Last Thursday night Deryl and I were playing at Love and War in Grapevine, Tx. It was a night full of birthdays for many of the people that came out to see the show.. and a night of many great memories for me. I got to meet so many great people, and once again Dave Perez (The Tejas Brothers) shared the stage with us, and it was very special. (more on Dave in a future blog.. I love that guy)
Still, while I was thinking of all the new memories made that night, I cannot help but think of a great memory that was now standing out in the crowd. 
A memory that began for me back when I was pretty fresh out of college. A memory of me and my two brothers attending ECHL Hockey games in Nashville, Tn. where we would go watch the Nashville Knights play. A hockey fan I am, and will always be! Back in those days, the days of minor league hockey in Nashville were some of my favorite times, it was great fun. But, all the while you are watching these warriors on the ice, most people knew that this was as far as 99% of these players would make it in their career. Ahh, but there is always that one or two players that shine like the flashes of light gleaming off the metal blades that are grinding and digging into the ice. 
Billy Huard was one of those flashes of light, actually more like a thunder bolt.
And, there at Love and War last Thursday night was Billy Huard standing out in the crowd watching Deryl Dodd and I perform. What a special night! You see when Billy played for the Knights we became friends, and I took him to see this new guy that would soon sign with Sony Records, a guy that I thought would be what he is today, his name? Deryl Dodd.
Billy and I would hang out when he was in town, and even after he got called up to the NHL, we would keep in touch. I went off to travel and tour singing, and Billy went off to travel and tour skating for the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators, the Quebec Nordiques, the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars, and the Los Angeles Kings. Some people climb their way to the top, I guess you could say Billy fought his way to the top, literally. It was easy to see how he ended up with a reputation as a fighter, because he was Great at it.. but, for me and many others, it was a path that we knew he didn’t choose. You see Billy was a great hockey player with his gloves on too! Should you ever read my book “Andy Wouldn’t Let Me”. Billy has had one of those moments described in my book as an ‘identity crises’. Billy was great at something that was not really who he was?
I am pretty positive Billy might read this and he might not want me to focus this blog on that word.. ‘Fighting’. But, it is what it is, and he was what he was.. a feared man out there on the ice no doubt. And, I know I never wanted Billy mad at me! But pay attention to this: he is the nicest guy I have ever met. He carries himself with a spirit that can only come from God, and if you have met him, you have seen that sparkle in his eyes, that sparkle is pure love. But, when he was on the ice, and that sparkle disappeared? Look out. Confusing huh? Not really, not if you get to know this man. He is the father to three beautiful children, and the husband to a very sweet and lovely wife.
Billy has a great approach to life. Why? Because he is full of passion! He brings ‘fists’ full of passion to whatever he does. Whatever he is doing, it gets done with great passion, and I love that about him. Billy is the guy you want on your team, and YOU DO NOT want to play against. But, not because he is/was a fighter. You want him around you period. A friend in your life, a person to talk to, a person to be there, to help… and if need be to fight.. No, not people.. rather things that come up in life. Billy will back you. He also brings a sense of humor second to none, he brings a great laugh, and he cares. He genuinely cares. He is a great friend and I was so proud to see him amongst those that came out last week. Billy Huard is a hero in a world where we need hero’s! He is a man, a father, and he has a heart for God. I am thinking God has Him on his side for a reason.. Well, I’m no dummy…I want to be on his side too!
..
I am just back from a whirlwind of a trip. Wynn Varble, Troy Jones and I left this past Saturday morning on a plane to Miami, Fl. where we jumped on another plane to Cancun, Mexico. From there we grabbed a taxi for about a 45 min. ride to La Playa del Carmen. Briefly I will say this; if you should fly into Cancun with two buddies, who like you do not know the Spanish language, AND you don’t know how to say ‘Royal Caribbean Cruise’, or ‘Grandeur of the Sea’, or ‘HUGE BOAT’ in Spanish…. then you might want to stay home or take your Spanish teacher with you!) Regardless of how we got there, we arrived down town La Playa del Carmen just in time to catch the boat to the HUGE BOAT, just in time to sound check and perform! 
I have been a lot of places in my travels and career. I have never met a nicer group of people ever, and this group was 2000 strong! Each and every single person was so kind to us, so generous and well… we were just blown away. I cannot say enough wonderful things about my experience meeting these people. Having the opportunity to perform on the cruise, and to meet the Ohio State Buckeye faithful is something I will never forget.
He said, “Those people sittin’ around the Toe Roaster with us Rocked, or Country’d, or whatever format suits the individual”… and he said to blog today about how much he, Hamlet, and Big Daddy had a great time. He went on to tell me that the crew, stage hands, sound and lights people were great, and the sold out crowd were too much fun. He wants to go back.. well, actually he may be back there today, he thinks he forgot his goggles. He also says to say, “World Peace”, and he is off to Mexico.
I had just arrived back into town from a deering trip with some of the guys down at the barber shop and the pool hall. This was not a big deering trip, it was just a small deering trip. Hold on, hold on, wait.. Excuse me, I must explain something. See I’m sitting here with a lady friend, let’s just call her.. “OUCH”..well, she just smacked me.. so.. never mind her name, cause I now know she don’t want it printed. Anyway, she, my nameless lady friend, has informed me that my use of the phrase a ‘deering trip’ is not acceptable. Oh, she’s fine with the ‘trip’ part, but not the ‘deering’ part? She says there is no such thing as ‘deering’! Well, when I write these articles I put a whole lot of thought into them, and I would never write something that wasn’t true or at least wasn’t a really funny lie! And when you read these articles you cannot tell how long they took me to write, OR how long I took from one word to the next. Well, just know that from the time I first mentioned the word ‘deering’ to now…. it’s been about one hour of arguing!
we take our fishing poles, and our worms with us cause we are going out there for the sole purpose of bringing back some fish! And, he always says we’re goin’ fishing’. Heck, everybody says that’s ‘fishing’. And what do we fish for? FISH, right? You bet. Well, when I get called to get my gun and go out into the woods to bring back a deer, I don’t see why that ain’t called deering! If we fish for fish.. stands to reason we would deer for deer, right? And, that would be called ‘deering’.
What a way to finish up the first leg of my time here in the Dallas area.
My buddy Deryl came out and did the whole gig with me.. and with him along came ‘Red’ from Adair’s to sing some Willie, and then Ralph from the Dirt Road Gypsies got up for a few tunes. I had a great time singing a bunch of songs I hadn’t played out live ever. All the people there were great; Corey the manager, John the bar keep… and all the good people listening and having a great time. 
I was introduced to Adair’s years ago by my buddy Rodeo, and his buddy Matt. Since that first visit I have had the pleasure of walking through the back door to Adair’s many times. Until I played there this past Sunday night… the last I was in there was after Garth Brooks performed at Texas Stadium years ago. Rodeo, Matt, Carol, Amy, Russell, and Dana all help to shut her down.
I am always ready to play at Adair’s!
the day for true love, the day for sparkling eyes, and fast beating hearts, this day known as, Valentine’s Day.. at the request of many… I am posting the words to my song “Cupid” for those that if today doesn’t work out so well, maybe you get a better ’shot’ in your future.
