Faithful & True

Hello, I'm Gary Lee.I'll try to make this short. Where did I come from,where have I been, and where am I going? I was born in the 60's. I grew up on farms in Southern Iowa, My dad loved country music and it was always on the radio in the barn when we were milking cows, dad said He knew when us boys put rock-n-roll on, coz it made the cows crazy. My mom loved singing and she loved singing hymns I grew up singing with her in church. The 80's were hard down on the farm, I had 3 options after school go to college, go to the military or stay on the farm. I was good at taking tests and my parents were poor so I opted for higher education. The college professors told a rebellious farm boy who voted for Reagan all the answers to all the questions no one else would let me ask. It didn't take long for my worldview to take an 180 from how I was raised. When I hit 21 I grew my hair long and said I am going to be the Next Big Thing, I started playing hard rock music in some garage bands. I got kicked out of one because I couldn't perform unless I was wasted and when I got wasted I couldn't stop cussing. I told them it was working good for Axl Rose, they said this ain't GNR. The financial aid was running out so it was time to find a job. My friend told me to move with him to Chicago, my big break. Time to blow out of BFE get out of the cornfield and take my rock-n-roll dream to the big city. I answered a add that was on a guitar shop wall that said two wickedly serious guitarists looking for a lead singer, I figured that these guys would not have a problem with my lifestyle choices or my dabblings into the dark side when it came to putting my nightmarish visions to music. I was right it was anything goes musically. At the same time I started working on the railroad all the live long day, back then the railroad was pretty much anything goes. Call in before start time if you were too drunk to work and no drug testing after you were hired of course. What a dream I could have long hair be wasted, wear crazy denim and leather bikerheavy metal clothes and still get paid. My heavy devil metal career just couldn't ever get going I spent all my time money and effort trying to get our band going, making demos getting practise spots setting up shows. But after 6 years it just wasn't to be, after giving the devil all this devotion all I was, was a drunk drugged out wreck living in filth suffering from nightmarish visions and haunting voices and getting sucked into the vortex of Jack and crack. I did meet one cool old man named Clay when I lived in a Roach Hotel. He would feed me when I was hungry he was from Georgia. He told me to quit what I was doing and play country music and when I played I had to use triple fiddles, I finally took his advice on the song 'Immortal Victorious' I finally moved out of Chicago coz it was literally driving me crazy. I didn't want to be the next thing on the 6oclock news I wanted to be the Next Big Thing. My job moved to the border of Illinois and I moved to Southern Wisconsin. I started drinking in the local taverns and the only music on the jukebox that I liked was the old country songs that were on there that I grew up with. Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, David Allen Coe, Merle Haggard, Waylon and Willie, Hank jr., Then one night when I was drunk I realized something that my whole adult life I had been trying to deny who I really was. Country music began to make sense to me It was the soundtrack of my life. Farmboy, railroader, tr