Hoosier Honky-Tonk

My interest in music began with the 8-track in my dad’s green Mercury Montego. I didn’t like every tape he had, but I loved the Johnny Horton, Roger MIller and Johnny Cash ones. Later, I befriended a kid from Texas whose dad lent me his Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson vinyl. Our family went through other cars, increasingly practical, like a wood paneled station wagon with a rear facing backseat, and a Ford Escort that got pretty good gas mileage, but all throughout those formative years, my love of music was unwavering. 

At first, I was just an avid listener of American roots music, absorbing American country music, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, soul, southern rock, folk and rockabilly wherever I could find it, but, in my early 20s, following in the footsteps of my brother Joe, I started picking up instruments. I began with the mandolin because I loved Bill Monroe’s music and had seen him several times at his famous jamboree in Brown County at Bean Blossom - right here in the 9th District.  Also, the mandolin was compact and easy to take along on an overnight river float-fishing trip.  Before long I moved on to the rhythm guitar, dreaming, as many do, of fronting a band as a lead singer.

It was a gradual evolution. I started writing my own songs and held jam sessions on my porch. I was almost thirty when I formed my first band, The Dew Daddies, and produced an album of my own songs on CD. Soon I ran for city council and won, while working a full time job, raising kids and gigging in my free time. 

Some people feel that you shouldn’t mix music and politics. So, many artists have avoided political messages, worried that offend some of their audience. For me, combining music with working to change things for the better was as natural as butter on bread. Woody Guthrie embodied this idea, and Woody is one of my heroes - musical and political..

Many of Guthrie’s great songs were the voice of organized labor, a powerful and positive way to rally working class people together in the name of bettering our society. Sometimes music must be more than just entertainment. Songs have the potential to reach people, helping them find a common cause and aiding them in thinking differently about the world. While we’re listening, all of us together, many of our differences melt away so that we can see our universal humanity. I’ve seen this happen many times, both on stage and in the audience, and each time I get energized and hopeful.

Music can be an agent for change, a persuasive art, reminding the ordinary, working class Americans who are the backbone of our country, that we deserve better than what the CEO class thinks is good enough for us. That’s why I’ve written a song about my opponent, Trey Hollingsworth, born extraordinarily wealthy, he’s one of the richest members of Congress. He’s a parachute candidate who bought his seat and has no connection to the state of Indiana. And he’s a man with little knowledge of or regard for the regular, everyday people he should but doesn’t represent. 

Give my song a listen on Youtube or Soundcloud and then share it and our campaign with your friends. We’re a grassroots effort and we need your support because we really do need a Hoosier in the House, not Tennessee Trey.

-ANDY