really?
- It's built on the stairway.
There's three, five, seven steps
to achieve enlightenment.
Corn, wine and oil.
- Olive oil.
(Doug laughs)
- Anyway.
I've watched the industry change.
In the early days, I got
fired for drag racing
on a lift truck in 1961.
Didn't move my car out of the parking lot,
I just walked across the
street and got me another job.
In the old days, you could
walk in and talk to the owner
of the company.
And you can't do that anymore.
- Back when carpet first began
being very, very popular,
mills would pop up everywhere.
Anybody that could buy a tufting
machine could make carpet.
So, there were 480 something
mill within 25 miles of here.
- [Lloyd] And it really got
massive in the 70s and 80s.
- Everybody knew everybody.
Everybody was doing
business with everybody.
There was a camaraderie, even
though it was competitive.
You had lots of players.
You used to see people out
and about all the time.
It had a pretty wild nightlife for Dalton.
At one time, it had the
second highest divorce rate
in the nation, outside of Las Vegas.
And more millionaires per
capita than most any place
in the country.
(soft music)
- [Lee] So you started seeing
some of the larger companies
purchase some of those
smaller mills and absorb them.
- [Lloyd] And by the 90s,
we were down to a dozen
carpet manufacturers.
- [Lew] The difference
is that these have become
big corporations.
There is not the social
aspect that once existed
in the industry.
(acoustic guitar strumming)
- This was how me and my father got here.
- [Woman] What is it? Couristan?
- Couristan Carpets, and they
were a New York based company.
And I think George might like this.
You don't. Okay.
All right.
Well, that's fine.
No, no, I understand.
Well, thanks for taking my call anyway.
I appreciate it.
Oh, no problem. No problem.
Okay, George.
Thank you.
I'll talk to you. Bye-Bye.
(door clicks)
Nice.
These guys have been around since.
- 60 years.
This was one of the designs I did.
Customers would come up and
say, "Oh, who did that?"
And they would put my name
forward and I ended up
getting a year contract in China.
Here you can see Roderick
James on the label.
- We can go next door.
- [Roderick] Sure.
- Let's go this way.
(Roderick laughs)
Actually, I had already given your name.
- Oh, you did. To an Indian.
- To Sam.
You know Sam?
(indistinct)
- Sam.
- Just recently,
they had had the
conversation of wanting to do
some freelance design work.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- Oh, buddy.
- I can make that phone call.
- Oh, I'd love you to do that, Joe.
If you wouldn't mind.
- We'll go set you up in
this office and let you
get to work.
- Yeah, okay.
That'll be good.
Okay.
I got to get this setup
so that you can see it.
Oh it's back there. Dammit.
I just did this
for a hotel.
I was just thinking, anyway.
Oops.
Shit.
Dammit.
- [Joe] Actually, y'all do
your thing. I'll be back.
- Okay.
There we go.
(synth music)
One, two, three.
The carpet industry's gotten stale for me.
I've got to have something new.
I'm a furniture designer.
Apparel designer.
I'm a musician.
I'm a businessman.
I'm a father.
(Roderick grunts)
Sometimes.
(droning music)
- Yeah, I really like
the John Deere better.
- That will be Roderick
James Country, the brand.
I'm seriously looking at opening a bar
in the Philippines.
The only country bar.
It'll all be outfitted, of
course, with yours truly brand.
And next door is going
to be the apparel store.
A bit like Hard Rock.
They have a small retail
area for buying T-shirts
and knick-knacks, but I plan
to have a lot more than that.
I know style.
I've always had an eye
for what looks good.
I can put things together.
So easy for me.
A lot of guys can't dress.
The way you're dressed, there's that style
and then there's my style with
the cowboy hat and the boots,
my boots.
Yeah, so I'm going to build a business.
Trust me, these are going
to sell like hotcakes.
Hotcakes.
It's a winner!
I know it is.
(acoustic guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a
bottle a bottle or two
- No.
- A bottle or two.
- Yeah, but.
Of Le-Glue
Yeah, that's just what you do
- You know what I'm saying?
You know what I'm saying?
- Sing that again.
- And then after we run through
that part, then you come in
and you narrate it and go something like-
- No, I'm not doing that.
- Apply a small amount-
- No, no, no.
We're just coming up with a jingle.
- Oh, okay.
(crosstalk)
- Hi, mom.
Jon and I are writing a
jingle for a young man here
in Dalton, Georgia, 12
years old who invented
this Le-Glue.
It's hard to see it.
This Le-Glue,
which he invented.
And he went on "Shark Tank."
"Shark Tank" is a big show on the TV
where you go and you
try and raise capital.
This 12 year old kid from
Dalton went on "Shark Tank"
and got the money to launch his company.
- The world's first
non-permanent adhesive, Le-Glue,
is created for kids, by a kid.
So the next time this happens,
you just keep on playing.
So Sharks, who wants to
stick with me with Le-Glue?
(upbeat music)
- [Man] Hello?
- It's on the side of the iPad.
- [Man] What the hell's all this?
(Jon laughs)
- Do you see?
This is unbelievable.
(phone chattering)
No, no, no, no, no.
On the side of the.
On the side.
- [Man] Where, which side?
- The right side.
Do you see the buttons?
Up and down.
I love you all very much.
But I have to go on right this song here.
This jingle.
- [Woman] Of course. (indistinct)
- [Jon] So here we are.
(Jon laughing)
- So this is the big stage of Dalton.
If we could play here before we left,
that would be-
- [Jon] Be awesome.
- That would be pretty cool.
- [Jon] Yeah.
(guitar strumming)
- Hi, honey.
I'm singing to you right now, okay?
- Good morning, sis.
She takes her time
She takes her time
She takes her time
Oh, and that's just fine
A good woman's love!
Oh, it takes some time
(guitar strumming continues)
My lady
- Oh, I screwed it up.
- Hi, guys!
Don't leave!
We're just getting started.
- Sounds great!
(Jon laughs)
- Let me say hello to mom.
- Mom.
- Hi, mom.
Good to see you. I miss you.
- We all miss you here. Come home.
- Aw, I know, baby.
- [Jon] What about you brother, Jon?
- You know I want to
come as soon as possible.
- [Rosario] Can't wait.
(guitar strumming)
- So what do you think about
everything in the Philippines right now?
You think it's going to
work out okay or what?
What do you think?
- Absolutely.
There's no doubt.
With what's left in my life, God willing.
I want to produce my own stuff.
Now, the Philippines comes along,
and all of a sudden it fits.
I'm two hours from
Shanghai, not 20 on a plane.
- So you'll be fine to do the business.
- I can go in then come out.
I can go in and come out.
Dalton, Georgia, it's been great.
- Right.
- It's been great, but you know what-
- It's a mill town and it ain't-
- You've done what you've had to do here.
I've done what I've had to do here.
I still have business interests here.
You still have interest here.
But you don't have to be here, man.
It's time to take a jump.
And I think
you should jump ship and come with.
- Only thing I'm going to miss
the most is my family's farm.
And it's just something about farming that
you have that serenity and that-
- They got farms there, buddy.
- Oh.
- You got to come, man.
- I'm going to.
I'm going to go. I'm going to go.
It's just woo, old country boy.
- I need you. I need you.
- I need you too.
- I need you because
I'm bringing eight bags this trip.
- Oh, well, there you go.
(Jon laughs)
- You got a tote four.
- Right.
- I got a tote four.
- I got at least one suitcase.
(both laughing)
- Absolutely.
(droning music)
This contract, I've got two in the works,
one from Hong Kong and one from China.
As soon as that hits, then I'm off.
I'm gone.
I'm out of here.
One way or the other, if
I can just get a ticket.
If I just have money
for a ticket, I'm gone.
Because I know I will.
Somebody in China, once
they know I'm there,
they will work me.
They will give me work.
I'll find it.
I've just got to get there.
(water trickling)
- I remember in high school,
after school, we would go
to the Conasauga River,
and every day of the
week the river would run
a different color.
It would run purple, it would run green,
it would run gold,
It would run red.
Because they discharged the
dye directly into the river.
So environmentally, the carpet industry
affected tremendously
the earth around here.
Missy, there's some pretty
interesting carvings
in these stones over here.
There's so much lost.
And as quickly as mankind has
progressed, it is regressing
in the basic knowledges
that comes from the ground.
I don't think humankind
can go much further
without destroying itself.
Pick up a hand full of dirt
and just remember that's
where we come from
and that's where we're going back to.
The ground.
(branch snaps)
What are we hearing over there?
Did you hear it, Missy?
- [Missy] Yeah, I've been hearing it.
- What was it? Is it Sasquatch?
- I think it's a turkey.
- A turkey don't make that kind of racket.
- Well, what does? Sasquatch?
- I didn't hear it real good.
Well, see if he'll holler back.
(Harry squawking)
I wish I had the means to-
(branches cracking)
(Harry squawking)
(men chattering)
- And this is what I'm trying
to find in the Philippines
to rest my hat, so to speak.
Which is a lot about half this size,
fenced on either side,
with a barn for two horses.
That's what I want.
- And a helicopter pilot.
- No, no.
- Look how pretty that moon is.
- Buwan.
- Look at that.
- Buwan.
- One? Oh, yeah.
- Buwan.
- Sing that song.
- Buwan?
- Yeah, sing it.
You got it.
(Roderick singing in Filipino)
- That's good, bro.
(Roderick singing in Filipino)
- There you go.
- I buy it.
- It's a beautiful song.
- Yeah.
- I don't know what it means.
- What language is that in?
- Tagalog.
- Tagalog?
I'll get on my Google
app and translate it.
(both chuckles)
(cow mooing)
That's a beautiful sound
right there, you know?
(Roderick moos)
- Oh yeah.
- You know what that cow's saying?
- What?
Feed me.
- Yeah.
(computer beeps)
- I took some time
and I basically picked
five homes in the area.
Rosario has a big family obviously,
so the bigger house would be better
for me.
- [Woman] And then also Jon, right?
- And Jon. Of course, of course.
Now this house here, seven bedrooms,
seven baths.
I bring my two daughters over there,
and then the whole
family is in that house.
Then that's a happy home.
You know what I mean?
(Roderick sighs)
My Kids.
And my grandson.
(lighter clicking)
I haven't seen them in
three years.
(soft music)
It comforts me to be around people.
I don't like to be alone.
I've never liked it.
It's not me.
(lighter clicks)
Sam.
Let me see if he'll pick up.
(phone ringing)
- [Automated Voice]
Please leave your message
after the tone.
(phone beeps)
- Hello, Sam.
How you doing? It's Roderick here.
Hope everything's good
with you, my friend.
Happy Chinese New Year to you.
I just wanting to follow up
with you on the contract.
So if you could let me
know, Sam, for sure.
If you feel like this
is going to go through
relatively quickly with the
government and all that.
I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks, Sam.
All the best.
Bye-bye.
(lighter clicks)
(phone ringing)
How are you, buddy?
(indistinct)
Just asking about, the R&D center,
whether that was something
that's up and running.
What I was wanting to ask you,
are you still planning for me to kind of
be involved in some way in that?
- The mother company, has another project
for the government.
- [Roderick] I'm with you.
- The sun company.
- That's okay.
Thanks.
(Roderick sighing)
(melancholy music)
- [Rosario] How are you?
- I'm doing okay, baby,
I'm doing all right.
- [Rosario] I wish you were here.
- I know.
I know.
- [Rosario] Please, come home.
- So, I'm waiting again, honey.
I'm waiting again.
You know?
Okay.
(melancholy music continues)
Yep.
(guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
- Is that part you want?
- Oh, yeah.
Are putting that "mm" in there?
- I don't know.
- Well, tell me.
- I don't know.
- Yeah, it's good.
- I don't know how it's going
to fit on the timeframe.
- No, it will.
(guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
- [Jon] What have you got there?
- Whatever you did there
after Le-Glue, you went.
(Roderick humming)
- [Jon] I know, but where
was we left off, because we took a note.
- I know, but I got to include that.
(Roderick humming)
- [Jon] Oh, okay.
(Jon singing)
- Right.
- [Jon] And then we'll close it with this.
It's a phenomenal
Non-permanent glue
- Perfect.
- Now did we get all that?
Because I can't remember,
I write it as I'm doing it.
- Hang on.
Just hold on.
- Look, when you start cutting
records for Highland Drifter,
this pressure-
- Hey, I'm writing!
- I know, but pressure
will really be on you.
When you're in the
studio, this is nothing.
- No, no, no.
This is fine.
- Okay.
- But we got to get it down on paper.
- All right.
- Now I've forgotten what you said.
Hang on.
Just wait.
- [Jon] Okay.
- You need to sign this?
- You got authorization, you sigh my name.
- Good!
Don't forget the guitar.
(ring clanging)
Oh, Lord.
I just lost my ring.
Wait a minute.
Oh my god.
I lost my ring.
- [Jon] Lost a ring?
- Yeah.
- The magic of the whole
concept was he wanted to play
with his actual creations that he made.
That's what makes it awesome.
And he's got two trademarks and a patent.
He was about six months
from being the youngest
patent holder in the history
of the United States.
- [Jon] What are you doing, Roderick?
- I lost my ring.
- [Jon] Lost a ring?
- Yep.
Right.
- So how we going to do this?
- What do you mean?
- How we going to lay
all this out? You got it?
- Yeah.
We just going and do it.
How we doing, Lee?
- [Tripp] Hello.
- Hello, young man.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
- You too.
- You are awesome, buddy.
- Thank you.
- You're doing great. Hey, Lee.
- How are you, sir?
- How you doing?
Good to see you.
You've been all over the world, have you?
- Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm excited for you.
It's great.
You're showing us old guys
how to really think different.
(Roderick laughs)
What we've done, we've studied,
well, you can see here.
This is how we do it.
There's pages of notes
on buzzwords and the key things.
But it also has to be catchy.
Now this is raw, okay?
- Okay.
- We haven't gone to
the studio yet with it.
- Oh.
- So this is right out.
We just did this Saturday for you.
And sorry it took so
long, but here you go.
Hope you like it.
(guitar strumming)
So when you got a project
and you don't what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
Yeah
Oh, Le-Glue
(guitar strumming)
Don't settle for no less
Won't you buy the very best
The non-permanent glue!
Le-Glue!
(guitar strumming)
(both clapping)
- I think it's catchy.
- [Lee] It's catchy.
- So if you like it, then
we'll take it further.
It hits on the key points.
Not all of the benefits,
but it's enough I think.
And I think it might be catchy enough.
Well, we'll probably
take this to the studio
and let you hear it that way.
Well, good luck to you, young man.
- [Jon] Thank you so much, Lee
- [Lee] It's always a
pleasure to see you, man.
- [Jon] Appreciate you, brother.
- Awesome. Thank you. Good stuff.
- Y'all happy, we happy.
(driving synth music)
(machines thumping)
- This is getting close to
the final chapter for me.
The hourglass is running out.
I really don't know where
America's going right now.
I thought I did.
Work hard, Rod.
Build your dream.
That dream's gone here for me.
I'm pushing a wet noodle uphill.
In China,
I'm the man.
It's more of a pull through on the noodle.
I'm over it.
I've done everything I can do.
- Here's eggs.
Yeah, hardboard eggs with toast.
- Thank you, brother.
- Not a problem.
- Staple.
- Hope they're good.
Do they got good eggs and Philippines?
(lighter clicking)
- Do I have the money? No, I don't.
But I'm gone.
I'm out of here.
(loud clattering)
(droning music)
(airport chattering)
(wheels squeaking)
Hi, honey!
How you been?
- I'm okay.
All right.
All right.
- Thank you, baby.
- Welcome to Naga, Philippines!
- Yes.
- You will love the place, baby.
- Really?
- Yeah.
(soft music)
- Hi, kids
- [Kids] Hi!
- Okay, now, you got to share it, okay?
You got to share it.
You share it.
(speaking Filipino)
(kids shouting)
- I told Rod, I say, why
don't we move in (indistinct)?
So I told him I want to do something.
So he said, "Oh, okay.
Wherever you are happy,
I'll follow you."
So he follow me here.
So we started our life here.
- How are you, sir?
Doing okay?
- You don't see
a man walking around the
street wearing cowboy hat.
Very new to us.
We can only see that in a movie like that.
So I thought.
(Rosario groans)
- This is my steel horse I will ride.
(motors revving)
(people chattering)
- [Rosario] I introduced him to my family.
They're okay.
They accepted him.
And it came upon me wave on wave!
You're the reason I'm still here, yeah
Am I the one you were sent to save?!
And it came upon me wave on wave!
- Wave on!
- I love it.
(Roderick laughs)
I need to because he's, you know,
he's cowboy.
- Hang on.
There's no stirrup.
(horse whinnies)
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Whoa, boy.
Okay.
All right.
(Roderick clicking)
You want to go?
Come on.
(Roderick clicking)
- Don't go there, okay, because.
- Yeah, it's okay.
He's not moving.
Come on, buddy.
- That's from construction work.
I busted my ass off all my life.
But now I'm just going
to do music for the world
and be done with it.
I'm the real deal.
Jon Black.
Yeah, set it up, dude.
You bought the mic, dog.
I'm going to take me a deal.
(guitar strumming)
(Jon singing)
Do you feel it?
Can you feel it?
(droning music)
(water rippling)
(lighter clicks)
- You read the history,
and you look at different cultures,
different countries and empires;
and most of them, big majority lasted just
a couple hundred years.
Take the Vikings, we were
only known as Vikings
for just a couple hundred years.
So it does make you kind of
wonder about this country.
We don't think we could collapse, but
if we did, it'd be an
interesting time to live through.
But it's like death, you know it's coming.
You don't need to fear it, you
just need to prepare for it.
Same thing.
But I'd like to stick around
and see what these crazy people
do next.
(both singing in Filipino)
(Rosario cheering)
- I'm getting there.
- Yeah. You know that song very well.
- I need a kickstart with each verse.
- You have to start in high
so you finish you higher.
- Higher.
What the fuck was that?
(water splashing)
- What's that? It's a fish!
- It wasn't a fucking fish!
It's a goddamn, fucking something.
(Rosario laughing)
Son of a bitch!
- What is that?
- I don't know!
(Rosario laughing)
A lizard.
It's a fucking lizard.
- There's no lizards here.
- Yes, it was!
It came off the boat.
(Rosario laughing)
- Maybe a snake.
- Oh, come on.
(Rosario laughing)
Let's go.
- You're scared of the snake.
- Honey, you have no idea.
- No, it's a fish.
It's only a fish.
- Shit.
(water rippling)
(wind blowing)
(birds chirping)
(hiphop music begins)
- Right now I'm not focused on
entrepreneurship or Le-Glue.
'Cause we have employees now.
And I'm just trying to live a normal life.
Just be a 15 year old.
The money from Le-Glue
helped me buy this car,
because I didn't have to
work for multiple years.
Most people have to work
for two years to get
even a cheaper car.
I got a 2005 Lexus LS430.
The interior was so smooth.
I've been on the cover of
the newspaper more times
than I know about.
I really have no clue how
many times I've been on it.
'Cause my grandma would call me,
'cause she reads the newspaper, I don't.
My family doesn't really read it.
I think my definition of success is
whenever you can just kind of chill.
And not a lot of people can.
(soft music)
(Lloyd sighs)
- This place.
Every time I look at anything around here,
there's some memory about
the way things used to be and
I guess just echoes of the past.
I can just picture him sitting
right there with a cigarette
in his mouth and ash that long.
(Lloyd laughs)
And him trying to make it to
the ashtray and it falling off.
It's going to be those
times that I miss the most.
Yeah.
(door shuts)
(soft music continues)
Hey, dad.
(soft music continues)
(cup thuds)
- Pretty little car.
(tractor rumbling)
Since Rodrick's left, I'm sad about it,
but I know I don't have
no choice about it.
Oh, man.
If he wants to put a blazer
on with a cowboy hat,
John Wayne did it.
Rodrick looks at me 'cause
he knows I am the real deal.
Yep.
To me, a cowboy's just a country boy.
I am a cowboy.
Cowboy's about dirt,
ride horses.
(saw whirring)
We just changed our ways.
Levi's, working boots and ball cap.
To me, that's a cowboy.
(ethereal music)
(phone ringing)
- Oh, fuck.
Oy.
- [Jon] I miss you, mate. I miss you.
- Okay.
I miss you too, but what's going on?
You're not going to believe where I'm at.
Look.
Johnny,
do you see this?
This whole land?
- [Jon] Yes, sir, I hear you.
- Okay, the plan is I'm going to buy all,
listen to me, I'm going to buy all this
and put my and Rosario's house.
- [Joe] Yes, sir.
- Barn, a big ass
barn house right here.
Three floors.
- [Jon] Where you going to
put our private jet though?
- No, forget about that, buddy.
You need to shelve that idea.
See these kids right here?
Y'all put your hats on.
Put your hats on.
Okay, you see this?
- [Joe] They got the cowboy
hats on. I like that.
- Oh yeah, buddy.
Absolutely.
- [Joe] I love it.
- So, that's the plan, bro.
For the Rodrick James country home.
- [Joe] Put a big ole
walnut cross on the island.
- A walnut cross?
- [Jamie] A big walnut
cross on the island.
- They have no walnut trees here, man.
It's all pine trees.
- It's colder than shit out here.
(Roderick laughing)
I'm freezing.
- I ain't coming back, man.
(Roderick laughs)
- [Jon] I miss you, man.
- It'll be okay.
You just hang in there.
You keep doing what you're doing.
Anyway, listen,
I got to go.
The sun's setting.
All right?
- [Jon] I miss you, man.
- I got to go.
- [Jon] Hey, wait!
(phone beeping)
(feedback hissing)
- Hello? Oh, there we go.
If everybody could join us down here.
Everybody ready?
All right, so here we go.
(upbeat country music)
(droning music)
(water rippling)
(droning music)
(soft music begins)
(water lapping)
(soft music continues)
- [Roderick] Everybody
wants to go to America
and live the dream.
Well, I had that dream.
(water splashing)
(droning music)
(machine clacking)
(droning music continues)
(steam hissing)
- I was unloading the truck
and I looked down at the ground
and I saw something shiny,
and I bent down and it
was a silver dollar.
This is a true story. I swear
to God it's a true story.
Started looking around, I
found seven silver dollars
in the dirt.
Why they were there, God only knows.
And I've been looking down
ever since "cause the money's
on the ground.
(ethereal music)
There is no other industry
that is centered in the nucleus
of one geographic location,
that has so much influence
on the world.
(ethereal music continues)
(keys clacking)
(light music)
- [Speaker] Welcome to Dalton, Georgia,
the carpet capital of the world.
85% of carpets in the United
States come from Dalton.
And we export nearly 50%
of the world's carpets.
That means we're home
to some big business.
With a great location,
favorable tax and regulatory
environment, our region
has long been a great place
to do business.
So prepare to be floored by
what our community has to offer.
(cars rushing)
(forklift beeping)
(forklift whirring)
- Nothing to it.
(both chuckling)
(soft music)
Back in the day, I
remember in the 80s, mauve,
an off pink kind of shade, mauve was big.
You can't find a mauve carpet
on none of these sample boards
anymore.
Plaid.
Real popular.
That's sort of a Christmasy plaid.
Or if you wanted something
a little more neutral.
Let's say infinite choices.
That's my favorite.
- This industrys really
put together by a bunch of
North Georgia hillbillies,
and half of them couldn't read
or write.
Just one thing led to another.
- No, I think it was probably
my early 20s, maybe 30
before I realized that
there was more to the world
than just carpet.
Our towns are all about wineries.
Yeah, carpet was always it here in Dalton.
- This is interesting right here.
Just this right here.
- So what you're actually
saying, when you photo-shoot,
you can take that and put into
your craft of hand drawing?
- Look, see.
I would manipulate that.
- [Jon] Wow.
- That could be a six by nine rug there,
and all of a sudden you've
got a bestseller, maybe.
You just call it the organic collection.
- Okay.
- That's awesome.
- [Roderick] That's a
rug right there, man.
- That's really cool.
- You see what I'm saying?
- So you're bringing
nature indoor for people.
- Exactly.
This is all designed.
That God gave us.
There's just so much that
you take for granted.
You just got to look, guys.
- Right.
- Okay.
There's a rug right there.
This is a part of my life
that I have grown to love and cherish,
is the American country lifestyle.
It's the truest form
of character that I've ever met.
And these mountains that
we're surrounded by remind me
of my homeland, of Scotland.
It's very similar
to the start of the Highlands.
Our highlands are very big.
So carpet design, country lifestyle,
it just fits.
It fits the mold.
And I am obviously building
my brand of home, hotel and
men's apparel line around all that.
And we hope it's going
to be a big success.
(soft music)
I'm a cowboy.
They call me a Scottish
Cowboy, but I'm still a cowboy.
I'm an entrepreneur.
I'm a politician in a way.
(soft music continues)
And I'm always pushing the
envelope to do it better
than anybody else has done.
I've never really met
anybody like me, in a way.
Come with me.
This was given to me from my father.
"To our Braveheart son, Roderick.
Defend freedom always, mom and dad."
So this was presented to me in 2001
when I had Scotia Design Group for
the Best Rug Award in a price point.
This represents a hand knot in the rug
in the handmade side of the business.
The whole industry was out in front of me,
and they stood up and applauded.
That was bigger than getting the award.
That told me I'd done something right.
Can you grab my glasses in there, Jon?
- [Jon] Which one do you want?
- Just the black ones
(Jon laughing)
Huh?
- 1 didn't know.
- Oh, it doesn't matter.
Thank you.
- I'm just a country boy.
Roderick, to me, is just
born to be an entrepreneur.
We met about a little
over three years ago.
He said, "Why don't you
move from where you're at,
and we just group up.
He just reaches out to people.
He's brilliant.
I think Rod and I getting
together, it's like
a Yin and Yang.
Roderick, to me, is one of the
big guys, I feel, in Dalton
that brought a lot of
designs here in our hometown
for the carpet industry.
So I'm real excited to just be working
with a part of history.
He does it from the heart.
And in America, a lot of
Americans have lost that.
And not only is he as a designer,
he and I, we'll be doing
music with Scotia and
doing commercial jingles.
But Roderick James is incredible.
He's the Lone Ranger and
I guess I'm the Tanto.
(Jon laughs)
(radio chattering)
- Hello!
- Hey there.
- I am here for some feces collection.
- Okay.
Let me find out where that is.
- All right.
So we'll just fill these bags up,
and then we'll put it in our freezer.
So we have some feces left,
there's some blood in there.
Sometimes we'll use ice cream and things
for different projects.
Here's some synthetic vomit that we use.
So, yeah.
(indistinct)
- One of the main concerns
in the carpet industry
is how well something resists
stains or can be cleaned.
Carpet is obviously on the
floor, so many things get
dropped on it, spilled
on it, tracked in on it.
This particular group of
stains would be urine, feces,
vomit and soil.
So that's a fun job too.
(spark snapping)
(door clicking)
They're actually testing steps.
They have to put so many
passes across the carpet,
20,000 passes, which takes two weeks.
(dog wheezing)
- It was great in it's day.
And it's advertising.
Portable billboard.
It works.
And a good friend of mine,
guru in the business,
this man owned a bank,
he owned a gold mine,
he owned a coal mine.
He had a jet airplane out
here that could carry eight.
And anything you ask him about business,
he'd have an answer right then.
We all know that onions sell food,
makes you hungry,
somebody's cooking onions.
So I ask him, "What kind of
smell do you want that sells
carpet?
He said, "Vanilla flavoring.
Sells general merchandise.
If you walk into a bakery,
gives you a warm feeling
back of your head.
And believe this or not, you
can buy little spray cans
of vanilla flavoring.
I just bought me a case of
them, every day I go through
the showroom and put vanilla flavoring.
But he was the one that told
me about this subliminal
sign thing, and drew
out a little bit of it.
Of course, the lettering,
I did take drafting,
and well,
a lot of sex stuff in it.
Like the bottom of the A
that goes across there,
you got those two little humps.
That's pretty obvious.
You got a whole lot of what
you'd call a penis sign on it.
Carpet just took a bad
beating about being dirty.
Because it's a little harder to clean.
And the best way to clean
is just plain vacuuming,
just to remove what fell on it.
- I find it funny, a
lot of people in Dalton
won't have carpet because
they work so much and they see
so much of it, they don't
want to be nowhere around it
at home.
(gun banging)
- The more I live, the more I
realize I don't like carpet.
Carpet is nasty.
Carpet collects dirt.
It's hard to clean.
It makes your floor warm.
That's one of the plus sides
of it, but I don't like carpet.
And after a while, being 60
hours a week in a building
and realizing I didn't even like carpet,
and I decided I'd do something else.
And I prayed about it for
divine guidance, okay,
and I started laying stone.
(rain pattering)
(synth music)
These are some of my favorite ones.
See how the light.
(lamp popping)
This one, we dug out of the pasture,
and he's the ugliest one.
But the facial features
to me, they just jump out.
Now, some people may
think I'm stretching it,
but I see the nose and the
eyes and the mouth here.
And I like this one.
You got the eyes and your
mouth here and your nose.
Some of them, it's all with light.
You've got eyes here and
you got your nose here.
This one sat on the mantle in
the rock barn for 20 years.
My son found it years ago.
And that's before we began
to see all the other ones.
Those are some of the spooky ones.
I would like to set these up
in a small museum somewhere.
This is a very large stone.
And when you get just the right
light on this, it's a face,
and it's looking up toward the
heavens like it's crying out
to the heavens.
In joy and happiness,
fear or bewilderment,
or sadness and pain from his soul,
and his emotions take flight.
To me, this is the basic
of all these carvings
that I've seen.
It's just an expression of this old.
I think that there were
people here 40,000, 50,000
years ago carving in stone.
And these stone carvings were
done so that possibly someone
would see these one day and
know, hey, we were here.
So, I think people feel a need
to express their creativity.
Maybe we're reaching back to
trying to be a creator.
- Hey guys!
- [Jamie] What's up?
- How you been?
(indistinct)
Yeah, man!
Absolutely.
These are my good friends.
This is Jamie.
- How's it going?
- And-
- Ethan.
- Ethan.
This saying,
I had to learn.
But this is a real country saying:
"How's your momma and them?
How's your momma and them?
Just fine.
(Roderick laughing)
Basically translate, how's
your mother and them?
When I come here, hang
out with people like this
who are the most honest, trustworthy
people to be around.
And they've welcomed me in.
So it's kind of cool.
It's kind of cool.
I did this.
This is carpet.
That's carpet.
And I added a little design
aspect to it, around it,
and then I think I signed it.
I said,
Roderick James, the Scottish Cowboy.
(Roderick chuckles)
So the country lifestyle has
brought a lot of authenticity
to what I'm doing.
It's just fantastic.
So it grounds me.
How do I hold this again?
- [Jamie] You just back
it on up a little bit.
- Back it up.
- Back it up about right there.
- Oh, that's right, that's right.
- Get you about right there.
- That's right, that's right.
No, I'm trying to remember.
And to be honest, this is just
the second time in my life
being a bachelor.
I got married at 19, the first time.
Second time I had two
weeks in between marriages.
Third time, she didn't feel secure
because I'd lost a contract.
She didn't feel like I would
get it back or keep going.
Well, I'm still here and
that's three years later.
I gave up on Western women.
I was actually looking at China.
But it ended up being
a Filipino I met in Hong Kong.
That wasn't on my list,
my list was to go to China
and set up shop there.
And this hit me like a ton
of breaks when I met her.
And really got to know
her via WeChat every day
for eight months.
You okay, honey?
- Yeah.
We all miss you here.
Yesterday, they keep asking
me when you're coming back.
(Roderick laughing)
- Well, we'll see. We'll see what happens.
- With carpet mills,
the neighborhood I was
born in is completely gone.
They took away 36 houses
over here to put in
Galaxy Carpet mills.
On my mom's side, her parents
had a cute little house,
and just the dozers dug everything out.
I used to play on that tree as a child
and swing on it.
And as you can see, it's all parking.
But I understand things.
This may have took away
homes, but it brought work
to other people.
You see what I'm saying?
So it's just part of the cycle.
- I slept right there for 18 years.
My bedroom was right there
where the drive-thru window is.
My daddy bought this corner
house in 1957 and he sold it in
1999, I think.
Somewhere in that range.
This used to be our backyard.
Me and my brothers would take off,
go all the way down to the creek.
It's just changed so
much, it's just unreal.
(window sliding)
- $19.92,
- Huh?
- What's y'all video
recording for?
- For free.
Smile.
(Harry laughing)
- Have a good day.
- Yeah, thank you.
(Harry laughing)
- I got it, Pawpaw.
I got it.
(plastic popping)
(plastic tearing)
(roll smacks)
Step on that corner.
No more roll, it's cold.
- This was made for the Masonic
the Greek.
It's called the Fellowcraft Lecture.
A 45 minute lecture that
goes with it and talks about
everything on it.
- He's one of the few that
know that lecture by heart.
I couldn't even begin 45
minute verbatim word for word.
45 minutes, really?
- It's built on the stairway.
There's three, five, seven steps
to achieve enlightenment.
Corn, wine and oil.
- Olive oil.
(Doug laughs)
- Anyway.
I've watched the industry change.
In the early days, I got
fired for drag racing
on a lift truck in 1961.
Didn't move my car out of the parking lot,
I just walked across the
street and got me another job.
In the old days, you could
walk in and talk to the owner
of the company.
And you can't do that anymore.
- Back when carpet first began
being very, very popular,
mills would pop up everywhere.
Anybody that could buy a tufting
machine could make carpet.
So, there were 480 something
mill within 25 miles of here.
- [Lloyd] And it really got
massive in the 70s and 80s.
- Everybody knew everybody.
Everybody was doing
business with everybody.
There was a camaraderie, even
though it was competitive.
You had lots of players.
You used to see people out
and about all the time.
It had a pretty wild nightlife for Dalton.
At one time, it had the
second highest divorce rate
in the nation, outside of Las Vegas.
And more millionaires per
capita than most any place
in the country.
(soft music)
- [Lee] So you started seeing
some of the larger companies
purchase some of those
smaller mills and absorb them.
- [Lloyd] And by the 90s,
we were down to a dozen
carpet manufacturers.
- [Lew] The difference
is that these have become
big corporations.
There is not the social
aspect that once existed
in the industry.
(acoustic guitar strumming)
- This was how me and my father got here.
- [Woman] What is it? Couristan?
- Couristan Carpets, and they
were a New York based company.
And I think George might like this.
You don't. Okay.
All right.
Well, that's fine.
No, no, I understand.
Well, thanks for taking my call anyway.
I appreciate it.
Oh, no problem. No problem.
Okay, George.
Thank you.
I'll talk to you. Bye-Bye.
(door clicks)
Nice.
These guys have been around since.
- 60 years.
This was one of the designs I did.
Customers would come up and
say, "Oh, who did that?"
And they would put my name
forward and I ended up
getting a year contract in China.
Here you can see Roderick
James on the label.
- We can go next door.
- [Roderick] Sure.
- Let's go this way.
(Roderick laughs)
Actually, I had already given your name.
- Oh, you did. To an Indian.
- To Sam.
You know Sam?
(indistinct)
- Sam.
- Just recently,
they had had the
conversation of wanting to do
some freelance design work.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- Oh, buddy.
- I can make that phone call.
- Oh, I'd love you to do that, Joe.
If you wouldn't mind.
- We'll go set you up in
this office and let you
get to work.
- Yeah, okay.
That'll be good.
Okay.
I got to get this setup
so that you can see it.
Oh it's back there. Dammit.
I just did this
for a hotel.
I was just thinking, anyway.
Oops.
Shit.
Dammit.
- [Joe] Actually, y'all do
your thing. I'll be back.
- Okay.
There we go.
(synth music)
One, two, three.
The carpet industry's gotten stale for me.
I've got to have something new.
I'm a furniture designer.
Apparel designer.
I'm a musician.
I'm a businessman.
I'm a father.
(Roderick grunts)
Sometimes.
(droning music)
- Yeah, I really like
the John Deere better.
- That will be Roderick
James Country, the brand.
I'm seriously looking at opening a bar
in the Philippines.
The only country bar.
It'll all be outfitted, of
course, with yours truly brand.
And next door is going
to be the apparel store.
A bit like Hard Rock.
They have a small retail
area for buying T-shirts
and knick-knacks, but I plan
to have a lot more than that.
I know style.
I've always had an eye
for what looks good.
I can put things together.
So easy for me.
A lot of guys can't dress.
The way you're dressed, there's that style
and then there's my style with
the cowboy hat and the boots,
my boots.
Yeah, so I'm going to build a business.
Trust me, these are going
to sell like hotcakes.
Hotcakes.
It's a winner!
I know it is.
(acoustic guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a
bottle a bottle or two
- No.
- A bottle or two.
- Yeah, but.
Of Le-Glue
Yeah, that's just what you do
- You know what I'm saying?
You know what I'm saying?
- Sing that again.
- And then after we run through
that part, then you come in
and you narrate it and go something like-
- No, I'm not doing that.
- Apply a small amount-
- No, no, no.
We're just coming up with a jingle.
- Oh, okay.
(crosstalk)
- Hi, mom.
Jon and I are writing a
jingle for a young man here
in Dalton, Georgia, 12
years old who invented
this Le-Glue.
It's hard to see it.
This Le-Glue,
which he invented.
And he went on "Shark Tank."
"Shark Tank" is a big show on the TV
where you go and you
try and raise capital.
This 12 year old kid from
Dalton went on "Shark Tank"
and got the money to launch his company.
- The world's first
non-permanent adhesive, Le-Glue,
is created for kids, by a kid.
So the next time this happens,
you just keep on playing.
So Sharks, who wants to
stick with me with Le-Glue?
(upbeat music)
- [Man] Hello?
- It's on the side of the iPad.
- [Man] What the hell's all this?
(Jon laughs)
- Do you see?
This is unbelievable.
(phone chattering)
No, no, no, no, no.
On the side of the.
On the side.
- [Man] Where, which side?
- The right side.
Do you see the buttons?
Up and down.
I love you all very much.
But I have to go on right this song here.
This jingle.
- [Woman] Of course. (indistinct)
- [Jon] So here we are.
(Jon laughing)
- So this is the big stage of Dalton.
If we could play here before we left,
that would be-
- [Jon] Be awesome.
- That would be pretty cool.
- [Jon] Yeah.
(guitar strumming)
- Hi, honey.
I'm singing to you right now, okay?
- Good morning, sis.
She takes her time
She takes her time
She takes her time
Oh, and that's just fine
A good woman's love!
Oh, it takes some time
(guitar strumming continues)
My lady
- Oh, I screwed it up.
- Hi, guys!
Don't leave!
We're just getting started.
- Sounds great!
(Jon laughs)
- Let me say hello to mom.
- Mom.
- Hi, mom.
Good to see you. I miss you.
- We all miss you here. Come home.
- Aw, I know, baby.
- [Jon] What about you brother, Jon?
- You know I want to
come as soon as possible.
- [Rosario] Can't wait.
(guitar strumming)
- So what do you think about
everything in the Philippines right now?
You think it's going to
work out okay or what?
What do you think?
- Absolutely.
There's no doubt.
With what's left in my life, God willing.
I want to produce my own stuff.
Now, the Philippines comes along,
and all of a sudden it fits.
I'm two hours from
Shanghai, not 20 on a plane.
- So you'll be fine to do the business.
- I can go in then come out.
I can go in and come out.
Dalton, Georgia, it's been great.
- Right.
- It's been great, but you know what-
- It's a mill town and it ain't-
- You've done what you've had to do here.
I've done what I've had to do here.
I still have business interests here.
You still have interest here.
But you don't have to be here, man.
It's time to take a jump.
And I think
you should jump ship and come with.
- Only thing I'm going to miss
the most is my family's farm.
And it's just something about farming that
you have that serenity and that-
- They got farms there, buddy.
- Oh.
- You got to come, man.
- I'm going to.
I'm going to go. I'm going to go.
It's just woo, old country boy.
- I need you. I need you.
- I need you too.
- I need you because
I'm bringing eight bags this trip.
- Oh, well, there you go.
(Jon laughs)
- You got a tote four.
- Right.
- I got a tote four.
- I got at least one suitcase.
(both laughing)
- Absolutely.
(droning music)
This contract, I've got two in the works,
one from Hong Kong and one from China.
As soon as that hits, then I'm off.
I'm gone.
I'm out of here.
One way or the other, if
I can just get a ticket.
If I just have money
for a ticket, I'm gone.
Because I know I will.
Somebody in China, once
they know I'm there,
they will work me.
They will give me work.
I'll find it.
I've just got to get there.
(water trickling)
- I remember in high school,
after school, we would go
to the Conasauga River,
and every day of the
week the river would run
a different color.
It would run purple, it would run green,
it would run gold,
It would run red.
Because they discharged the
dye directly into the river.
So environmentally, the carpet industry
affected tremendously
the earth around here.
Missy, there's some pretty
interesting carvings
in these stones over here.
There's so much lost.
And as quickly as mankind has
progressed, it is regressing
in the basic knowledges
that comes from the ground.
I don't think humankind
can go much further
without destroying itself.
Pick up a hand full of dirt
and just remember that's
where we come from
and that's where we're going back to.
The ground.
(branch snaps)
What are we hearing over there?
Did you hear it, Missy?
- [Missy] Yeah, I've been hearing it.
- What was it? Is it Sasquatch?
- I think it's a turkey.
- A turkey don't make that kind of racket.
- Well, what does? Sasquatch?
- I didn't hear it real good.
Well, see if he'll holler back.
(Harry squawking)
I wish I had the means to-
(branches cracking)
(Harry squawking)
(men chattering)
- And this is what I'm trying
to find in the Philippines
to rest my hat, so to speak.
Which is a lot about half this size,
fenced on either side,
with a barn for two horses.
That's what I want.
- And a helicopter pilot.
- No, no.
- Look how pretty that moon is.
- Buwan.
- Look at that.
- Buwan.
- One? Oh, yeah.
- Buwan.
- Sing that song.
- Buwan?
- Yeah, sing it.
You got it.
(Roderick singing in Filipino)
- That's good, bro.
(Roderick singing in Filipino)
- There you go.
- I buy it.
- It's a beautiful song.
- Yeah.
- I don't know what it means.
- What language is that in?
- Tagalog.
- Tagalog?
I'll get on my Google
app and translate it.
(both chuckles)
(cow mooing)
That's a beautiful sound
right there, you know?
(Roderick moos)
- Oh yeah.
- You know what that cow's saying?
- What?
Feed me.
- Yeah.
(computer beeps)
- I took some time
and I basically picked
five homes in the area.
Rosario has a big family obviously,
so the bigger house would be better
for me.
- [Woman] And then also Jon, right?
- And Jon. Of course, of course.
Now this house here, seven bedrooms,
seven baths.
I bring my two daughters over there,
and then the whole
family is in that house.
Then that's a happy home.
You know what I mean?
(Roderick sighs)
My Kids.
And my grandson.
(lighter clicking)
I haven't seen them in
three years.
(soft music)
It comforts me to be around people.
I don't like to be alone.
I've never liked it.
It's not me.
(lighter clicks)
Sam.
Let me see if he'll pick up.
(phone ringing)
- [Automated Voice]
Please leave your message
after the tone.
(phone beeps)
- Hello, Sam.
How you doing? It's Roderick here.
Hope everything's good
with you, my friend.
Happy Chinese New Year to you.
I just wanting to follow up
with you on the contract.
So if you could let me
know, Sam, for sure.
If you feel like this
is going to go through
relatively quickly with the
government and all that.
I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks, Sam.
All the best.
Bye-bye.
(lighter clicks)
(phone ringing)
How are you, buddy?
(indistinct)
Just asking about, the R&D center,
whether that was something
that's up and running.
What I was wanting to ask you,
are you still planning for me to kind of
be involved in some way in that?
- The mother company, has another project
for the government.
- [Roderick] I'm with you.
- The sun company.
- That's okay.
Thanks.
(Roderick sighing)
(melancholy music)
- [Rosario] How are you?
- I'm doing okay, baby,
I'm doing all right.
- [Rosario] I wish you were here.
- I know.
I know.
- [Rosario] Please, come home.
- So, I'm waiting again, honey.
I'm waiting again.
You know?
Okay.
(melancholy music continues)
Yep.
(guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
- Is that part you want?
- Oh, yeah.
Are putting that "mm" in there?
- I don't know.
- Well, tell me.
- I don't know.
- Yeah, it's good.
- I don't know how it's going
to fit on the timeframe.
- No, it will.
(guitar strumming)
When you got a project and
you don't know what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
- [Jon] What have you got there?
- Whatever you did there
after Le-Glue, you went.
(Roderick humming)
- [Jon] I know, but where
was we left off, because we took a note.
- I know, but I got to include that.
(Roderick humming)
- [Jon] Oh, okay.
(Jon singing)
- Right.
- [Jon] And then we'll close it with this.
It's a phenomenal
Non-permanent glue
- Perfect.
- Now did we get all that?
Because I can't remember,
I write it as I'm doing it.
- Hang on.
Just hold on.
- Look, when you start cutting
records for Highland Drifter,
this pressure-
- Hey, I'm writing!
- I know, but pressure
will really be on you.
When you're in the
studio, this is nothing.
- No, no, no.
This is fine.
- Okay.
- But we got to get it down on paper.
- All right.
- Now I've forgotten what you said.
Hang on.
Just wait.
- [Jon] Okay.
- You need to sign this?
- You got authorization, you sigh my name.
- Good!
Don't forget the guitar.
(ring clanging)
Oh, Lord.
I just lost my ring.
Wait a minute.
Oh my god.
I lost my ring.
- [Jon] Lost a ring?
- Yeah.
- The magic of the whole
concept was he wanted to play
with his actual creations that he made.
That's what makes it awesome.
And he's got two trademarks and a patent.
He was about six months
from being the youngest
patent holder in the history
of the United States.
- [Jon] What are you doing, Roderick?
- I lost my ring.
- [Jon] Lost a ring?
- Yep.
Right.
- So how we going to do this?
- What do you mean?
- How we going to lay
all this out? You got it?
- Yeah.
We just going and do it.
How we doing, Lee?
- [Tripp] Hello.
- Hello, young man.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
- You too.
- You are awesome, buddy.
- Thank you.
- You're doing great. Hey, Lee.
- How are you, sir?
- How you doing?
Good to see you.
You've been all over the world, have you?
- Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm excited for you.
It's great.
You're showing us old guys
how to really think different.
(Roderick laughs)
What we've done, we've studied,
well, you can see here.
This is how we do it.
There's pages of notes
on buzzwords and the key things.
But it also has to be catchy.
Now this is raw, okay?
- Okay.
- We haven't gone to
the studio yet with it.
- Oh.
- So this is right out.
We just did this Saturday for you.
And sorry it took so
long, but here you go.
Hope you like it.
(guitar strumming)
So when you got a project
and you don't what to do
Order yourself a bottle
or two of Le-Glue
Yeah
Oh, Le-Glue
(guitar strumming)
Don't settle for no less
Won't you buy the very best
The non-permanent glue!
Le-Glue!
(guitar strumming)
(both clapping)
- I think it's catchy.
- [Lee] It's catchy.
- So if you like it, then
we'll take it further.
It hits on the key points.
Not all of the benefits,
but it's enough I think.
And I think it might be catchy enough.
Well, we'll probably
take this to the studio
and let you hear it that way.
Well, good luck to you, young man.
- [Jon] Thank you so much, Lee
- [Lee] It's always a
pleasure to see you, man.
- [Jon] Appreciate you, brother.
- Awesome. Thank you. Good stuff.
- Y'all happy, we happy.
(driving synth music)
(machines thumping)
- This is getting close to
the final chapter for me.
The hourglass is running out.
I really don't know where
America's going right now.
I thought I did.
Work hard, Rod.
Build your dream.
That dream's gone here for me.
I'm pushing a wet noodle uphill.
In China,
I'm the man.
It's more of a pull through on the noodle.
I'm over it.
I've done everything I can do.
- Here's eggs.
Yeah, hardboard eggs with toast.
- Thank you, brother.
- Not a problem.
- Staple.
- Hope they're good.
Do they got good eggs and Philippines?
(lighter clicking)
- Do I have the money? No, I don't.
But I'm gone.
I'm out of here.
(loud clattering)
(droning music)
(airport chattering)
(wheels squeaking)
Hi, honey!
How you been?
- I'm okay.
All right.
All right.
- Thank you, baby.
- Welcome to Naga, Philippines!
- Yes.
- You will love the place, baby.
- Really?
- Yeah.
(soft music)
- Hi, kids
- [Kids] Hi!
- Okay, now, you got to share it, okay?
You got to share it.
You share it.
(speaking Filipino)
(kids shouting)
- I told Rod, I say, why
don't we move in (indistinct)?
So I told him I want to do something.
So he said, "Oh, okay.
Wherever you are happy,
I'll follow you."
So he follow me here.
So we started our life here.
- How are you, sir?
Doing okay?
- You don't see
a man walking around the
street wearing cowboy hat.
Very new to us.
We can only see that in a movie like that.
So I thought.
(Rosario groans)
- This is my steel horse I will ride.
(motors revving)
(people chattering)
- [Rosario] I introduced him to my family.
They're okay.
They accepted him.
And it came upon me wave on wave!
You're the reason I'm still here, yeah
Am I the one you were sent to save?!
And it came upon me wave on wave!
- Wave on!
- I love it.
(Roderick laughs)
I need to because he's, you know,
he's cowboy.
- Hang on.
There's no stirrup.
(horse whinnies)
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Whoa, boy.
Okay.
All right.
(Roderick clicking)
You want to go?
Come on.
(Roderick clicking)
- Don't go there, okay, because.
- Yeah, it's okay.
He's not moving.
Come on, buddy.
- That's from construction work.
I busted my ass off all my life.
But now I'm just going
to do music for the world
and be done with it.
I'm the real deal.
Jon Black.
Yeah, set it up, dude.
You bought the mic, dog.
I'm going to take me a deal.
(guitar strumming)
(Jon singing)
Do you feel it?
Can you feel it?
(droning music)
(water rippling)
(lighter clicks)
- You read the history,
and you look at different cultures,
different countries and empires;
and most of them, big majority lasted just
a couple hundred years.
Take the Vikings, we were
only known as Vikings
for just a couple hundred years.
So it does make you kind of
wonder about this country.
We don't think we could collapse, but
if we did, it'd be an
interesting time to live through.
But it's like death, you know it's coming.
You don't need to fear it, you
just need to prepare for it.
Same thing.
But I'd like to stick around
and see what these crazy people
do next.
(both singing in Filipino)
(Rosario cheering)
- I'm getting there.
- Yeah. You know that song very well.
- I need a kickstart with each verse.
- You have to start in high
so you finish you higher.
- Higher.
What the fuck was that?
(water splashing)
- What's that? It's a fish!
- It wasn't a fucking fish!
It's a goddamn, fucking something.
(Rosario laughing)
Son of a bitch!
- What is that?
- I don't know!
(Rosario laughing)
A lizard.
It's a fucking lizard.
- There's no lizards here.
- Yes, it was!
It came off the boat.
(Rosario laughing)
- Maybe a snake.
- Oh, come on.
(Rosario laughing)
Let's go.
- You're scared of the snake.
- Honey, you have no idea.
- No, it's a fish.
It's only a fish.
- Shit.
(water rippling)
(wind blowing)
(birds chirping)
(hiphop music begins)
- Right now I'm not focused on
entrepreneurship or Le-Glue.
'Cause we have employees now.
And I'm just trying to live a normal life.
Just be a 15 year old.
The money from Le-Glue
helped me buy this car,
because I didn't have to
work for multiple years.
Most people have to work
for two years to get
even a cheaper car.
I got a 2005 Lexus LS430.
The interior was so smooth.
I've been on the cover of
the newspaper more times
than I know about.
I really have no clue how
many times I've been on it.
'Cause my grandma would call me,
'cause she reads the newspaper, I don't.
My family doesn't really read it.
I think my definition of success is
whenever you can just kind of chill.
And not a lot of people can.
(soft music)
(Lloyd sighs)
- This place.
Every time I look at anything around here,
there's some memory about
the way things used to be and
I guess just echoes of the past.
I can just picture him sitting
right there with a cigarette
in his mouth and ash that long.
(Lloyd laughs)
And him trying to make it to
the ashtray and it falling off.
It's going to be those
times that I miss the most.
Yeah.
(door shuts)
(soft music continues)
Hey, dad.
(soft music continues)
(cup thuds)
- Pretty little car.
(tractor rumbling)
Since Rodrick's left, I'm sad about it,
but I know I don't have
no choice about it.
Oh, man.
If he wants to put a blazer
on with a cowboy hat,
John Wayne did it.
Rodrick looks at me 'cause
he knows I am the real deal.
Yep.
To me, a cowboy's just a country boy.
I am a cowboy.
Cowboy's about dirt,
ride horses.
(saw whirring)
We just changed our ways.
Levi's, working boots and ball cap.
To me, that's a cowboy.
(ethereal music)
(phone ringing)
- Oh, fuck.
Oy.
- [Jon] I miss you, mate. I miss you.
- Okay.
I miss you too, but what's going on?
You're not going to believe where I'm at.
Look.
Johnny,
do you see this?
This whole land?
- [Jon] Yes, sir, I hear you.
- Okay, the plan is I'm going to buy all,
listen to me, I'm going to buy all this
and put my and Rosario's house.
- [Joe] Yes, sir.
- Barn, a big ass
barn house right here.
Three floors.
- [Jon] Where you going to
put our private jet though?
- No, forget about that, buddy.
You need to shelve that idea.
See these kids right here?
Y'all put your hats on.
Put your hats on.
Okay, you see this?
- [Joe] They got the cowboy
hats on. I like that.
- Oh yeah, buddy.
Absolutely.
- [Joe] I love it.
- So, that's the plan, bro.
For the Rodrick James country home.
- [Joe] Put a big ole
walnut cross on the island.
- A walnut cross?
- [Jamie] A big walnut
cross on the island.
- They have no walnut trees here, man.
It's all pine trees.
- It's colder than shit out here.
(Roderick laughing)
I'm freezing.
- I ain't coming back, man.
(Roderick laughs)
- [Jon] I miss you, man.
- It'll be okay.
You just hang in there.
You keep doing what you're doing.
Anyway, listen,
I got to go.
The sun's setting.
All right?
- [Jon] I miss you, man.
- I got to go.
- [Jon] Hey, wait!
(phone beeping)
(feedback hissing)
- Hello? Oh, there we go.
If everybody could join us down here.
Everybody ready?
All right, so here we go.
(upbeat country music)
(droning music)
(water rippling)
(droning music)