On March 6th, after I had already narrowed down the songs for the project, Cheri Brooks, a great friend of ours, sent me a story she had read about a Soldier who had to report to duty during a time of war. His only companion was his dog. He left it behind to a trusted animal shelter with the specific instructions that if he did not return to give the new owner of his dog a letter. I immediately began to tear up at the though of this idea. While this may or may not have been a true story, it hit me hard just because I can imagine that this very thing could happen.
I immediately began to write. Within a few hours I had a complete song that I felt people could connect with. Especially those who have served our country like another good friend of ours, Max Echols who helped inspire "Green Beret" you will hear in the song. I had to compress an entire story (Below) into a few verses and chorus. It was quite the task, but I think with good instrumentation and a catchy melody, we may have pulled it off.
*A few interesting notes. The dog in the song was almost named "Rambo". Though Rambo would have been a better name to connect with "Green Beret", I felt that "Dixie" was a more subtle connection to common names in the South.
** Anther interesting note. This is the only song on the entire album I got to play an instrument on (Acoustic). With the overwhelming talent of Jonathan Laird and Daniel Dennis, I was bullied into submission on the other 9 songs. LOL!
***I did have a cat named "Dixie"
****The fiddle player you hear is none other than Ryan Joseph--Alan Jackson's fiddle player.
Here is the link to the actual story. This song would really make perfect sense if you read this first:
I immediately began to write. Within a few hours I had a complete song that I felt people could connect with. Especially those who have served our country like another good friend of ours, Max Echols who helped inspire "Green Beret" you will hear in the song. I had to compress an entire story (Below) into a few verses and chorus. It was quite the task, but I think with good instrumentation and a catchy melody, we may have pulled it off.
*A few interesting notes. The dog in the song was almost named "Rambo". Though Rambo would have been a better name to connect with "Green Beret", I felt that "Dixie" was a more subtle connection to common names in the South.
** Anther interesting note. This is the only song on the entire album I got to play an instrument on (Acoustic). With the overwhelming talent of Jonathan Laird and Daniel Dennis, I was bullied into submission on the other 9 songs. LOL!
***I did have a cat named "Dixie"
****The fiddle player you hear is none other than Ryan Joseph--Alan Jackson's fiddle player.
Here is the link to the actual story. This song would really make perfect sense if you read this first: