Country

Country
-------------- rorys original video blog post about "one angel" on 3/8/21 --------------

"When my wife Joey passed away in 2016, her friend Sandy was angry. And more than a little frustrated in the outcome of all the chemo and radiation that Joey was put through and also the outcome of all the prayers Joey and millions of other people prayed on her behalf. And as great writers do, she put that frustration down in a song. "Country music," Harlan Howard used to say is “Three chords and truth.” And I think it is, even when the truth hurts.

A year or so after Joey passed away, Sandy sent me a song in an email that just said, “...I had to get this song out of me to come to peace with the loss of my friend.” I've listened to the song a hundred times since then. And I understand her feelings. Although I think I fall on the side of gratitude most of the time, I have had moments of frustration that only leave me with more questions.

This fall when I decided to make a new album, the song Sandy emailed me was the first song we chose to record. In some ways, it was also the hardest. It said some very tough things. Some honest things that I believe it's okay to be human and feel, and maybe even important to share with others.

A few weeks ago, Sandy’s husband Jack saddled his horse and came and paid his respects to my pretty bride as the sun set and the sandhill crane's made their yearly trip through the skies overhead. Back to where something inside them is calling them to be.

Jack’s face. Sandy’s words. My voice.

And one angel..."