Voices In My Head Podcast #235: Soul of Cash with Brian Owens

Today's podcast is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook download and 30-day free trial at audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. That's audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle, or MP3 player. That's audibletrial.com/voicesinmyhead. Give it a try today. Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is your source for discussions on music, literature, movies, pop culture, theology, and more. Now sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of the Voices in My Head podcast. And don't forget to let the voices in your head be heard by following me on Twitter @RickLeeJames and sharing your thoughts about today's show. My guest today on Voices in My Head is R&B singer Brian Owens. His music has been compared to legendary artists like Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and the Reverend Al Green. Brian has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Entertainment Tonight, and Fox and Friends, among others. Aside from making incredible music with Grammy Award-winning artists like Michael McDonald, Brian is also an Air Force veteran, a husband, a father, and a man of faith who provides leadership development for urban youth in his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri through Life Arts Incorporated. Brian's original music is full of messages that are encouraging, thought-provoking, and touching, with subjects that range from social awareness to family life. His latest album, Soul of Cash, is a cover album of songs made famous by Johnny Cash, but unlike most cover albums, Soul of Cash reimagines the Man of Black's music, giving it an R&B feel that makes it feel fresh and original. Filled with guest appearances by artists like Robert Randolph, the Deacons of Soul, Rissie Palmer, and Dylan McDonald, just to name a few, Soul of Cash brings new life and emotion into the songs of Johnny Cash for a new generation. Brian Owens, it is my great pleasure to welcome you today as my featured guest on the Voices in My Head podcast. Welcome. Thank you, Rick.

How you doing this morning, brother?

I am doing great, and I, I gotta be honest with you, I love your album so much I almost have butterflies today, and that doesn't happen to me often talking. I mean, honestly, the music is good, and you've done such a great job with so many songs that are so iconic, and you make them feel new, and it's almost like I haven't even heard the songs before. And so I'm really excited to get to share little bits of it throughout the show today and just to talk more about this music. But you have done an excellent, excellent job. So first off, congratulations and well done.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate that.

Yeah, and, and listeners of Voices in My Head, you'll be interested to know, and Brian, you might be interested to know too, I'm going to end the podcast today with actually a surprise speech delivered by Johnny Cash in 1993. I found a short speech online that actually has some relevance to our conversation today because he answers a question from the audience about his own influence through soul music and gospel and things like that. So I think it'll be a fun way to close our conversation today on the podcast.

Oh wow.

So, so the question I want to get started with first with you is people obviously don't think of when they think of great R&B musicians, they don't automatically go Johnny Cash. You know, they think of Johnny Cash for many reasons, but I'm gonna ask you the first question today just being for you, why Johnny Cash?

I guess my response these days is why not Johnny Cash? I think that, you know, we tend to take a narrow view of most things as human beings, and music is no exception. And I think when we expand our minds and get beyond labels, music in and of itself, um, I don't know that genre is really a mechanism of music. I think it's more a mechanism of industry. I think that it's a way for record labels and just us as human beings to say this is different than this. And to some extent, I get that. When it comes to the idea of soul though, I'm not so sure that it can be limited to just a genre. Like to me, soul is a means and/or method of interpretation. So you can be a soul singer or a soul, interpreter in any genre because it's a means by which you interpret. So Pavarotti, the first time I heard Nessun Dorma, I was like, yeah, that's soul music. Yeah, right. So Johnny Cash to me fits that same mold. It's like the place where he sung and wrote music from, um, makes it soul music.

Well, and you know, it's interesting, as I was going through some old audio files of interviews with Johnny Cash, even getting ready for this interview, he talks about growing up and being in Arkansas and listening to radio stations. And he said at that time, he said you really didn't have country stations or rock stations or blues stations or anything like that. He said it was just all music at that point. So he heard a wide variety of music. So I think it's so appropriate that you mentioned that about, you know, the soul of the music that's there, because I think probably the way he approached music was very much like that. It wasn't so much like, how country does this have to be? And especially towards the end of his life when he was recording music by the Nine Inch Nails or Tom Petty or a wide variety of people, it was obvious that it didn't have to be any one particular style. So that's pretty great. Now, can you remember your first experience listening to Johnny Cash?

I can. I mean, I think the first time I heard his voice that I remember was on an episode of Columbo, and he wasn't singing one of his songs. He was singing Hank Williams tune, "I Saw the Light." He was playing the televangelist. Um, and that's the first time I remember it. And after that, I think it was, you know, I'm sure there was a time where I did hear it, but I didn't really like hear, hear his music like pay attention, pay attention, until I saw the, the movie, um, Walk the Line. And for whatever reason, that movie became a gateway for me to get to, to delve deeper.

Hmm, very interesting. So then that's another unique thing because most people wouldn't probably say Columbo was their first time to hear Johnny Cash, so Yeah, my dad was a Columbo guy. Peter Falk, man, wow. Who would have thought the lines would intersect in that way? That's interesting. So do you personally have a favorite track on the album? I know it's probably hard to find, but is there one that means a lot to you on the album that you would say, yeah, that's my track?

Um, man, it's hard. It's hard to pick one. I would say that "Cry Cry Cry" is one of my favorite tracks. I would say "Folsom Prison" is one of my favorite tracks. And I would say "Long Black Veil" is also— "Long Black Veil," that is probably for me the purest track because of the way we recorded it. Um, I mean, there's really on this whole record, there's really no editing on the vocal. Um, maybe with the exception of, I think, Folsom and Cry Cry Cry. I was, I was able to do some, some, some edit, some vocal stuff in terms of edit-wise, and Soul of My Country, because I did— I didn't, I didn't do those in our Nashville sessions, which were very much, you play it and you get what you get. But on all the rest of the songs, the vocal that you hear is the vocal that I sang.

Hmm.

So in "Long Black Veil," we were all in the same room singing that song. I actually have video of that, need to post it.

Wow, that would be great to see. And, and you know, that song in particular, Long Black Veil, uh, I mean, that song almost makes me cry the way you sing it. I mean, it's such a mournful song anyway, and then you find all the details of the song. And, and all the songs on the album, one thing I've been telling people that I've been talking to this album about is I said, you know what, it makes me hear things in Johnny Cash songs that I didn't hear before. Because sometimes there was a sense in which some of the music, although a lot of it I really love, a lot of it does have sort of a feel like kind of a that train track sort of a boom chicka boom chicka boom chicka boom, you know, sound to it. And yeah, and sometimes just because of, you know, hearing it in that context, I don't always pay attention to the lyrics as closely as I would. And what I think you have done for this music is you made me personally stop and really hear the words that Cash was singing in those records. I mean, some of them like Long Black Veil— it just tears your heart out! And the way you sing it sounds so effortlessly the way you do it but I know it's an incredible talent that you brought to it. But even Folsom Prison Blues where you have that famous guitar lick da-da-dum-duh dum duh dum duh dum duh dum duh dum duh dum and the way that you decided to do interpret that vocally and singing it out and the background vocals the way they're singing. It's just beautiful the way that you edited it all together. And I think what makes this album unique to me is not just that it's amazing songs, but you've reinterpreted and reworked them in such a way that they're recognizable, but they sound like something completely original. It's almost like you're stepping back and hearing a great old Motown record or something, the way that they're played. And you have just done an amazing job with that. Did you produce this album yourself, or did you work with a producer on it?

I did for the most part. I worked with Daru Jones, who is a drummer out of Nashville. He played with Jack White on a track. But for the most part, yeah. I did produce it. That said, there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors. So, you know, I always have unofficial producers and folks who work on records with me. Most notably, you know, Dwayne Lundy, who did some of the— well, who mixed the album, was one of the mixing engineers on the record and did some recording of the vocals on Folsom and on I believe Folsom and Cry Cry Cry did a lot of those vocals with him out of Lexington, Kentucky. Shangri-La, like, I depend on him a lot in this kind of like two-person process that we've developed because he worked on my other album too extensively, uh, Soul Ferguson. So I depend on him a lot. And another friend, Lee Carroll, who is also down in Lexington, who plays on the record as well. But just having people like that, uh, Luke Aarons, who's a good friend of mine who did some, did some engineering on the record. You know, when you're in that room and it's just you and an engineer, um, you know, they— I, I listen to them much better than, much better than I used to. I, I listen and I ask questions and You know, it was the part of this for me that I really enjoyed was the process. Just, I use the phrase wrestling with my own creativity, going back and forth with myself. You know, the songs like Folsom or Cry Cry Cry, you know, they weren't going to be on the record.

Wow.

Because I recorded them and didn't like the recording. And then it was like, I go back and listen to it and it's like, no, there's something about it that's special. And it's like, nah, I don't know, it just doesn't fit. And then your creativity says, no, just do this. Just wait till you put the horns on it. Okay, just wait till you get the vocal right and then make a decision. Or just get this person to play guitar on over this and see what it feels like. And just that back and forth, I mean, it really— this album really grew me as a producer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, it's, it's, it's really, uh, I don't know how else to say, but it's a unique sound. And you can tell that that collaboration— you were very wise to, to pick some awesome people to play with and, and, and to produce with. And I— it feels so different to me, and I've been telling a lot of fellow musicians, you know, this is my favorite album I've heard in 2017. I mean, it really is. It's been kind of on loop around my house. I'll walk around my church playing it when I'm in the office. I'll walk around playing it in the car, and I don't think anybody's gotten sick of it yet. I think it's been cool.

That's a good thing.

Yeah, as much as you play it, you know you got a good album on your hands. And I think it speaks to the quality of songs too, that they can be interpret in a multitude of different ways like this too. Because Johnny Cash, he did them one way and he made the songs great, but then you do them in a completely other way and it doesn't lose a thing in the translation. In some ways I think it even makes it better. I'm gonna share a quote real quick from Johnny Cash, and then I want to talk about one of my favorite songs on the album. Johnny Cash was a man of extremes. And he would tell you himself he was both part saint and part sinner in his life. And this is a quote from Johnny Cash. He said, "Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight," is what he says. And I think you hear a lot of that in the music that he has. One of my favorite Johnny Cash songs has always been the song he recorded by Kris Kristofferson, "Sunday Morning Coming Down." Coming Down.

Oh yeah.

And your arrangement on here featuring Austin Grimsmith, uh, it's, it's a powerful arrangement. And one thing that I'll tell you what I think is powerful about the song, and maybe my interpretation isn't right, but the song to me describes the loneliness of a person that has, has been running from God in many ways. And again, I don't know that that's the correct interpretation. But knowing what I know about Kris Kristofferson, you know, he's the son of a preacher and he's a person that kind of went off the deep end and went, you know, deep into drugs and went in the other way. And you hear this song about him sort of singing about something in his past that he's missing, and it happens to be on Sunday morning when he's coming down off of this high. And I can't think of lyrics that speak more maybe to a person that is kind of limping between two worlds, you know, and the way that he sings out, you know, looking for his cleanest dirty shirt, and you know, just lines like that that are so powerful. I wonder how that song hits you when you hear it, Sunday Morning Coming Down, because I know what it means to me. I just love to hear another artist's interpretation of it.

First of all, did you say Kris Kristofferson was the son of a preacher?

He was the son of a preacher, yeah, that's right.

I did not know that.

Yeah, it's interesting because he, he actually has a few gospel songs that he wrote, and they were based off of his, his influence and life growing up in the church.

Well, that's— to me, that's every—

any—

well, people in country and soul music, we come from the same place.

That's, that's for sure.

Um, but what's interesting is that when I, when I heard Sunday Morning Coming Down, initially I just liked the song and the lyric because I thought it was ingenious, right? Some of the lines in that song, like, my cleanest dirty shirt, right? You know, the beer I had for breakfast, breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert. Um, but then, you know, the more I heard that song, I was like, dude, that's my father's, that's my father's testimony. Rick Lee James, who's a preacher and an elder in the church.

Wow.

Um, now, but you know, I remember being, you know, young teen, my early teens, and hearing him preach and talk about where he used to be and how God can transform your life and finding out all kind of stuff about him that I had no clue about. And, um, drinking was one of those things. And it's just so interesting to me, you know, like he would say, you know, he'd say stuff like he would, you know, wake up in the morning, get a beer, drink it to half, and then mix it with something else. And then when I— so when I think about Sunday Morning coming down, I was like, dude, this is like my dad's song. Wow. This is his testimony, you know. So I guess if that's the first half of it, then, you know, he has several other things that Johnny Cash covered that would be the other side of that.

Yeah.

Like gospel stuff, man.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. And you know, it's interesting too, when you talk to a bunch of different people about Johnny Cash, they'll remember a lot of different things. And maybe because I approach life as a person of faith, I hear a lot of things and I hear faith in it, even if it's not, um, explicit at times. But the interesting thing about Johnny, and again, just going back and listening to old interviews and things, um, he was somebody who understood where he had been, I think. And I think he talked a lot about it, like maybe just even in the story you were just saying about your dad. Um, he was a person that knew what it was, uh, to be really low in life, and a person that knew what grace was And he always talked about, especially towards the end of his life, he would talk about God's hand being on him. And he said, "My mom would always tell me that God's hand was on me throughout my whole life." And it was interesting to hear this kind of the ways that that would inform the artistic choices he would make. And so I want to bring this back around to you and ask you in sort of a similar vein, what role does faith play in the art that that you create?

I mean, I don't know that it plays just a part. It, it like, it's the very epicenter. It's like, you know, it's like, I don't know, man, it's hard to explain. Like, I don't, I don't see one without the other. I, I don't see me being able to create art outside of my faith. Like, it's, it's I could, but I don't know that I definitely wouldn't be doing it in a way that I'm doing it now. Yeah. Um, well, you know, people, people are shocked, but I— when I say stuff like music is not the most important thing in my life, and it can never be the most important thing in my life, um, you know, my faith is the most important thing to me. My family is second to that, and then there's probably a third and a fourth before we even get to— oh yeah, and then there's music.

Yeah.

And I love music, but it— but, but music is subservient.

Sure.

You know, so—

well, and it's, it's good to hear you say that too, because I think similar to what you said earlier about, you know, style being something that is good for record companies but for artists it kind of confines in some ways. And I think we're really— we tend to label things a lot, and we especially tend to label music, like, you know, with, with like Christian music being one genre to itself, and then there's all the other genres and things. It's nice when you come across artists that feel like it's in all and through all. It doesn't have to be necessarily a gospel song to be a person of faith that's singing this thing, you know., and I think that's wonderful. And as I've read up about you a little bit more and tried to learn more about you before this interview, I see that you are very involved in your community, and you're living in Ferguson, right?

Correct.

And it looks like you're doing some amazing work with local youth in your community, and if I'm not mistaken, the organization that you're— you have started. It's called Love Arts, I believe. Did I— am I—

no, LIFE. So LIFE Arts.

LIFE Arts. I'm sorry, I meant to make a note of that and I was like, doggone it.

Oh no, oh no, I'll give you— no, I'll give you the acronym and what it stands for. You'll never forget it. Okay, so for LIFE, for us is— so the L is leadership, the I is innovation, the F is faith, and then the E is excellence. So that's— those are the kind of the four pillars, the four walls of this house that we're, that we're building. And, um, someone said this and it is so true, you know, if you take the— if you take the F out of life, what are you left with?

Lie. Wow.

And that's how we— so, so that goes back to the question when you say You know, what part does faith play? Without it, it's just a lie, you know, everything. So, um, you know, our goal is to, you know, develop, use, use the mod— use arts and technology and whatever to develop leaders. Yeah. Um, to the outside world, it sounds like leadership development, which is basically code for disciple making. Because I'm not just making leaders, you know, in general. Very specifically making leaders who have a gospel-centered worldview. So yeah, that's—

and that's powerful. I'm so glad that you are involved in your community in that way. And, and it just seems like that is in all and through all with you too, that without being being a part of your community. You don't— it doesn't seem like you would be complete as an artist or as a person without doing that. And you've got, I think, 6 children I was reading about. So you're a busy guy. You could just, you know, stay home and devote life to your family and work hard with your music, but you're so active in your community and investing in the lives of others. And that brings me around to— I want to talk about your album prior to this a little bit too, because I've been enjoying listening to that too. I haven't listened to it quite as much as Soul of Cash yet. But being that you are from Ferguson, and what a lot of the country, all that we know about Ferguson is the events that happened there, gosh, was it 2 years ago now?

3.

3 years ago. My goodness, how time flies. Yeah. But like many communities, you know, I live in Springfield, Ohio, And, you know, we were dubbed in, I think, 2013 as the saddest city in America. And there's all these different labels that we want to put on places. And yet there's so much more than just that. And one song that I love on Soul of Ferguson is the song, I believe it's called Prayers for My Children or Prayer for My Children. Again, I didn't take a note and I should have. Man, what a great song. And it's an original one, right?

Well, everything, everything on that album is original.

Yeah, I was thinking that was the case. And it's, it's written so well. And talk about another one that just brings tears to my eyes. And I was wondering, is that a song that you wrote in the aftermath and with the events that happened in Ferguson in mind as something for your children that you were praying for them?

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

Because I mean, it's definitely the Father's heart, you know, that I can see that shining out of you as you sing those lyrics. And there's just something so unique about the way that whether you're doing a cover song or whether you're doing your own originals, it's just profound and it makes you stop and listen. And I think we're going to be— I think we're going to see a lot of people inspired in new generations by the kind of work that you're doing, not only with your art, but with what you're doing in your community and what you're doing with your life. So I'm so glad to see artists like you in the world that are using your creativity to better the world, and not just as a method to get rich or something, you know, as so many people do.

Well, that's the purpose of it, right? I mean, I think sometimes we— too often we waste We waste the favor of God on ourselves. It's like, favor is not for you, it's for the mission. Favor is not for you, it's for the purpose that he's given. Favor has absolutely nothing to do with you, right? Favor, favor is a tool that God, that God loans to you.

Sure.

For his, so that his purpose can be brought through your life. And yeah, you may get the, you may get the residual benefit. You may get to experience some amazing things because of it, but your experience of amazing things is not the reason for it. For me anyway, I don't feel like that's the purpose of it. And I feel like, you know, my family and I have been so blessed by God and have seen his favor in so many amazing ways. Um, that, you know, I know this keeps you focused on what the main thing is, what the most important thing is. Like, music is a tool, but it's, it's not the only tool. It's a pretty cool one though, I'll say that, you know. But, but when it comes to like living the gospel out and sharing with people the love of God and the truth of Christ, like I think there are many ways you can do that. And, you know, I think there's some songs and some things that you do that are directly linked to— well, everything's linked. The goal of everything is the glorification of God. That's the goal of everything, you know, through Christ. But, you know, it's how that happens and sometimes is, you know, can be a surprise to us. So when people ask me questions like, well, are you ever going to do a gospel album? And I go, well, have you listened to the music that I've already done?

Right.

I mean, I don't know. It's just like, it's like, well, look, and I know, understand what they mean. Like, will I do an album that is, you know, that implicit in the record is me singing hymns and things like that, which I'm not saying I won't do that. I'm just saying, just branching out.

Sure.

And kind of opening our minds and kind of seeing that, well, like "Pray for My Children" is a gospel-centered song.

Yeah.

'For You' is a gospel-centered song. Now it may be in a parable, but it's still a gospel-centered song. Sure.

Well, and it doesn't have to be something that is like, you know, a congregational song in order to be something that speaks of the gospel. That's for sure. And you certainly are bringing that in amazing ways and in fresh ways. And I'm so glad that I discovered you, your music, and I'm I'm hoping the whole world will discover it because you do a great job. How cool is it to have a feature in Rolling Stone? That's just awesome to get to read about that. I think that's actually the first place I came across your music was the Rolling Stone article. So what was that like?

Oh, it was awesome.

Yeah.

I mean, it's really cool. You know, something you do is recognized by an industry, um, an industry, you know, mainstay like Rolling Stone is, um, it's not— for me, it's not definitive, and I never want any one thing to be definitive, but it is pretty cool. Yeah, it is pretty cool.

Well, it's, it's nice to have some acknowledgement by peers who appreciate the kind of music you do. It's always something that— it's like, we don't do it for those reasons, but it's nice to be affirmed, and it's nice to have people who do similar things and your peers that go, you know, well done, you know. That's why I kind of look at it like that, and sort of an encouragement. And so I'm just so happy for you, and I'm so happy for all the great music that you're making, and I'm just going to keep telling people people about it as much as I can. And hopefully this podcast will be another way that we can get the word out about what you're doing. The latest album is Soul of Cash. It's an incredibly good album of Johnny Cash songs. And I am so grateful that we had a chance this morning to talk for a few minutes. And I just—

is there anything that I've missed today that you, you're thinking like, well, we really need to talk about this before we hang No, man, I just, I appreciate you taking the time and appreciate you, you know, even listening to the record. I don't take kind of, you know, things for granted like that.

So, well, what a pleasure it has been. Well, Brian Owens, I just want to say thank you for being one of the voices in my head this week.

Appreciate it. Thank you, Rick Lee James.

That was fun to sit down with Brian Owens and be able to talk talk a bit about his new record, Soul of Cash. The music you have heard playing underneath our conversation is music from the Soul of Cash album. Check it out, go buy yourself a copy, you are not going to be disappointed. And if you stream music, stream it on Spotify or iTunes, wherever you get it, but please make sure and check it out. I think you are gonna love it. Maybe it'll be your new favorite album of the year too. Well, as promised, you waited through the end, and here is Johnny Cash himself giving a speech in 1993 at the Glacier Park Lodge in Glacier Park, Montana. This is an audio clip that I discovered online, and it is streamed directly from their servers of the people who own it, which is not me. So Voices in My Head Productions LLC does not own this audio, but I found it online and wanted to be able to share it with you, and I think you are going to enjoy some of the classic Cash moments that you're going to hear in this speech. So here you go, 1993, Johnny Cash himself. Thank you for listening to Voices in My Head. I'll be back with you soon.

God bless.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I was reading the other day Winston Churchill gave a commencement address in the '40s at a college in England, and it's probably the shortest but to me the most memorable one I ever heard. It was 7 words. It was, never, never, never, never, never give up. I didn't ever think of giving up when I was young and starting out and trying to get into business. I mean, I never thought I'd do anything else except what I'm doing right now. I'm very fortunate in that. From the time I was a boy working in the cotton fields, picking cotton, plowing it and chopping it, I knew I was going to be— well, back then it was someday I'll sing on the radio, you know. There was no television, but we were very poor, and I had no idea how I'd ever get to the city. And my idea of making it big in the world would be to get to sing on a radio station in Memphis. After I graduated from high school, there was no thought of going to college. There was— I didn't know anybody in my little hometown that ever went to college, and I would have liked to have done that, but I joined the Air Force, was there 4 years, but really that's where I groomed the music skills. Almost 3 years of long, boring days and nights in the Air Force in Germany, away from home, away from my people and loved ones, and I started writing a lot of songs. And I was so determined that when I came out that that's what I would do, that I would be in the music business, that Called all the record companies in the Memphis area, was turned down flat of course, and then called the radio station, so couldn't get on there. So I enrolled in the radio announcing school in Memphis and was going 5— went 5 months halftime when I finally walked into Sun Records one morning just as the man was coming to work with my guitar in my hand and was auditioned and accepted finally. And I quit the radio announcing school and started doing what I knew I was born to do. God's hand has always been on me, as my mother said. I've always felt he was directing me, but I've always been very sure of myself from the time I was 18 what I was going to what I was going to do with my life. Not that you should do that. Maybe you'll be 30 before you know what you're going to do. Moses was 80. Oh. I have really looked forward to being with you young people, and I hope before we leave here Sunday that I will have met every one of you, the ones I've talked to so far since I've been here this afternoon. It's been a joy to talk to you, and I really feed on your exuberance and your energy and your youth. I really appreciate you, and I love to talk to you. And it's nice being in the West. I've got something I want to do before the red light comes on. It's still green. Okay, good. It's still green. I want to do this. When I was a boy, I listened to the radio and I listened to all kinds of music. There was no bag of country or rock or pop or this or that. The radio stations that I listened to played it all. And one of the things I heard was a cowboy song, when I— or a cowboy poem. And when I knew I was coming out here and the theme was Western, I thought this would be very appropriate. I'm going to take you back to about 1937. A poem written by Badger Clark. And you can picture the lonely cowboy out at night, possibly looking up at the stars, just him alone, nobody for miles around, saying, Lord, I've never lived where churches grow. I love creation better as it stood that day you finished it so long ago. And looked upon your work and called it good. I know that others find you in the light that sifted down through tinted window panes, and yet I feel your presence near tonight in this dim starlight here out on the plains. I thank you, Lord, that I'm placed so well, that you've made my freedom so complete that I'm no slave to whistle, clock, or bell, nor weak-eyed prisoner of wall or street. Just let me live my life as I've begun, and give me work that's open to the sky. Make me a partner of the wind and sun, and I won't ask a life that's soft or high. Let me be easy on the man that's down, Let me be square and generous with all. I'm careless sometimes, Lord, when I'm in town, but never let 'em say I'm mean or small. Make me big and open as the plains, as honest as the horse between my knees, clean as the wind that blows behind the reins, and free as the hawk that circles down the breeze. Forgive me, Lord, if sometimes I forget. You know about the reasons that are hid. You understand the things that gall and fret. You know me better than my mother did. Just keep an eye on all that's done and said, and right me sometimes when I turn aside, and guide me on the long, dim trail ahead. That stretches upward toward the Great Divide. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I won't take up any of your time. Before I go, I want to introduce my wife, June Carter, my inspiration, my, uh, My spark plug and my secret weapon. Hi, my name is Kevin Ritz from Memphis, Tennessee. Wait, what's your name? Kevin Ritz from Memphis. Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. And, um, I was just wondering, your music has inspired hundreds of musicians, not just in country music but in all genres such as rock and roll. And I was just wondering, when you start— when you started writing songs, who were your inspirations? Well, I lived in, in near Memphis, and in that particular part of the country there's a lot of black gospel and blues. And like I said, they played everything on the radio station there. There was such a mixture of a musical taste in that area. My early heroes were people like Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter family with my wife's mother and her aunt and uncle. And a black gospel singer named Sister Rosetta Tharpe. And Mahalia Jackson. These were my heroes. And I believe that's about it. Okay? Thank you very much, folks. It's nice seeing you.

Thank you for joining me here this week on the Voices in My Head podcast. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com, follow me on Twitter @RickLeeJames, like my artist page on Facebook at facebook.com/rickleejames, and keep up to date on what I'm writing at my author page on amazon.com. Make sure to follow my calendar on the website, and if you would like to have me come to your town to do a concert, a speaking engagement, engagement or a book event, you can book me through my website by clicking on the link for Pare Booking Agency. That's P-A-R-E Booking. And finally, it would mean the world to me if you were to leave me a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast is on the internet. And now the benediction. May the God of peace who raised Christ from the dead strengthen your inner being for every good work. And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and dwell within you this day and forevermore.

Amen.