Waylon and Me, Two Geminis.

Howdy.

In honor of the this next blog, I've decided to scroll my iPod all the way down to Waylon Jennings. If my reader isn't familiar with the music of Jennings, the original country outlaw, then I advise the reader to find his/her way to the nearest music retailer and/or file sharing software and buy or steal Waylon's album, Honky Tonk Heroes. Don't think about it, just do it. It's golden. I suggest track numbers 1,8 & 9. God damn.

Most of the songs were written by Billy Joe Shaver, but the songs wouldn't be worth a damn if Waylon weren't singing them. Trust me. I've heard Billy crooning some of the same songs and they don't even come close. One probably wouldn't think I'm a big country music fan, and they'd be right: I'm not. But Waylon Jennings holds a special place in my heart. Not only because he was (hes now dead) fucking awesome, but because he's one of my dad's favorite artists.

My dad doesn't listen to much music. In fact, I almost never see him listening to his music. Most of his record collection consists of old Neil Diamond and Waylon Jennings albums. There's a couple Beach Boys and CCR in the mix, but that's about it. My dad wasn't really into music when he was growing up. Neither was my mother or either of my older sisters. Don't ask me why music is my main passion. I wouldn't be able to tell you. But somewhere along the line it caught my interest.

Anyway. A few years back, I overheard my dad listening to some of his Waylon records. He had always tried to get me to listen to them with him, but I would refuse. The idea of country music didn't appeal to me, so I automatically closed my mind to the idea. But this wasn't country music, it was "Outlaw" music. I guess there's a difference. This ain't the shit you'll find on CMT. It's authentic. Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban got nothin' on Waylon. I doubt Chesney and Urban share a crash pad to get wasted on booze and pills. Waylon and Johnny Cash did. Maybe those two country glammers do have a crash pad they share, but I seriously doubt it. But I'm sure theyre too busy refining their cheesy lyrics and fake accents. (But they do sell a shitload of albums, so I guess they're doing something right. That, or their listeners are ... ).

After I finally got around to listening to Waylon, I understood why my father would say, "He's got the best voice you'll ever hear, son." I don't agree with that completely, but it's pretty damn good. Ask around and many will agree. I know I would. Its good. By the way, I forget to mention that my dad is the nicest person you'll ever meet in your life.

I got excited about a year ago when I had the opportunity to interview Waylons son Shooter Jennings. Shooter is the hot new thing in country music. He's not nearly as good as Waylon, but I think daddy's name has helped him along a bit. There reason I was excited to interview him is because I knew my dad would think it was kinda cool. As I expected, he did think it was cool. I later gave him a copy of the article I wrote about Shooter.

Um, since this whole blog is getting kinda long, I'll get to the point. About a week ago, I was Googling the date of my birth: June 15. At the top of the search results was a Wikipedia link. (Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia.)

The link gave a bunch of info about past shit that's happened on June 15 (birthdays, historical events, deaths, etc.). As I was looking through people who were born on June 15, guess whose name I saw on the list? Yep, Waylon Jennings. Twin Geminis. I got a chill. It was strange that my father's son was born on the same day as his favorite singer of all time. What's more weird is that the father doesn't really like music, and the one artist he does happen to adore was born on the same day as his only son. Hmmm. Coincidence? I think not.

Now, I don't know what this means but I'm convinced it's something. Maybe a sign. Perhaps God just works in mysterious ways. There's also the possibility that I'm looking more into this than I need to be. I doubt it. I'm sure it'll hit me someday. And when it does, I'll be ready.

At least now when people ask when my birthday is, I won't have to say: "It's the day that falls between Flag Day (6/14) and 2Pac's birthday (6/16)." I will simply say: "It's on the same day as Waylon Jennings'."