I have only been to one country artist's concert before. Anjelica, one of my best friends, invited me to see him perform at the Armada Fair last summer, and, even though I had never heard of him previously, after she had me listen to just one song, I knew I wanted to go. Anjelica is a huge country fan, and a song by this artist helped her through a vicious break-up where her ex would mentally abuse her. He would try to get with other girls while he was with her, and then would call her crazy when she would suspect anything. And in the beginning, she would believe him.
I knew right away that this artist was someone special when she had me listen to his song "Do You Believe Me Now."
Some of the lyrics are:
So do you believe me now?
I guess I really wasn't that crazy
This song made her realize that she wasn't crazy. This song made her realize that he was trying to put her down and that she didn't deserve to be treated the way he treated her. No one deserves to be treated that way.
The best artists can make people who hear their music not feel alone and feel like someone understands what they are going through.
Jimmy Wayne is that kind of musician.
When at the concert, I realized even more that Wayne wasn't like every celeb. Many celebs were practically bought into the business with parents who were either rich or rich and famous. Not Wayne. And amidst the screaming girls in short-shorts and cowboy hats, I could tell he didn't let it get to his head or change who he was.
At the concert, Wayne told everyone that he used to be homeless. It's easy to think that the rich and the famous have it easy...but Wayne definitely wasn't handed his success. Wayne suffered a childhood I would not wish upon anyone. He was abused, sent to a series of foster homes, and was living on the streets of North Carolina by the age of 16. His story teaches a powerful lesson.
No matter where you have come from, if you work at it and believe, you have the power to achieve your dreams.
A couple weeks ago, Karen Workman, the reporter who I freelance for, e-mailed me a press release from Amy Rathburg, a catalog manager and promoter of the music publishing company Ann Wilson Music Group in Nashville, who was trying to promote a project Wayne was doing to raise awareness for homeless youth. Workman asked ME if I would like to write the article.
How ironic is that! Of all the artists, Workman wanted me to write an article about the only country artist I had seen perform live. And, after reading up on his project, I knew in a heartbeat that I wanted to bring awareness to it.
On Jan. 1, Wayne began a walk halfway across America, which he called “Meet Me Halfway,” to raise awareness for homeless children and teens. He started walking in Nashville, Tenn., and will end in Phoenix, Ariz. So far, Wayne has walked more than 1,200 miles. Wayne especially wanted to raise awareness of a growing trend of teenagers aging out of the foster care system. The term aging-out means that at age 18, teens are no longer eligible for foster care funding or health-care coverage, and may lose their place to live.
I know that many people have a hypocrisy towards the homeless, but Wayne and Rathburg shed a new light on this topic. There are so many people, especially in this economy, who fell into homelessness or were born into it. And I really hope that they both can help teach people to see a new face to homelessness -- that they do need our help, whether through money, time volunteering at a homeless shelter, or a place to stay (like the couple who gave Wayne a home and a family when they found him on the street). I have corresponded by several e-mails with Rathburg, and I can tell that she really has a passion for helping others, and it reminded me that generous people do exist in the world. This cause is something she is very passionate about and when Wayne doesn't like asking for donations, Rathburg has no problem asking for him. We are lucky to have homes over our heads and food, necessities that we take for granted. Hundreds of thousands aren't so lucky. According to a 2008 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report, an estimated 671,888 people experienced homelessness in one night in January 2007. Wow! 671,888! Maybe instead of buying a DVD or going out to eat or buying a new outfit this month that you really don't need, send it to Wayne's project to help the homeless. Trust me, they could use the money more than you could. They could use the money to survive.
Rathburg and Wayne showed me that there are generous people in the world. In order to donate to this project, visit meetmehalfway.jimmywayne.com.
Visit Meet Me Halfway's blog (and add them :-) )
Jimmy Wayne on his walk:
Photo credit: musicnewsnashville.com
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