Sometimes it takes only one note to bring you back to a long forgotten memory.  Then again, it just may be the instrument playing that note, that will allow you to journey back in time.  For him, it's the haunting sound of the accordian that brings him back to his youth.  He was just a lad, but he can still remember it like it was just yesterday. 
   His father was a hard working, blue collar American who worked as a lineman for the local electric company.  He worked hard all day and even throughout the night, especially during storms and hurricanes.  After work, like any typical father in the 1970's, he would stop off at the local tavern for just a nip or two.
   On the weekends, well that was a different story.  His father was a member of a local polka band called The Happy Travelers. The group was not your typical polka band as they had a full horn section that turned them into a power house when it came to music.
   To this day, he can still hear his father tell the old joke "Yeah, we're the Happy Travelers, were not happy and we don't travel."  Nonetheless, he remembers sitting in the living room of the old house with it's shag carpet, listening to the beautiful music his Dad and friends would create.
   Music has always been a part of his life.  He smiles and his face lights up as another memory comes into his mind's eye.  His memory flashes back to a little boy sitting on the floor with a 45 record player.  With his father gone all the time and his mother not seeing eye to eye, tensions were high in his house hold.

Strictly Country will be closing soon. If you would like a copy of this article, please CLICK HERE and select the July / August 2016 issue.

(This article was printed in the July / August 2016 issue of Strictly Country Magazine.)

Click on image to purchase album.

Related Articles:

2017 Spirit Awards...

Get To Know 'Em: Shawn Byrne...

Top Songs of 2016...

Shawn Byrne accepts the coveted Pete Huttlinger Spirit Award for Music Excellence.

April 26, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.

© Strictly Country Magazine.