This picture was taken at the last Hiway 24 Music Festival. It was a labor of love put on by Shaun and Dawn around his birthday. I was privileged to play this day, and sadly also on this day Dawn shared with me how sick Shaun was. It broke my heart, but we carried on like things were OK because Shaun was a very private person about that sort of thing. It was in February 2014 when we were winding up my EP project that Shaun was engineer and producer on, that he finally chose to share with me his situation and how he felt about things. Again, a really hard day. I always felt fortunate to have made a friend like Shaun at this stage in my life, and it is really tough to not have him around to laugh with and to discuss all things musical. He was a one of a kind guy. So glad I was allowed to call him my friend. I think of him often, every time I pick up a guitar, and especially when I play one of the tunes from the project. He made it what it was. Soon we will be approaching the anniversary of the completion of that project and I reflect on what it meant to me and Frank Prigmore to do this with Shaun. I don't think either of us will ever forget it.

Sometimes along the road of life you meet special people. Most often they occupy a place in your life for a short time, then for whatever reason they are gone. That was the case for me and my friend Shaun Michael Clancy, known to most of us in the music world as Shaun Michaels. I met Shaun and his gal Dawn in September of 2011 I think it was. Shaun was entertaining at the Rally Round Greenville festival in Greenville Texas. I was immediately captivated by his awesome voice, his stage presence, and his Outlaw Country approach to many familiar tunes, in particular Johnny Cash. We became quick friends, though not close friends. But Shaun and I shared an understanding of each other without a lot of words passing. I was getting my feet wet as a solo Texas Americana musician and not with a lot of confidence. Shawn and Dawn had a stage setup in their home, called the Java Joint. It was a place where the locals in Cooper Texas could come, bring their cooler and just jam. I played there in advance of a gig I had booked at the Blue Armadillo Winery. Not a lot of people, but with the encouragement I got from playing there it was the boost I needed at a crucial time in my developing my stage personna.

For the next couple of years we would run into each other frequently at musical events and Shaun was always supportive and inquiring about what was going on with my music. On one particular occasion I played a tune I wrote about a Texas boy that was conscripted into the Confederate army, marched off to Shiloh, MS and eventually losing a leg to a musket ball. It was called Under the Bonnie Blue. Shaun really liked it and he, Dawn, and several others encouraged me to record this tune, if for no other reason than for prosperity and to leave it to my kids when I am gone. I had never entertained that notion before, but it intrigued me.  Soon there was a plan made to do an EP project with that song as the centerpiece. I was adamant that I would do this as a roots music project with only my originals, recorded in a simple unproduced format and with participation by only my friends and family on any facet of this. I wanted a kind of "pickin' on the porch" feel for this EP. Shaun totally got this, and we planned to begin recording, about the time that I became aware that he was ill. We began recording on a semi-weekly basis in November 2013, wrapping it up in late February 2014. It will be released sometime this year and is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend, Shaun. It is called "A Road Less Traveled". It was truly a labor of love for both of us. I am thankful I got to do this with such a knowlegable producer and friend, and I would not have had it any other way.

As recording finished up, Shaun chose to share with me about his illness and his plans for his aftermath. I knew he was gravely ill, but didn't realize how little time he had left. My last visit with Shaun was about 2 weeks before his passing. He told me that even at his young age of 53, he didn't feel he was being cheated out of anything, he had lived life on his terms and pretty much did everything he wanted to do. He was truly a man blessed. He had many friends, a musical legacy that will live on long now that he has left this earth. I am so thankful that I was blessed with knowing Shaun and calling him "friend". Friend- such a simple word, but it has such deep meaning. Someone who has no agenda. That was my friend Shaun. I hope you have a friend like that in your life, if you do you are truly blessed.