Early music experience:

I have never had formal music training but I remember singing in church. I also remember standing by my mom while in church and listening to her sing. She had a beautiful voice. That is one of my youngest memories of my childhood. When I got a little older I started listening to my dad’s record collection. I would sit in my room for hours and listen to Johnny Cash, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, George Jones, Hank Williams Jr. and Sr. all the way to Marty Robbins. And I absolutely loved the Oak Ridge Boys. I bought their album just because of the song “Elvira.”

I understand that once upon a time you called Oxford home?

I went to Ole Miss and lived in Oxford for quite a while (1997-2002). I still have a ton of friends who live in Oxford and the surrounding areas. I left Oxford in 2002 and transferred to Alabama. While in Oxford I met a lot of great people. When I left it was time for me to go. While I was in Oxford I was a house boy at some of there sorority houses and I became a little jaded about how some of those girls were. I did not wanna become bitter so when I left it was time for me to go. I still have some good friends that I love to come see when I am playing down there.

What do you think of Oxford now?

Well Oxford is a great place with a lot of history. I think sometimes the people who run Oxford and the administration at Ole Miss pretty much shoot themselves in the foot. They preach and preach about how Ole Miss is a dry campus but they allow certain alumni to bring there liquor into the skyboxes 2 to 3 days prior to football games. While they give the students hell about having a drink.

I remember a certain situation where a girl ran over someone in her SUV outside of Forrestor’s. the guy she ran over had a wife and child and a promising military career which was destroyed. She got away with a slap on the wrist and serving no significant jail time. That was several years before the terrible incident that happened last year with the police officer. So now Oxford and Ole Miss are taking a stand against drinking. Why didn’t they do that before someone died? Not to mention the whole fiasco with colonel Reb. I mean the Chancellor was quoted saying that nothing was going to happen to Colonel Rebel. Then that summer he was disbanded when all the students were not even in classes.

My absolute favorite is when the racial slurs were written in Kincannon. There was a huge write up on a national level and Ole Miss once again got its name drug through the mud. There were write up’s about how whoever the raciest that done this when caught should be expelled from school. That’s all and good but when the students were caught they were black. And all they had to do was take some classes and write a paper. Would they have received the same penalty if they were white? I think not.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s alumni.

Favorite musicians or bands:

I could probably write a couple of pages just on this topic alone. I love so many different artists and different types. I love Waylon Jennings. His music is awesome. My favorite album of his is the 2 cd live extended version. It is hard to find but if you do it is well worth the money. He was such a part of his music as it was a part of him. I like everything from Marty Robins to Metallica. I also love blues. It was blues music that inspired me to pick up a guitar. I used to use a fake ID to go to a place called The Subway Lounge in Jackson, MS. It was in the basement of an old motel. It was in that place I saw what music could really do to people. It was absolutely amazing. King Edward was playing there with his band and Levon Lindsey would get up and sing. The place opened at midnight and would close around 4. When the doors were open I was there. That is the first bar I have ever sang at.

I got to see Waylon Jennings two times while he was still living. I saw him once at Lollapalooza in 1996 (New Orleans) and once at the AG museum in Jackson, Miss. At the ag museum I had gotten my wisdom teeth removed the same day and it was sometime in July or August so it was a hot and humid Mississippi night. I felt like hell because of my wisdom teeth being removed but the show was great. There is a saying and I don’t know who said it. But there’s only two types of music. Good and Bad. Who cares about genres because it all meets in the middle somewhere.

I have seen Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, Chris Knight, Charlie Daniels, Pat Green, Corry Morrow, and many more. That’s just when I lived in Oxford.

Musicial inspirations:

Well I pretty much inspired by music. I picked up everything I owned with out a plan and not knowing a soul in Nashville and moving here to pursue music. Either I was crazy as hell or inspired sometimes I wonder if it’s a little bit of both. But it’s defiantly the things that music can do. You never really know the power of a song till you let others hear it. So many people interpret things in different ways. There are songs that I have written that I thought were great and others did not think that. Then there were others I’ve written that I did not think were that great that people loved. It’s all about interpretation. Songwriting inspires me a whole lot. It’s best therapy in the world.

How is Nashville treating you?

I love Nashville. I have never seen so many talented people in one place. The music is absolutely awesome. It’s not just country music, but all music. There is something for everyone. When I first moved here it took me a while to get used to it because it is so big and there are so many people and different cultures. When I moved to Nashville I did not know what an HOV lane was. I wish I got to spend more time in Nashville to soak up the sounds and sites of Music City. If you ever come up for a visit look me up.

What would you change about Oxford’s music scene?

I don’t think I would change much at all. Oxford has a good music scene as small as it is. I have not lived there in years but when I lived there it was great. It had national touring acts as well as local bands that were awesome. I loved the Kudzu Kings when I lived there. If it’s not broke don’t fix it.

Favorite way to listen to music:

It would definitely be MP3. It is easy to listen to and compact to where I can get more songs to listen to. It all depends on the mood I am in as to what music I wanna listen to so the more songs I have the better off I am.