...with a white rose in my hand...

Somewhere in the lush green hills of eastern Tennessee this summer, just beyond the edge of Smoky Mountain National Park, a song came on the radio that struck me. It was a country station, but the song wasn't true-blue Top 40, CMT, modern country--not in that Toby Keith-modern way anyway. It was my ideal song: midtempo, laid-back but strong, with a sweet melody and purty guitars and blue-colored lyrics about a man who got tired of waiting for the woman he loves and so he goes searching for her--all dressed up in twang and delivered by a scotch-voiced troubadour. I tried to remember the words so that I could google them later, in Nashville, but none of my keywords could locate the song online. "...with a white rose in my hand..." was all I could remember, and that was so vague it returned a million-plus hits, none of which were the song I'd heard and took a liking to.

A couple months later, I was again on the road, this time in Boston, when the same song came on the radio. I pulled over and listened, scribbled frantically as many lyrics as I could. Then I rushed to a computer and typed in "Beaumont white rose crowd Murphy country folk song lyrics" and out came "Beaumont" by a Texas singer-songwriter names Hayes Carll. I had heard of him, and had even heard a couple of his songs somewhere along the way, but whatever I'd heard, while good, wasn't quite like "Beaumont." The next day I rushed to Newbury Comics and picked up Trouble in Mind. The whole record is superb from start to finish, but "Beaumont" is still my favorite. I like the song so much that I don't listen to it that often. Just once in a while, like fine wine. Too afraid I'll grow tired of it.

Turns out I'm not the only one smitten with this guy's music. Hayes Carll is something of a darling in the Americana scene. Trouble in Mind has been among the top-rated albums in the genre for a long time, and Hayes Carll is among the most respected singer/songwriters working these days.

Since that time a lot has happen to my own music, and just yesterday we learned there is now an outside chance that we could land an opening gig for Hayes Carll. My guess is that this won't happen--just being honest here, not self-defeating--but there is also a very real chance it could. I won't make this sound bigger than it is; it would be a cool experience, something to build upon and add to our resume, not anything that will propel us to stardom. But it just goes to show you that you never know what may happen in this life. What today seems wholly implausible could very well come to fruition when you least expect it.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, as this would be a positive experience for my band. But even better, go find that song, "Beaumont." Who knows, it just may change your life.