From 2014 to 2018, Sheila Keeton may usually be seen becoming a member of her fiancé, musician and comic Steve Corridor, on the finish of his cooking present, “Cooking with Shotgun Red.” He’d provide her a chunk, and she or he’d fortunately style no matter Corridor had whipped up, be it a home made chocolate malt, a frozen lemonade pie or a Tex-Mex tater tot casserole.
Then, in 2018, Corridor died. Keeton, who lives in Crimson Bay, knew Corridor, the consummate entertainer, would need the present to go on. So, she requested their pal Jennifer Bruce to affix her, and the duo determined to maintain the oven on. “I simply knew he’d need the present to maintain going; he was so happy with it,” Keeton says.
In 2018, “Cooking with Shotgun Crimson” had 116,000 YouTube subscribers. At present it has near 400,000, and each Bruce and Keeton credit score this success to their adherence to Corridor’s no-fail recipe for a profitable present: Combine equal elements meals and enjoyable. The 2 girls are all the time laughing, and each episode has a pleasant, nearly festive really feel.
Enjoyable was an integral ingredient in every little thing Corridor did, together with the creation of his stuffed sidekick, Shotgun Crimson. Beginning within the early Eighties, Corridor’s wise-cracking, joke-telling puppet was a fixture within the nation music world. Corridor occurred upon the puppet in a passion retailer and turned it into “Crimson.” Corridor purchased him, put a cowboy hat atop his head and created (and voiced) the character to assist his band on the time stand out.
“He needed to have one thing to get them some consideration, to be totally different,” Keeton says, “so he’d do these little comedy bits with Crimson. Folks beloved it.”
Crimson was humorous sufficient to get himself and Corridor seen in a “battle of the bands” competitors, which earned Crimson the co-host spot on The Nashville Community’s tv speak present “Nashville Now” from 1983 to 1993. Corridor and Crimson additionally made common appearances on “Hee Haw.” On a rustic music video present that Corridor hosted referred to as “Country Clips,” Crimson usually carried out the interviews, chatting with crooning legends like Garth Brooks and Randy Travis.
Corridor then created one other program to showcase Crimson in addition to different expertise, “The Shotgun Red Variety Show,” which Keeton, referred to as “Miss Sheila,” co-hosted. It aired for 4 seasons, till 2014. For 15 years, amid all of the TV exhibits and appearances, Corridor and Crimson did their musical comedy act aboard the Basic Jackson Showboat in Nashville. Bruce was a vocalist within the Shotgun Crimson Band and managed “The Shotgun Crimson Selection Present.”
From the small display screen to the pc display screen
Whereas Corridor beloved making of us smile along with his music and Crimson’s humor, he additionally beloved to prepare dinner for others. “Sharing his meals with folks was really one in every of his favourite issues to do,” Keeton says. Plus, he was an avid hunter and fisherman. So, when Jackie Bushman, founding father of the Montgomery-based searching model Buckmasters, requested Corridor and Crimson to make a couple of cooking movies for his tv present, Corridor was excited to oblige. That have sparked the thought for a brand new enterprise, and “Cooking with Shotgun Crimson” was born.
In 2014, Corridor created the present’s YouTube channel and, for 4 years, he walked viewers via his favourite “nation cooking” dishes, whereas filming and airing greater than 300 episodes.
Keeton felt the work and devotion Corridor put into the present deserved to be honored. “We began all of it from scratch, and I helped, so I didn’t wish to let it go,” Keeton says. “I needed to hold on his legacy.”
“And other people have been asking for it,” Bruce provides. “They have been followers of the cooking and of Sheila, too.” Bruce introduced her years of friendship, her background in music and video manufacturing, and her cooking expertise to the desk to assist. “I simply felt prefer it was a good way to honor Steve,” she says.
Collectively, they’re persevering with to share Corridor’s meals, utilizing a few of his recipes, a few of their very own and a few from household and mates. They’re being attentive to what their viewers desires and giving them extra of what resonates. “We just lately did a slow-cooker lemon rooster and received greater than 100,000 views within the first week,” Bruce says. One other well-liked present featured chicken-fried rooster with home made gravy.
The primary 307 episodes, all that includes Corridor, are nonetheless obtainable on the channel and so they present him making his biggest hits, like rabbit stew, seared flat-iron steak with butter, beer-battered onion rings and his tackle making copycat McDonald’s French fries, which now has greater than 3.5 million views.
Regardless of the place every recipe originated, Keeton and Bruce guarantee Corridor stays a focus. “We’ve heard from viewers how a lot they love nonetheless feeling like he is part of it, so we make an effort to do this,” Keeton says. “He all the time advised tales and jokes whereas he cooked, so we try this, too, inform his tales and his jokes.” However Crimson is now retired. “Shotgun Crimson is our mascot, however we didn’t really feel it was proper to have him again on the present,” Bruce says.
“Steve was Crimson,” Keeton provides.
At present, followers can discover greater than 430 episodes, and the quantity retains rising. “We put a brand new episode up just about each week,” Bruce says. They usually really feel that they’re persevering with to develop, too. “It’s rewarding to attempt to make each present higher than the final for our viewers. That retains us going, and the feedback we get from them, telling us how a lot they love the recipes and simply the present itself, that’s very rewarding,” Keeton mentioned.
Corridor makes an look on the finish of every episode, signing off along with his signature line: “Is that this one of the best? If it ain’t, it should be!” Keeton says protecting Corridor’s reminiscence alive, and sharing his zest for all times with the world, is one of the best a part of her work. “He beloved this present a lot, and we really feel his presence each time we movie,” Keeton says.
Tune in
You’ll be able to watch “Cooking With Shotgun Crimson” any time by visiting the YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/CookingwithShotgunRed/featured. And, if you need extra, go to shotgunred.com to take a look at the 2 “Cooking With Shotgun Crimson” cookbooks. Each are stuffed with recipes featured on the present, together with appetizers, burgers, entrees, desserts and even some wild recreation recipes.
This story initially appeared in Alabama Living magazine.
