Veteran Empire with Timothy Lawson, USMC

Luke Thomas, a Marine veteran, is a MMA journalist currently involved with MMAfighting.com.  Law and Luke talk about many things including his decision to join the Marine Corps, his personal fitness, how Olympic wrestling can be saved, the growth of MMA, his favorite parts of journalism and more.  Enjoy! Follow Luke on Twitter:  @SBNLukeThomas  www.veteranempire.com www.MMAfighting.com

This episode is a compilation of segments from our first year of podcasts.  We've done nearly 40 episodes over the past year and have had some amazing conversations with great guests.  I selected some of my favorite conversations and topics from the VE Podcast and put them together on this episode.  Listen in to hear Terminal Lance on gays in the military, Duffel Blog on drones, B Taylor on singing the national anthem, Vincent Hancock on winning his 2nd gold medal, Steve Sxaks on recording at a studio, Chadd Downing on losing the fear of failure and Lou the Snake Seeker telling military stories.  Enjoy!  www.veteranempire.com/podcast

Marsten House March is coming to end as we interview founder of Marsten House, Steve Sxaks.  If you're in the music industry, you need to listen to this show.  Steve goes over some dos and don'ts when recording, why a studio is better than your bedroom and some funny failures he's seen during his sessions.  Also, Lawdawg reveals the partnership between Veteran Empire and Marsten House.  www.veteranempire.com www.marstenhouserecording.com

Another first for the VE Podcast: Irish Rock Band!  This week we're featuring another Marsten House recording artist, Fake Mackenzie.  The lead band member, Josh, is an Army soldier and has been rocking with Fake Mackenzie for a decade now.  Check out the podcast to hear about their Irish traditions, which band member can hold their liquor, Josh' kilts, and how the band has survived through replacing a few members.  VE Salute!

Week Two of Marsten House March brings ViP, an Air Force veteran who will be attempting a world record at the studio.  He's going to be freestyling for 24 hours straight.  Kicking off the show, however, is q from VE who answered some questions from the VE community.  Check out what q and ViP had to say and you can watch ViP set the record at his UStream:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/v-i-p-longest-freestyle-rap

We're kicking off Marsten House Madness with Chadd Downing!  Chadd was the 4th guest on the VE Podcast back in its infancy and he is returning as a Marsten House recording artist for the themed month of March.  Chadd and Lawdawg go deep into how being an artists is changing, how EASing from the Marine Corps scared him into going back to his troubled youth, his relations with Marsten House and more.  www.veteranempire.com http://chadd-downing.tumblr.com/ for more information.

Air Force, stand up!  Idrise becomes my first Airman on the VE Podcast.  We had a great time talking about his choice to join the Air Force, the fitness mentality of the Air Force, what he would do if he couldn't sing anymore, the motivation behind doing music, and connecting emotions with music.  It was a great conversation and you definitely need to check out this guy's music.  www.veteranempire.com, www.idrisemusic.com

The Duffel Blog is a spoof military news site that creates fake news stories about the military for your enjoyment.  Paul, the creator of TBD, joined Lawdawg on today's show to talk about a few interesting events with TBD.  Listen and learn about how Paul originally was interested in the Air Force, how General James Mattis thinks he's a Marine with too much time and how candy killed kids in Afghanistan.  Featured song is "Fibonacci" by Chadd Downing and Louie Valles.  www.duffelblog.com and www.veteranempire.com for more content.

Gill Alexander, Bless the Mastermind and Louie Valles all join Lawdawg on today's show.  These guys did not serve in the military, but have supported VE and members of our community.  Lawdawg invited them onto the show to spotlight their skill set and interview them in the same light we would our veteran guests.  We got great podcast and sports insight from Gill Alexander while Bless and Louie talked to use about their hip hop careers.  Take a look and support these awesome guys!  www.veteranempire.com

If you like beer, you must listen to this episode.  Tom and Neil, both Army veterans, join Lawdawg in a fun conversation about making beer and the creativity behind it.  Their creativity goes beyond beer as they design their own labels and make some of their own music.  The guys at YVBC talked about their military experience, getting into brewing, their journey with beer, craft beers they're digging right now and where they hope to go with the business.  Also, kick them a couple bucks for their business growth on Kickstarter and they'll give you some cool gear:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1742917900/young-veterans-brewing-c

Army veterans have been representing strong in 2013.  This week we have Mike Dooley out of 82nd Airborne.  Mike is an aspiring photographer with a lot to say about the movement of artistic veterans and his insight on the evolution of photography.  We touch on Instagram, Siri's efficiency, motorcycle road trips, Warrior Art Group and how strong our veteran network really is.  Featured track is Alive by Idrise.  www.veteranempire.com mikedooley.tv for more information.

For the first time on the Veteran Empire podcast, we have a member from the MMA community.  Army Veteran Tim Kennedy was nice enough to join Lawdawg on the show and tell us about his time in the Army and his venture into the UFC.  Hear Tim's thoughts on preparing for opponents, the gun control conversation, the realities of war and who he hopes to fight in the UFC.  Featured track is "Terminator" produced by KingArt featuring Kawika Burnell, Idrise and Derek Vinas.  www.veteranempire.com www.timkennedymma.com.

Today brings on a very talented young man.  Seven 2 Life is an aspiring hip hop artist who just finished several years in the United States Army.  Lawdawg and S2L get into B-Boying, hip hop influences, how cheating impacted his song writing, and much more.  Check it out and support this veteran!  Featured track is by Seven 2 Life, called "Ace Boom Boom."  www.veteranempire.com www.seven2life.com

This week we have Army Veteran and Virginia native, Marc Amatucci.  Marc talks to Lawdawg about entering the Army, his new mixtape "Goin' Off," working with fellow Army Veteran, King Art, and more.  Early Celebration is the featured track.  www.veteranempire.com

Lawdawg gets together with Veteran Empire's own, Matt Dunn, to discuss his new EP, "Black Lines."  Matt explains the story behind all five tracks while Lawdawg puts in his own two cents on each subject matter.  The podcast is wrapped up with a track from the EP called "Cross the Line."  You can pick up Matt's work of art at www.mattdunnmusic.com and keep track of his relationship with VE at www.veteranempire.com.