It Still Matters... music

I don't mean to be too dramatic or anything but I heard a song yesterday and it made my world stop for 3 1/2 minutes. When I was a little younger and a whole lot less busy with everything this used to happen all of the time... every time I heard Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain by Willie Nelson, Ellis Unit One by Steve Earle, This Is Where The Cowboy Rides Away by George Strait, American Girl by Tom Petty and I could go on and on and on and on it seemed like the rest of the world just stopped and the only thing that mattered was what was coming out of those speakers. It feels like love at first sight, like watching a perfect spiral, like hitting a home run, like... well, you get the picture... music does that for me. If you're reading this then it probably does that for you too.

I was listening to Rodney Crowell's "Obscenity Prayer" yesterday and it did that to me. It came on my ipod and all of a sudden the noise from the rest of the world was silenced. I live for those moments. A lot of people spend a lot of time trying to find that place and I got it from a song that I can turn on anytime I want to.

We need this stuff. It helps. In a world that provides plenty of disappointment to go around music is a place that we can go. That's a good thing. Use it. It matters.

That's it. I got a gig.

Jack

Strait Line...

I had the opportunity to be included in "The ACM Artist Of The Decade Concert honoring George Strait" over the weekend while I was in Vegas! The show will be on CBS on May 27!

To say that it was an honor for me would be an understatement. I still am amazed that I was a part of it! I did "All My Ex's Live In Texas"... I changed the arrangement of the song up quite a bit. It's a pretty hard core, country, Western Swing kind of vibe and I thought it would be a sign of George's influence on my music if I changed the arrangement up to fit what I naturally do. That, after all, is what George has done his entire career... done songs exactly the way he sees fit! He has made a Hall Of Fame career out of just being himself... that, more than anything else, is how George Strait has influenced me and my music... just be yourself from start to finish... that way you don't have to "put on an act" every time you go to work!

Thanks to the ACM and to George Strait... it was fairly high cotton in the room and I am grateful to have been a part of it.

Keep On Keepin On...

Jack