J. Coursey Willis on True Crime Cult, Cemetery Walks + The Graveyard Under the Parking Lot - EP 42

"Some people party in fields. Some people party in houses. I like to party in cemeteries." On the second night of a true crime trivia event at Cult Classic, a woman came in wearing a wig and a set of scrubs and said she was only there with her daughter. She had played the night before. She stood out. Josh started writing alternate question sets the following month. J. Coursey Willis is back, thirty two episodes after EP 10. Everybody on Kent Island calls him Josh. Nobody knows what the J stands for, and he is not telling. The true crime night started as a throwaway line at the end of the bar over tequila. Rory keeps a little notepad behind the bar at Cult Classic, scratches things into it and puts it straight back. Josh said something about true crime, Rory wrote it down, put the notepad back, and called the next day to say do it. The first case was the Beltway snipers and it sold out in a couple of hours in the venue room. It has grown into three nights in a row, third week of every month, and its own culture with it. Three weeks of study per case for Josh, sixty to ninety questions written so no two nights are the same, mug shots between rounds, and teams of up to eight who split the case between them so nobody has to learn the whole thing. On the Watts case there was a two thousand page court release, and more than one person read all of it. There is heckling, there are arguments, there is a lot of wine, and no, not everybody gets a trophy. The rest of it is the same instinct pointed at different things. Sippin' in a Cemetery came out of drinking in cemeteries as a nine year old behind his house on Cox Neck, and is now twelve people, two hours, a glass of wine and a storyline that connects the headstones to each other. The Unmarked Path is the same idea walking the Narrows. Where the Water Narrows is a dinner at the Narrows restaurant, seven courses and seven stories, told from the county slips out. He also runs Historic Kent Island, which he started because the Heritage Society preserves what has already been saved and somebody needed to be the one saying this needs to stop and here is why. Interpretive signs on the Cross Island Trail and at Terrapin Park. A grant to restore the Ringgold burial ground, where there are only three stones left standing and a 1809 deed suggesting there are more people under there than anyone has counted. Ground penetrating radar to find out. And then the failures, which he is unusually straight about. Ninety percent of the ideas flop. A two day driving tour in Talbot County that was a great time and could never be repeated. A concept album story he loved and nobody else did. It got dark enough that he was thinking about going back to a regular job, and it took Jen saying they needed more money to pay the bills for him to sit down and write out every idea he had. Underneath all of it is the thing he only half expected to talk about. Josh is adopted, and found out somewhere around nine years old. He describes it as a foggy patch in his memory, a clear before and a clear after and nothing in between. What went missing was not a family, his mom and dad Bob and Sheila are the greatest parents in the world, it was a version of his own story. He thinks that is exactly why he spent his childhood in the woods looking through the windows of empty houses and reading headstones and wondering whose story that was. He was two days old when they got him. He is only starting to look into it now, and mostly because the book needs it to be accurate. The last half hour goes wide: the graveyard now under an auto body shop parking lot in Stevensville, the old house across from the high school that he rented in 2006 and heated with two fireplaces, what happened to the hotel at Love Point, a lobster boat in Maine that costs $1.5 million to get into, vape cartridges turning up where the arrowheads are, the wine, the Norton grape, Pallet Palooza, and ChatGPT briefing Joe on his own guest and confidently describing a completely different man. EP 10, his first time on the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZxnY1ud8yI What shift have you experienced in your life? CHAPTERS 00:00 Wayfinders Testicular Health Fund 00:14 "What are you introducing me as?" 01:18 Welcome to Episode 42 02:53 True Crime Tuesday becomes True Crime Cult 03:08 Rory's notepad at the end of the bar 03:54 Case based trivia, with the dark stuff in it 04:22 Night one was the Beltway snipers, and it sold out in hours 04:43 Three weeks of work for every case 04:58 Two nights, then three 05:23 The woman in the wig and the scrubs 05:46 Why it became a cult 06:38 Today's announcement: the Ocean City murders 07:17 Mug shots, and Brad behind the bar 08:55 Somebody read all 2,000 pages of the Watts file 09:23 "If you're stupid, I'll call you stupid" 10:36 "Have you ever killed a person?" 11:05 The joke he had to read off the phone 12:19 The night a team thought it was a lecture 12:59 What color was the t-shirt 13:16 Devin memorized every phone number in the case 16:02 Jen in the back with the spreadsheet 16:33 Spelling the oil field exactly right 17:42 "A light colored shirt is not a color" 18:41 The black shirts you can only be given 19:02 Sippin' in a Cemetery 19:26 Drinking in cemeteries at nine years old 20:29 "I like to party in cemeteries" 21:36 Connecting the headstones into one storyline 22:28 Somebody will stand over your headstone one day 22:57 "We thought that was going to go better" 23:14 Twelve people, two hours, and please stop filming 25:11 Cemeteries used to be parks 26:09 The mediums who knew things they should not have 27:23 Joe's dad and the Savannah ghost tour 28:09 The book 29:04 Bridges, half price wine, and a laptop 29:43 A memoir of Kent Island 32:00 The graveyard under the body shop parking lot 32:43 The old house across from the high school 35:31 Whatever happened to the hotel at Love Point 36:55 Bill Cockey, and a headstone in the wrong place 37:56 The farm where Claiborne's fort was 38:37 Sponsor - Wayfinders THF & Putts Fore! Nuts 40:09 What Historic Kent Island actually does 41:09 "This needs to stop, and here's why" 42:00 Restoring the Ringgold burial ground 43:57 The songs they shot in that cemetery 44:58 Where the Water Narrows: seven courses, seven stories 47:10 The Unmarked Path 48:00 ChatGPT confuses him with Jason Morton 49:18 "Ninety percent of them flop" 49:45 The driving tour that never took off 52:04 The concept album nobody cared about 52:43 "We need more money to help pay some of these bills" 53:57 "You have found a pocket of history you're making cool" 55:06 Growing up on workboats 55:39 Finding out he was adopted 55:57 "That's not my story" 56:40 Raised by the island 58:22 The genetics question in class 58:53 Two days old 0:59:58 "You've been accepted, don't mess that up" 1:02:21 The County Slips documentary 1:02:50 "I can't be director, producer, writer" 1:04:58 A double entendre 1:07:12 The largest congregation of workboats in Maryland 1:07:55 "It's like watching a dog die" 1:08:13 The lobster boat in Maine 1:09:51 $1.5 million and 800 traps 1:11:13 Where do you think the seafood comes from 1:12:12 No white perch 1:13:08 Vape cartridges on the beach 1:13:42 Back in the studio this fall 1:14:10 "Are you giving up music?" 1:15:11 The cabin that doubled in price 1:16:43 Why he does not do album releases any more 1:18:40 The Shift Live at Cult Classic 1:19:08 Don't call Rory big man 1:19:38 Pallet Palooza, and burning whatever you hate 1:21:02 The New Year's Eve dumpster fire 1:21:45 Why the haunted trail is on hold 1:22:47 A night at the winery, hunting for a grave 1:23:16 A tyrant, his wife, and the courts 1:24:57 The wine, and how little of it there is 1:26:02 The Norton grape 1:28:09 You only get that vintage once 1:29:07 Sipping on the short bus 1:29:46 Where to find him 1:29:59 Join the murder of crows 1:31:02 Cemeteries under code names THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY WAYFINDERS TESTICULAR HEALTH FUND Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Aware. Wayfinders THF is a Maryland-based 501(c)(3) dedicated to impacting the lives and health of young men by combating testicular cancer through awareness, education, fundraising, and community support, with a focus on men aged 14 to 35. A component fund of Chesapeake Charities. Website: https://www.wayfindersthf.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wayfindersthf Donate: https://ccharities.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit\_id=2419 PUTTS FORE! NUTS - 2nd Annual Charity Mini-Golf Tournament Saturday, October 17, 2026 · 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM Embers Island Mini-Golf, 2305 Philadelphia Ave Suite #4, Ocean City, MD 21842 Event info: https://www.wayfindersthf.org/putts-fore-nuts Register / donate: https://ccharities.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/event?event\_date\_id=2419 Sponsorships available at every level - team, tee box, prizes, t-shirts and more. CONNECT WITH J. COURSEY WILLIS Website: https://jcourseywillis.com Gatherings and tickets: https://jcourseywillis.com/pages/gatherings The Murder of Crows: https://jcourseywillis.com/pages/murder-of-crows The Unmarked Path: https://jcourseywillis.com/pages/the-unmarked-path Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jcourseywillis Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JCourseyWillis TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jcourseywillis YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JCourseyWillis Historic Kent Island: https://historickentisland.org True Crime Cult tickets: https://cultclassic.simpletix.com Cult Classic Brewing: https://cultclassicbrewing.com Chesapeake Manor Vineyard: https://chesapeakemanorvineyard.com MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Cult Classic Brewing · The Narrows Restaurant · Chesapeake Manor Vineyard · Bridges · Kentmorr · Harris Crab House · Baker's Liquors True Crime Cult · Sippin' In A Cemetery · The Unmarked Path · Where the Water Narrows · Pallet Palooza · Songs & Stories of the Island's Son Historic Kent Island · Kent Island Heritage Society · Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum · Maryland Historical Trust Kent Narrows · Love Point · Stevensville · Grasonville · Romancoke · Cox Neck · Chesley Road · Bay City · Cockey Lane · Terrapin Park · Cross Island Trail · Thompson Creek William Claiborne and the 1631 fort · the Ringgold family burial ground · the Cray House · C.J. Langenfelder & Son · the Love Point hotel The Beltway snipers · the Chris Watts case and Cervi 319 · the Ocean City murders and the Sifrits Boordy Vineyards · Linganore Winecellars · Mark Cascia Vineyards · Layton's Chance · Chambourcin · Barbera Rose · the Norton grape Candlebox · Island Styles · BJ Kerwin · Jason Morton & The Chesapeake Sons Neil deGrasse Tyson · ChatGPT · Claude SUPPORT THE SHIFT WITH MIKE & JOE Website: https://www.theshiftwithmikeandjoe.com Donate: https://www.theshiftwithmikeandjoe.com/giving-page-2-1 Email: info@theshiftwithmikeandjoe.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheShiftwithMikeandJoe-jf9ot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshiftwithmikeandjoe/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574975860350 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theshiftwithmikea Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shift-with-mike-joe/id1813198065 Podbean: https://joer7.podbean.com CONNECT WITH MIKE & JOE Michael Waskey Music Website: https://www.michaelwaskey.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelwaskeymusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelwaskeymusic Kent Island Academy of Music (Mike) Website: https://kentislandacademyofmusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KentIslandAcademyOfMusic/ Image & Sound Media (Joe) Website: https://www.imagesoundmedia.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094021747690 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imageandsoundmedia TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imagesoundmedia YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imagesoundmedia Joe Bryan Music Website: https://www.joebryanmusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550810556745 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joebryanmusic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joebryanmusic PODCAST PRODUCTION GEAR (EPISODE 42) Cameras: Sony A7 IV, Sony A7 V, Sony FX3, Sony A7C II Main Audio: Shure SM7B (Joe, Mike & Josh) Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 18i18 Audio Software: Reaper Video Editing: DaVinci Resolve Studio Lighting: Amaran 100x & 200x softboxes + Amaran tube lights The Shift with Mike & Joe is fully produced by Image & Sound Media. https://www.imagesoundmedia.com #TheShiftPodcast #TrueCrime #LocalHistory #KentIsland #EasternShore #Annapolis #MarylandPodcast #Storytelling #Winery #WayfindersTHF