The McLemore Boys

The pilot light of limelight life we love to watch as the McLemore Boys cut up on national channels and roadshows all started in a Georgia backyard in 1973 when Dawson (Pawpaw) McLemore and his sons were tinkering with some scraps. 

It was John’s first stab at sales when, inspired by his dad “bending strips of steel with his bare hands” into fern stands, eight year-old John loaded them up in his red wagon and tried to sell them to neighbors. He didn’t unload a one, but that wouldn’t stop him from stepping into sales later when a company took shape from its first homemade fish cooker. 

Originally M&M Welding for McLemore and McLemore, the father-son endeavor was taking off faster than BBQ smoke drifts over the neighbor’s fence. The story goes, the sun was setting in the rear-view mirror of Dawson’s truck (could this be any more Georgian?) as he gave the business to God praying, “You are the Master, I’m the builder. If you’ll help me along, I’ll name it after you and call it Masterbuilt.” 

The story grew beyond Masterbuilt when the McLemore Boys – senior plus John 2 – joined forces as “Father & Son Fox News Food correspondents,” which is just a fancy name for a couple of good ole boys grillin’ up good on TV. 

Senior had “been cooking for Fox for 25 years” before the call came in for “The McLemore Boys and Masterbuilt on “Fox & Friends” for the All-American Summer Concert Series,” partnering with brands like Lane’s BBQ and Halteman Family Meats. 

People “fell in love with the everyday guy” and with the blue-hot tailgater energy behind every high-five and woot-woot, every prime cut and cut to commercial, every dry rub and Boston butt. These boys are on fire. (If you think that’s hype, look up Flo Rida eating a Tomahawk steak in a $2k silver-sequined Celine tee, one-handing the bone-in beef seared by boys-truly. It’s a vibe.)

It’s not all over-the-top TV-ready meat stunts (like the bacon wrapped pancake cake and the BLD – a “breakfast lunch and dinner” tower of Krispy Kreme donuts, homemade pimento cheese, brisket, and “a side of Lipitor®” – legal disclaimer: not really). The McLemores have a series of cookbooks filled with very doable recipes, and a new one in the works all about “gathering around the grill.” 

“The Deen family has been a huge blessing in our lives.” – John McLemore

“That’s what all of this is really about,” senior says. “Gathering with people. When we meet people on the road and they ask about recipes I always ask, ‘how would you make it? Because they usually have a story about why and who taught it to them that way, so the new cookbook is just John and John 2 sharing 100+ BBQ recipes and their stories.”

“The way we orchestrated it,” John 2 explains, “yes, it tells you the technique to a perfect cut of meat, but it’s more a journey of food that starts with breakfast and ends with leftovers – a journey of recipes from 15 years ago or the one we wrote the other day.”

Or it’s a family treasure, as they explain that the family matriarch “Memaw” has a featured recipe each cookbook, plus a stipulation for the rest. “If we have 10 more books,” they joke, “there will be 10 more Memaw recipes.”

Once the McLemore Boys were featured on “Fox & Friends,” their popularity skyrocketed.

What’s the secret in the sauce? “Faith, Family, and then the rest,” is their family motto and the #1 core value at Masterbuilt. John Sr. says, “there’s not a chance in the world that we would be successful – or happy in our success – if we didn’t have our faith. Or if we didn’t have Tonya.” Senior’s wife, lovingly nicknamed T-Maw, is who John 2 calls, “the absolute glue to not only our family but just about everything we do.”

Off camera? “We’re probably on a tractor working. We just want to connect with people in a way that says, ‘I’d drink a beer with you,’” senior says as junior adds, “right after church and Sunday school – go fishin’ and drink a beer with’em.” 

Whatever cut of meat they put their hand to, we’re grateful for all the ways they show, through friends, family, and fired-up grills, what it means to be Masterbuilt. 

Head to @TheMcLemoreBoys to visit the Mclemore Boys on Youtube and Instagram. Also check out John 2 on instagram @MrMclemore2 and finally Tik Tok @the-mclemore-boys

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