Welcome to "Proper True Yarn," the podcast that takes you on a rollicking journey through the wildest, funniest, and most extraordinary stories from around the globe. Join your host, the one and only Knuckles from Country Trucker Caps, as he sits down with an eclectic array of captivating individuals, each armed with a remarkable tale to share.
Buckle up for a whirlwind adventure as we dive headfirst into the rich tapestry of human experiences. With a mix of humor, heart, and sheer audacity, our guests regale us with their most unforgettable yarns. From heartwarming anecdotes that tug at your emotions to sidesplitting tales that leave you doubled over in laughter, "Proper True Yarn" promises an electrifying blend of storytelling unlike any other.
Whether it's a daring escapade across far-flung lands, an encounter with the supernatural that defies explanation, or simply a slice of life that resonates with the universal human spirit, our podcast uncovers the gems that make our world a truly captivating place.
So, grab your favorite pair of Country Trucker Caps and prepare to be enthralled. Tune in to "Proper True Yarn" as Knuckles and his spirited guests weave a tapestry of the extraordinary, reminding us all that life's most incredible moments are often just a story away. Remember, it's not just a tale – it's a proper true yarn!
#propertrueyarn
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to "Proper True Yarn," the podcast that takes you on a rollicking journey through the wildest, funniest, and most extraordinary stories from around the globe. Join your host, the one and only Knuckles from Country Trucker Caps, as he sits down with an eclectic array of captivating individuals, each armed with a remarkable tale to share.
Buckle up for a whirlwind adventure as we dive headfirst into the rich tapestry of human experiences. With a mix of humor, heart, and sheer audacity, our guests regale us with their most unforgettable yarns. From heartwarming anecdotes that tug at your emotions to sidesplitting tales that leave you doubled over in laughter, "Proper True Yarn" promises an electrifying blend of storytelling unlike any other.
Whether it's a daring escapade across far-flung lands, an encounter with the supernatural that defies explanation, or simply a slice of life that resonates with the universal human spirit, our podcast uncovers the gems that make our world a truly captivating place.
So, grab your favorite pair of Country Trucker Caps and prepare to be enthralled. Tune in to "Proper True Yarn" as Knuckles and his spirited guests weave a tapestry of the extraordinary, reminding us all that life's most incredible moments are often just a story away. Remember, it's not just a tale – it's a proper true yarn!
#propertrueyarn
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Knuckles and Zak launch Silly Saturday – a new Proper True Yarn spin-off where they dive blind into the wildest listener call-ins from a “lost” folder full of filthy, unfiltered chaos.
This first Silly Saturday’s got it all: a Tinder date ambush by surprise kids, a Kiwi truckie with 30 roadside emergency bogs and a full-noise pants blowout, food-poisoning horror yarns (including Zak spewing and shitting himself after dodgy sushi), trusting a fart in Thailand, and a car getting absolutely sent until the tyres and motor give up.
There’s even a rogue detour into bush “cures” and backyard medical theories – strictly yarns, not health advice – plus a bit of love for Chevs, hate for Rams, and a shoutout to the Sharp Motor Group. Raw, loose and completely un-pre-listened… welcome to Silly Saturday.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles is back with Charleville’s finest, Trev 966, and this time the big banger yarns take a detour into posties, planks and pure fear of heights.
It starts light – Knuckles giving a shoutout to his gun postie Jeffro getting CTC hats overnight – then Trev drops a proper true yarn about the local postal manager Tom, a paint job, and a fall straight out of Cliffhanger.
At 14, Trev’s up on trestles helping Tom paint his house when something goes horribly wrong. One second they’re cutting in around the windows, the next Tom brushes past Trev, falls from the plank, and locks eyes with him mid-air on the way to the ground. Broken ribs, an ambulance ride, and the sound of that “oof” has stuck with Trev ever since.
Asked to go back and finish the job, he climbs onto the same plank, feels it rock, climbs straight back down and quits on the spot:
“You can tell Tom to paint his own fucking house. I’ve quit.”
From there it’s a lifetime of being no good with heights:
Just when he thinks he’s getting better, he’s back on a school job walking trusses along a fully extended plank. The boys grab the truss out of his hands and Trev suddenly realises he’s got nothing to hang onto. Frozen in the middle of the gap, he watches a mate fall off the top plate and break his neck on the ground below. That’s it. Line in the sand.
By the end of it, Trev’s made peace with his fate:
“This is me. I’m a concreter now. I’ll just stick to the ground stuff.”
It’s a dark, funny, very real look at how one bad moment can turn a 14-year-old Charleville kid into a lifelong ground-dweller – even if he still climbs into the big bangers for a living.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles is back with Charleville’s own Trev 966, unpacking how he went from a kid out Quilpie way to one of the best big-banger drivers in the country. From learning the Roadranger with zero experience to seismic drilling runs through QLD, VIC and SA, Trev shares yarns about bog holes, water trucks, stolen cruisers and the tough old Louisville that made him. A proper truckie origin story, raw, funny, and all bush wisdom.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles welcomes Trev 966 back to the Proper True Yarn Podcast after the last appearance literally melted the camera. Fresh off the Get Yourself Checked gala, Trev rolls in from Charleville with a new batch of chaos.
He kicks off with a “quick pigging mission” that turns into full-blown PTSD courtesy of a useless pig dog named Ernie – the only dog on earth more interested in chewing Trev than the boar. From there it’s into the truckie world: big bangers, road trains, the Toowoomba show getting held up, and Trev’s verdict on his new rig – “Fuck your 90, buy a hino.”
Between sledging each other (no-neck vs no-arse), mixing up Akkos and Inters, and yard blokes who reckon “P is for Park and E is for Empty,” it’s classic Proper True Yarn gear: outback characters, dumb situations, and stories you just couldn’t make up if you tried.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles welcomes Dunc Heyde (The Rock FM / Not For Radio) for a tour of bizarre jobs before radio-culminating in his worst day on the tools. Sixth-form work experience lands Dunc at a salmon hatchery during spawning, where “milking” goes wildly wrong in the first five minutes. From there, the chat shifts to 18 years at The Rock, partnership chemistry with Jay, why live radio still rules, building the Not For Radio community across 147+ countries, and choosing family time over hustle while the kids are in their golden years. Equal parts feral and wholesome—a proper true yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles sits down with Dunc Heyde (The Rock FM / Not For Radio) for the most out-of-control farmyard yarn you’ll ever hear. Teenage Dunc splits shifts between peeling spuds and “catching chickens,” stumbles into the great hormone debate, and — purely for “science” — runs a chook through a bonus growth cycle. The result? Chookzilla: a five–six kilo, driftwood-legged unit that wouldn’t fit the crates and later jammed the processing plant’s plucker, costing the crew a few grand… and costing Dunc his job. From blacked-out sheds and handfuls of birds to the day the factory met its match, this one’s cluckin’ ridiculous — a proper true yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Knuckles is back with radio legend Dunc Heyde from The Rock FM and Not For Radio — this time diving into the most unhinged calls, yarns, and sky-high stories from his broadcasting career.
They kick off comparing notes on “hatfishing” their wives — proving that removing a Country Trucker Cap can change a man’s fortunes fast — before Dunc recalls the most unfiltered live call ever: a Vietnam vet on-air dropping the term “pink mist” mid-broadcast.
But the showstopper? A European yarn so wild it sounds fictional: two skydiving mates smuggling their dead grandma home for Christmas — tuxedos, G-Wagon, rubbish bags, and a live football crowd for landing witnesses. It’s dark, hilarious, and somehow heartwarming — the definition of a proper true yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Back for round two, Caamzie drops a chaotic Mardi Gras yarn from Aotearoa: pre-drinks with the crew, an ill-timed bathroom stop, a stall-surfing staffer, and suddenly he’s face-to-face with cops, cuff-adjacent, and shivering on a cell bench while his past record gets read out like a shopping list. A warning later, he’s booted miles from the venue… only to hitch a ride, stroll past the line with a “band” bluff, get spotted and ejected again - then somehow walk straight back in (ditch the coat, melt into the mosh, catch Shapeshifter’s last song). The night caps off with a 40-minute wander home that ends at the Airbnb door beside none other than Dylan Frost (Sticky Fingers). One thing leads to another, and Caamzie spends the sunrise next door freestyling for Dylan, Tiki Taane, and mates for two hours straight. Chaos, consequences, and confidence - in that order.
#propertrueyarn #NZstories
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We kick off with a quick bit of admin: NZ Mardi Gras ≠ Sydney’s Mardi Gras — this one’s the mountain music blowout at Ruapehu. Then it’s straight into Caamzie’s guest questions: ball-grooming misadventures (the “nut-cutter 2000s” versus a careful no-guard trim), what he’d buy first with a billion (spoiler: box of piss, drift track, houses for the crew, and an open chequebook for mates with real business plans), and his biggest screw-up — flipping a freshly bought Surf in a park donut session with a cabin full of mates, engine screaming in a diesel runaway while he’s hanging upside down by the belt and booting at the window. Everyone walked away; the truck didn’t.
We round it out with teen firsts, most-famous run-ins (Nyjah & Yelawolf), a one-punch dust-up that turned into a dance-floor melee, and the crucial closer: any animal as a pet? Give the man a dragon (or Appa). It’s rough, raw, and very, very Caamzie.
#propertrueyarn
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Kambo/“Caamzie” swings by with a ridiculous travel-skate yarn: starting in a Thai hostel, sees Street League is in Tokyo tomorrow, books a flight on impulse, and proceeds to confidence-speedrun his way into the skaters’ entrance. He helps a media crew carry gear, posts up in the Skaters’ Lounge, warms up on the comp park (until staff clock him), and still ends up beers-in with absolute killers: Nyjah Huston, Dominic Walker, Jamie Foy, Dashawn Jordan, Shane O’Neill, Ryan Decenzo and more. We get sweaty-handshake honesty, identical-looking wristbands, and a live Chloe the Flow switch-flip win that blows the roof off. The “after party” turns into a sprint for the last train, beers with legends like Chris Cole, then a bender and a doomed detour to Osaka for a car meet that… was back in Tokyo (cue: sleeping on a rolled-up carpet). Moral of the story: act like you belong — and sometimes you actually do.
#propertrueyarn #skateboarding
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Mel Kerr shares an intimate family epic: nephew Damo Rees—a rising superbike star sponsored by Carl Cox—marries in a sun-kissed NZ ceremony she officiates… then, six months later, dies suddenly in the UK after a catastrophic illness. What follows is raw resilience: dad Tony Rees (56) comes out of retirement to race his late son’s bike, brother Mitch fights an Aussie “bad boy” for the NZ title, and the family turns grief into grit. A powerful reminder to do the thing now.
#propertrueyarn
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Mel Kerr—NZ’s busiest celebrant—drops her wildest funeral yarns: the memorial where a speaker unveiled a secret 15-year-old son mid-service, the tradie send-off fueled by bourbon & cola where a eulogist declared the deceased a “good ****” (many times), and why “open mic” at a funeral is playing with emotional dynamite. Jay adds a jaw-dropper from his own gig where a daughter torched dad’s saintly image on the spot. It’s raw, human, and weirdly life-affirming.
#propertrueyarn
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Mel Kerr returns with peak chaos: a perfectly innocent (but very wrong) theory about the Vatican’s smoke signals, the fickle end of Good Morning, and the glamorous gigs that followed… Canesten Fungal Toenail and Depend adult diapers (hey, the rollover fees slap). Then we pivot to Mel’s second life officiating weddings & funerals—culminating in a stunning slip on Waiheke Island where she pronounced a lesbian couple “husband and wife.” Oof. It’s funny, human, and very Mel.
#propertrueyarn
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We split the guest questions because the yarns wouldn’t stop. James Johnston gets spicy and funny: losing it at 16 to a statuesque first love (“bit of a jungle gym”), the most famous person who genuinely floored him (Michael Bublé) — plus their impromptu push-up contest that inspired JJ’s 50-push-ups pre-show ritual. He explains why he’s a lover, not a fighter, the night a jealous unit tried to square up and a UFC fighter mate quietly handled it, the A-lister he’d want to play him (Tom Cruise), and the fully trained pet he’d pick (tiger). Bonus: the crew’s wild idea to phone-in the Tiger King from prison for a paid yarn. Wraps with where to find JJ online and the new music. Proper True Yarn energy from start to finish.
#propertrueyarn
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James Johnston swings by to plug the album (jamesjohnston.com), cop a well-earned black hat W, and field guest questions: the autograph he’d chase (hello, Garth Brooks), why phone-free shows feel magic in a noisy world, and his two biggest blow-ups—singing the wrong carol on live TV (Jingle Bell Rock instead of Santa Claus) and a PBR rodeo set where the track slowed, key dropped, and he bailed out with a crowd-only chorus of “Horses.” Raw lessons on owning mistakes, reading a crowd, and keeping it human. Proper True Yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Global wanderer James Johnston parks the music chat and unloads travel mayhem and magic: a Barcelona blackout (five tequilas → beach wake-up → taxi sprint → passport rescue → somehow Thailand), a 2000km scooter run from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi with a guitar on his back, and a night in a Vietnamese tin shack where a stranger literally snipped his roof to fix James’s bike and refused payment. The thesis: most people are good—treat the CEO like the cleaner. Plus: cab-running confessions, backpack budgets, and Dad-mode reflections on surviving your twenties. Wild, human, life-affirming. Proper True Yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Australia’s country rocket James Johnston unloads his wildest gig yarns: a DIY “50 gigs in 50 days” van tour (including a bowling-alley Tuesday and a campsite show for one bloke’s dog), then the leap to CMC Rocks main stage in front of 20,000. We go deep on manifestation (five years of crowd-watching and note-taking), the post-high crash the next day, and the moment he ditched covers, wrote 250 songs, and found the one—“Raised Like That.” It’s grit, graft, and the quiet people who keep you grounded. Proper lessons. Proper laughs. Proper True Yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Australia’s hottest country act James Johnston drops a bucket-list yarn from South Africa—from armed escorts and stadium shows to a spur-of-the-moment duet sung in English and Afrikaans. We trace the weird radio magic that blew his songs up, the handshake hustle that got him there, a whiskey-room write that turned into a national chant, and the moment 30,000 people in Cape Town sang his brand-new track back at him—word for word. Plus: shooting an elephant gun (500 Nitro), the strangest “tradition” you’ll hear this year (looking at you, springbok poo spitting comp), and why connection beats borders every time. Proper wild. Proper heart. Proper True Yarn.
#propertrueyarn
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Aussie country star James Johnston rolls in hot the week his new album Where You’ll Find Me drops. We talk going “all in” during COVID, buying the farm (literally), and writing in the now. James breaks down lead single “One More”—dreamed up for a scissor-lift, main-stage, 20k-voices moment—and the heart-punch ballad “Can I Keep Talking To You?” written after his grandma’s funeral.
We preview Strumming Bird (32,000 on the Sunny Coast), swap road stories, and launch our CTC x James Johnston limited-edition cap collab: 250 hats only, each bundled with an album download. Keep an eye on socials for the merch stand meet-and-sign time. Big hooks, bigger hearts, proper laughs.
#propertrueyarn
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