- Announcer: Funding for this program was provided in part by Kathleen Martin and by the Welcome Home Veterans Foundation.

(upbeat music) - [Rockie] I've always done for a living what I would have gladly done for free.

I've toured the world, sold hundreds of thousands of records.

I've written songs recorded by superstars.

Still, most people don't know who the hell I am.

My name is Rockie Lynne, and this is my story.

♪ There are times when I knew I was wrong ♪ ♪ But I know in my heart tonight I'm right ♪ ♪ I'm right ♪ I'm right where I belong - [Rockie] It's all about timing I think.

Being in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place.

Just accepting what happens and moving forward with purpose.

♪ I'm right where I belong ♪ I'm right where I belong ♪ Right where I belong (soft music) [Rockie] - “Of course, you can't pick your starting point... You can't choose where you're born.

You just have to make the best of it.

I grew up here, in the little town of Statesville, North Carolina.

I lived here through high school then left to look for fame and fortune.

I was drawn back a few decades later to untangle my tangled roots and build a life I enjoy now.

I began my life at the Barium Springs Home for Children.

That's where my adoptive parents found me as a little boy.

We lived on a dirt road, a good ways out of town, and we were pretty much as poor as that old dirt road we lived on.

Despite her limited means and education, my adopted mother loved and cared for me.

It was the only unconditional love I knew as a child.

That loving memory was the basis of a song I wrote many years later for my first album on Universal Records.

That song has defined every part of my life so far.

But for reasons I'll get to soon enough, I always think of it as the song that got away.

The way that song came about is I wrote it with a guy named Dennis Morgan.

He's a really super successful songwriter here in Nashville.

But in that year, my mother, my adopted mother passed away and she was the first person that ever cared if I had anything to wear or if I had something to eat or if I had clean clothes.

My whole life, when I would say to her, I'd say, "I love you, mama."

She would always just say back, "well, I love you more."

That's just what she always said And then when she died, I thought, I wonder what she meant by that.

And that's where I came up with that chorus.

♪ I'd give you my seat on the train to heaven ♪ ♪ If only one of us could go ♪ Give every ounce of blood in my body ♪ ♪ If no pain you'd ever know ♪ ♪ I'd fight every evil ♪ That ever came against our door ♪ - I know how much you love me I love you more.

I think it's a truth.

It's how my mother felt about me It's how I feel about my children.

And when we get to that point that we have someone that means more to you than you, then we're finally getting in touch with the human condition, the universal truth that we all kind of want, for someone to love us more than themselves.

Like every kid, I dreamed of a better life, of better things.

But in my case, there was really only one thing.

(rock music playing) So my mom and I went to the First Baptist Church Yard sale in Statesville, North Carolina, and there was a phonograph and two recordings, and they were 75 cents.

And I said, "can I have this?"

The two albums were " Kiss Alive," the first Kiss Alive record, and a Jimi Hendrix record, "Axis: Bold as Love."

And I ordered a guitar from JC Penney's, and that was my first guitar.

Right after high school, I joined the United States Army.

I was fortunate enough to be stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina as part of the 82nd Airborne Division.

I grew up a lot in a short amount of time.

In the interest of full disclosure, when I was in the Army, the only thing I wanted to do was get out of the damn army.

I'm gonna get outta here, I'm gonna go to California, be Eddie Van Halen, except taller and more handsome.

(Rockie laughs) My mind was locked on that one thing, learning to play the guitar.

And I knew just where that education would come from, The Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, California.

I went from being obsessed with the guitar, to consumed, completely and totally consumed with the guitar.

Other than to eat and sleep, the guitar never left my hand, and most nights it probably was around my neck while I slept.

- And it wasn't one of these things where he was like going, oh, I gotta sit down and I've gotta practice.

It's like, this is who I am, and this is what I do.

I just sit there and I practice and I play and I play.

And you know, you've heard him play, he's an incredible player.

Well, he got that way because next to eating and sleeping, that's pretty much what he does, you know.

- I would watch him day in, day out, spend six to eight hours a day running scales, running licks, running sweeps, perfecting his fingering.

It was scientific precision and mathematical exactness that he pursued in a musical instrument.

And it was inspiring to watch somebody so dedicated to an instrument.

I've never seen that, ever.

(upbeat rock music) - I was living in Hollywood, California and playing on the Sunset Strip.

I played at all the legendary venues, the Troubadour, the Roxy, Gazzarri's all of the places that my heroes had played just a few years before.

And for a kid from a dirt road in North Carolina, it was for sure a dream come true.

(guitar music playing) I just wanted to play.

I mean, I loved rock and roll, but I also, I love country music, I love jazz, and I wanted to be in a rock band.

But I didn't really, I didn't really want to be, I didn't want that lifestyle.

And so I have a song called "Holding Back the Ocean" that is on the first record I have.

And that's about, it says, I packed up my truck and everything I owned, and I drove to the keys where it stopped.

And that's not, that part's not true.

I actually just went to Myrtle Beach.

I just got started going east.

♪ I backed up my truck and everything I owned ♪ ♪ I said my goodbyes and threw away my phone ♪ - And I went into the Islander and I stood in the back when Mike Shane and his band came on stage.

And that's where, that night, whatever night that was, is the first time that it ever struck me that songs were about vocals.

Up to that point, someone singing was just something to do till it was time for my guitar solo.

I wish that guy would hurry up, And I said, "I have to play in this band."

He says, "okay, you start tomorrow."

So we started and the first song he sung that I was on stage with Mike Shane was "Good Hearted Woman."

And it came time for the guitar solo and I figured that was my audition.

He was like, "take it Rock."

And I just played the worst, most inappropriate, horrible, loud, awful solo ever in the history of country music.

And he just looked at me and smiled.

And we went through the rest of the night.

And on the way out that night, he come and put his hand on my shoulder and he said, "let me get something outta my truck I wanna give you."

Pulled out a cassette of Vern Gosdin and it was the Chiseled in Stone album.

And he gave that to me and he said, "learn this.

Learn how to play this, and you'll know how to play country music."

- Yeah, we were playing all this country music with these older guys in these really crappy places.

And it's like, we need to do a rock band 'cause that's obviously what we did.

And it was kind of funny 'cause Mike Shane was this very traditional country singer.

And we've got the hair and like spandex pants playing rambling fever, you know, which is kind of funny.

But it worked 'cause Mike was a great singer.

He was a really cool guy.

- At the end of the summer, he said, "I'm going to Nashville and I'm gonna make a demo.

And I want you to come with me."

♪ I'm just glad to be here ♪ Because we're all just passing through ♪ ♪ I'm glad they've got a band and a bar full of tan ♪ ♪ Girls in cowboy boots ♪ I'm just glad to be here ♪ How about you - [Rockie] Nashville was a different kind of town in those days.

The people in the music business met you with open arms.

Everybody was in the same boat.

I played on all kinds of demos, every Honky-tonk we could book.

And in 1996, I released my first album called "Lock and Key" and produced my first music video.

♪ Wanna turn my double-wide vinyl-sided mobile home ♪ ♪ Into a honky-tonk bar ♪ Sit up in a sunny side trailer park ♪ ♪ And open up after dark ♪ And my brother Bubba can valet park your pick-up in my yard ♪ ♪ When I turn my double-wide vinyl-sided mobile home ♪ ♪ Into a Honky-tonk bar - [Rockie] Printer's Alley was where musicians serious about learning the art came to hone their craft.

It was only a mile away from Music Row, but it might as well have been the moon.

I ended up being the band leader at a place called Barbaras.

(upbeat music) In 1999, I released the album "A Boy Like Me," which captured a lot of my thoughts about life on the road.

♪ And I don't know but I've been told ♪ ♪ Angels in heaven walking on gold ♪ ♪ Sold me down the river wrong side of the track ♪ ♪ Been there done that ♪ Sold me down the river wrong side of the track ♪ ♪ Been there done that - [Rockie] The guys who played and toured with me at that time were kind of crazy.

That is just as crazy about playing music as I was.

- He shames me.

(laughs) It's like, I'm upset that my cable's out or something.

And this guy was born in a dumpster or whatever, and it's, you know.

No, he's just a, and he pulls everybody along with him.

You can't hang around that guy and not get, I mean, you won't hang around.

You'll either fall by the waysid or you'll get pulled into the stream 'cause he's leading.

- I had three or four rotations and musicians, and when I'd wear them out, I'd get somebody else in.

The only constant was John, my blind piano player.

We played, we would play, I think 50 weeks a year maybe.

So I, at that point, just as I do today, I write every day and I wrote every day then.

I wrote songs and I had a bunch of songs.

And here's where I'm lucky, I didn't play cover music.

So every night I would go in front of people and I'd do these songs.

And I'd only keep the ones that made them dance or made them sing.

Otherwise I'd throw it away.

In 2001, I decided to relocate to Minnesota, where it seemed like my style of music was very much appreciated.

In fact, folks there considered it downright unique.

My album, "A Change of Seasons," was released in 2002.

The following year I released "Big Time in a Small Town," which featured the very first version of "More."

- Even working and watching him work in that studio at that time, I could tell that he was going to be able to make it.

He was still struggling getting to that point of being a front man lead singer But he had made such great strides in such a short period of time.

I knew he was gonna be able to do it.

Rockie dedicated himself to being a performer.

He dedicated himself to being a musician no matter what, no matter what it took to do it.

And if it meant starving through doing anything that he could to accomplish that, he would.

- He's a kid with a dream and a guitar, and he just kept living another year.

But he's still a kid with a dream and a guitar.

And it's such an attractive thing to be around somebody like that.

You know, meeting him and every time I would go and play with him, it would just sort of remind me of the reason we all got in this.

You know, he's a real inspiration and I'm a big fan.

- And he plays like Steve Vie or like Eddie Van Halen.

He plays like that.

(guitar music playing) - One cold, snowy Minnesota night, I was booked to play at this cool bar called St. Patrick's Tavern.

As fate and time would have it, a Warner Brothers executive was in the room.

After my first set, she had a few choice words for me.

She came up to me and she said, "what the [F] are you doing here (soft music) (upbeat music) ♪ Don't make this easy on me when you break my heart ♪ ♪ Don't let me down gently let me down hard ♪ - [Rockie] I returned to Nashville in 2005, but not the Nashville I had known before.

This time I had a record deal with Universal Records.

♪ I'm that guy, hey I'm that guy ♪ ♪ I'm the dude I'm the one I'm the man ♪ ♪ Hey I'm that guy - [Rockie] My first album for Universal South was a lifelong dream come true.

It contained all original songs, including my song, "More" a favorite of Universal Music Group CEO, Doug Morris.

My album was Co-produced by the legendary Tony Brown, who played piano for Elvis and produced Reba, Vince, Tricia, and George.

And that's just their first names.

- And Doug said, "come in here, I wanna play you something."

And he played us "More" by Rockie Lynne.

And my first thought was, wow, this is killer.

And Doug said, "aren't we so lucky that we get to hear great stuff before anybody else?"

I said, "yeah."

And I was thinking that song I was going, man, I think Garth was in his retirement during that.

I said, if Garth was still recording records, this would be a smash for him.

This would be “The Dance,” or “If tomorrow Never Comes.” It was that good.

Every line was killer.

And it takes one song to introduce you to an artist.

And that was a song that introduced us to Rockie.

It was a great song and the album was great.

And then once we started working with Rockie, we realized he was a great guitar player, great songwriter, great performer.

He looks like a soap opera star.

I mean, what's wrong with this picture?

- There's only a few songs that come along that you feel like have the ability to actually impact an artist and make their career and they're precious when you hear one, and "More" is one of those songs It was a great album, which I expected, and when I heard it, it lived up to every expectation I had.

- There's a song on there about him called "That's Where Songs Come From."

That could have been a James Taylor copyright.

I mean, it was so good.

I love that song too.

♪ They say the snow came early that winner that year ♪ ♪ A little foundling child on the Sister's stairs ♪ ♪ But don't pity me I'm the lucky one ♪ ♪ Oh can't you see that's where songs come from ♪ - When you get the combination of a song like "More" and an artist that has the it factor like Rockie obviously did, why it looked like it ought to be a slam dunk.

♪ We can go down to old El Paso ♪ - [Rockie] High flying executive thought it might be better to launch with the uptempo "Lipstick" that I had written with my friend Mark Prentice.

♪ Like we always dreamed - [Rockie] "Lipstick" charted rising into the 20s and my life seemed on the fast track to fame and fortune.

♪ I can watch the sunset in your eyes ♪ ♪ Let's go tonight ♪ You can put your lipstick on while I drive ♪ - [Rockie] My second single, "Do We Still" hit the top 40 as well.

♪ How long do we keep holding on ♪ ♪ To something that's already gone ♪ ♪ Girl life's too short to love like this ♪ ♪ Too tired to try and too scared to quit.

♪ ♪ We took to heart the vows we made ♪ ♪ But somehow lost the will ♪ But somehow we lost all will ♪ But we said I do but do we still ♪ (Rock music) - [Rockie] Finally, universal released "More."

But at that point, the label faced serious headwinds.

"More" was making its way up the chart as everyone knew it would because it was an amazing career record.

And the label shut down.

- The artist is wonderful.

The song was an incredible song and there was a live show and everything that you hoped for as a label head.

But we just didn't have the right timing.

We didn't get the lucky breaks we needed.

- And that's what I love about Rockie.

He's not carrying a grudge about it.

He just, he's a true artist.

♪ Oh can't you see that's where songs come from ♪ (upbeat music) - [Rockie] I can't really tell my story without talking about my lifelong love of motorcycles.

I had a mini bike that was given to me when I was eight years old.

My first vehicle that I could take on the road was a 1971 Harley Davidson Shovelhead.

I guess when I sit down and think about it, I've been a biker longer than I've been a guitar player.

Combining my motorcycle obsession with a good cause has turned into one of the most meaningful commitments of my entire life.

About two years prior to signing with Universal Records, I started a nonprofit charity called Tribute to the Troops with my dear friend and fellow Patriot, Greg Schmidt.

The idea was inspired by my song "Home," which I wrote when I was serving in the Army.

I would dedicate it to the men and women who serve our country every night at my gigs.

♪ Mothers hide your children ♪ There's danger in this land ♪ ♪ And father please forgive me for I know not who I am ♪ ♪ Fly home my sweet angel from sea to shining sea ♪ ♪ Fly home my sweet angel ♪ Won't you fly on home to me - Tribute to the Troops honors families who have lost loved ones in military service.

Our riders visit gold star families to let them know that their continuing sacrifice will not be forgotten.

More than a hundred people turned out for our first tribute ride.

We visited three families standing in the very yard that their heroes grew up in, telling their story and sharing memories.

It was beautiful.

22 veterans a day lose their life by their own hand.

That 's almost one every hour.

When a young man like Alex Gilchrist loses his life with his battle with Post-Traumatic Stress, it is not a non-combat related fatality.

It is not a non-service connected fatality.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a 7,000 mile sniper shot straight from the hills of Fallujah.

That's what it is.

We end each ride with a banquet and a memorial concert.

We say their names, ring a bell and light a candle for every hero lost in that area.

It's an incredible opportunity for these grieving families to connect with one another.

(upbeat music) ♪ Thank you I wanna thank you from my heart ♪ ♪ And there's a million others just like me ♪ ♪ Who wanna do the same ♪ We wanna thank you ♪ To finally say the words we should have said ♪ ♪ It's long overdue ♪ We wanna thank you ♪ It's so long overdue ♪ We wanna thank you - [Rockie] These remain some of the most requested songs wherever we play.

- Rockie just has this thing about veterans and soldiers and I think it's, it must be fantastic for him to have a love for that and doing something special for those people.

Because you know, they do a lot for us.

We're not writing fiction really We're writing real stuff, you know, about real people.

And it felt pretty special to write it.

And every time I get with Rockie, it feels special like that.

- You know, he comes from a unique place because he not only has a heart for it, he's one of them.

And the impact that I've seen him have on people in those live settings and what people come up to him and say afterwards, it's profound.

♪ I'm proud proud to be a soldier ♪ - [Rockie] Since starting tribute, I've made regular trips overseas to entertain our troops who are deployed.

♪ I won't back down ♪ I'll stand my ground along with all the others ♪ - [Rockie] But I prefer to focus more on smaller acts of kindness.

(soft music) ♪ He's there in his uniform, proud ♪ - And if I attribute to the troops can somehow stand in that mama's yard and pay back a little bit of what they gave to me, then that's way more than I ever thought I would be able to do.

♪ A little boy in a uniform ♪ Five years old in the backyard playing war ♪ ♪ Dreaming of everything he could be ♪ ♪ In this land of the free ♪ ♪ Just like his old man did back in Vietnam ♪ ♪ He was gonna be a hero for sure ♪ ♪ The little boy in a uniform (bright music) - [Rockie] My adopted parents were all the family I had for most of my life.

My beloved mother, Ethel, died when I was 27 years old.

My dad, Fred, did well for a number of years, but when his health began to decline, I started making frequent trips from Nashville to North Carolina to care for him.

(upbeat music) Eventually, Susan and I decided to move there and live in my childhood home for a while.

It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I built my own recording studio and continued to record as an independent artist.

I released "The Early Years" in 2009.

The next year we released "The Dam Show," recorded live at Coon Rapids Dam in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

In 2013, we released, "It's All About to Change."

The next year "Radio Road" came out.

I know that many great musicians are not widely heard.

They don't get the audience that they deserve.

So I spend some of my time these days trying to help a few of these great musicians move closer to their dream.

♪ Big time in a small town ♪ Everybody's coming from miles around ♪ ♪ When the sun comes up we'll be getting down ♪ ♪ It's a big time in a small town ♪ ♪ Everybody's coming from miles around ♪ - [Rockie] Susan and I also get involved with some of the local goings on in our small town, appearing at festivals like Statesville's own Carolina Balloon Fest, second only to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(upbeat rock music) ♪ She's a walking talking hell on heels ♪ ♪ A little bit of trouble comes with the deal ♪ ♪ When she's good she's good ♪ But she's real good when she's bad ♪ - [Rockie] I love to support the charity events like this small town beauty contest for the Red Cross called Hunks and Heels.

Thank goodness I wasn't asked to perform in that one.

I just don't have the legs for it.

But I enjoyed being a judge.

(upbeat music) - We had tried for years to locate Rockie's biological family.

He signed up for several ancestry programs, and for a long time we heard nothing.

One day out of the blue, Rockie heard from his biological half sister.

He found out that he had three sisters and a brother.

And his biological dad, James Clyde Holloway, was 84 years old and still alive.

- So when I found out that my father was a guitar player in a country band, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, and rode a motorcycle his whole life, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

- They come up and told me I had a another son.

And naturally I wanted to see him.

And since I've met him, I'm really glad I did get to see him.

- Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome, my father, Clyde Holloway.

(audience cheers) Clyde: “Old man from the mountain's coming home, home, home...

Thought I'd better warn you, Call you on the phone... Old man from the mountain's coming home - [Rockie] It was like we had known each other our entire lives.

Our mutual love of music was a special bond.

Thank you.

- Oh my God, I love you.

- That meeting you is one of the most wonderful things that have happened to me in my life.

- Honey, I love you too.

- We spent lots of afternoons singing songs together, like hand in glove.

But on one occasion he surprised me with an amazing gift.

- But I want you to have this.

- Oh.

- Open it up.

If you don't want it, we'll throw it in the fire.

Open it up, we'll sing one.

- Oh no, my goodness, Clyde.

That's a Martin D35.

A Martin guitar is more than just a guitar.

It's an heirloom.

It's something that a guitar player, once he gets his hands on a Martin or a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, whatever their weapon of choice is, they cherish it.

And he had one.

He had a D35 that he played all those years, At Ghost town in the Sky, at the VFW.

Whenever you'd go see Clyde Holloway, Clyde would be playing that guitar.

And I know how much that guitar meant to him.

And also know how much his other children meant to him.

He loves those children.

He loves my brother Michael, Melinda and Tanya and Jackie.

He loves them with all of his heart.

And he said, "son, I want you to have this."

He gave me his guitar.

I write on that guitar every day.

So my writing comes from a different personal place now.

I'm taking my dad's guitar (soft music) and I'm writing songs.

♪ Well I bet these rich folks eating ♪ ♪ In a fancy dining car ♪ They probably drinking coffee smoking big cigars ♪ ♪ Well I know I had it coming ♪ I know I can't be free ♪ But that train keeps rolling ♪ and that's what tortures me.

- I love this.

You sure you want me to have thi - I do.

- It means the world to me.

I really appreciate it.

- I want you to have it, honey.

- I will have it for the rest of my life.

- Look, you believe it.

- Fast forward three years later COVID, which put a stop to our filming and all the things we were doing And Clyde Holloway, my father's on his deathbed.

And I said to him, he hadn't spoken in a day at that point.

And I said to him in his ear, I said, "tomorrow's Tribute To The Troops Florida, but I think I'm not gonna go."

'Cause we knew that it was the last hours of his life.

I said, "I'm gonna stay here and I'm gonna be with you."

And he opened his eyes and he looked right at me.

He took my wrist just like he did the first time I met him.

He said, "you go son.

It's important."

He died a few hours later.

(guitar playing) ♪ He called himself a rounder all his life ♪ ♪ He made a few mistakes but saw the light ♪ ♪ And as the story goes and a few of you may know ♪ ♪ I'm one of his mistakes that he made right ♪ ♪ My father's guitar laid silent ♪ ♪ In the closet of his home in Miller's Creek ♪ ♪ His hands no longer played the way they used to ♪ ♪ I guess he was keeping it for me ♪ ♪ I guess he was keeping it for me ♪ - Yeah, Clyde, it's been a hell of a ride.

It was so great getting to know my new family on my father's side.

But my mother remained a mystery until a second DNA result sent us to the Virginia Mountains to meet my biological half brother, Jacob, and his dad, Harry, a real mountain man.

And as it turns out, a dedicated beekeeper.

Unfortunately, the news was not all good.

My biological mother had passed away many years ago.

At least I got to hear something about her from the people that she loved.

I've always had a complicated relationship with my mother, who I don't know and who I never met.

And it was complicated because of the stories.

"You were found in a dumpster or you were left here or you were abandoned."

So my thought process was always that she had abandoned me.

That my mother for some reason didn't want me.

I have a song about it called "Love Goes On."

And it's interesting because that's writing a song about a person you've never met, forgiving a person for something you don't even know if they've done.

So my mother is Shirley Sturgill, and they're from the Damascus, Virginia area.

The Sturgill family is a very prominent family in the Virginia area.

And my mother's father, which would be my grandfather, was a district court judge, I understand it in that area.

So he was a very prominent and powerful man.

He was also not a very good man to the point that she's just ran away.

And so she ran away and spent some time couch surfing or traveling with other people she didn't know.

And that's where she ran across Clyde Holloway.

And they made me.

Well, eventually she came home, but she was with child.

And my grandfather couldn't have that.

He was a judge.

So he put her in a home where she stayed until I was born.

And when I was just a few days old, he came and he took me away and took me to the orphanage and left me in front of the door of the laundry at Barium Springs Home for Children.

That's how I got there.

- She was like 17 at the time.

16 when she got pregnant.

And she said, I didn't have nowhere to go and I didn't have nothing.

That's all I could do.

It bothered her having to give him away like that.

It bothered her a lot.

- She didn't know who adopted him, but she knew they were in Statesville or around the area and that she didn't know them personally, but that she knew maybe the house or something like that.

And that she went to the house several times to just kind of like sit and see if she could see, you know, young Rockie running around.

And apparently she did.

I mean, she saw him several times and I guess that heartened her, made her feel, you know, that things were maybe not as, that things were okay, you know.

- My mother thought that this lady from the social services was checking in on me making sure she was doing a good job.

It was really Shirley Sturgill, it was my mother.

And she would go back and tell her brother and tell her sisters, "he's got a good home.

He's got a mama that loves him.

He's got a nice house, he's going to be okay."

But that didn't unbreak her heart.

And then to go full circle, and then she has this other child and she has to leave him because of cancer at 37 years old.

And now he and I we're together for the rest of our lives.

- I met him at 40.

I'm 43, I'll be 44 in May.

And I've been an only child for 43 years, you know?

So I mean, like, I'm trying to figure out how to be a brother.

- It warms my heart to think that, you know, I mean, you have, it's weird to just be even be sitting here because all of a sudden I'm from somewhere and these are my people.

It's a beautiful feeling to have that.

- I've been kind of like pleasantly surprised at about everything, kind of, you know, that I have a brother, he's a nice guy and you know, he's creative.

I think of myself as creative.

And so I think it's all like very, very good.

- I have this picture of my mom up there thinking, Hey, they're hanging out.

They're getting to know each other.

That would probably be her wish.

(soft music) ♪ Forgiving you is the one thing ♪ ♪ That I thought that I might never do ♪ ♪ When I think of you ♪ I've left all that anger behind ♪ ♪ Your memory has gotten sweeter with time ♪ ♪ And I realize even though you're gone love goes on ♪ - So Jacob, my brother and I, we went and placed flowers on my mother's grave who was buried beside her mother, my grandmother, and then her mother, my great-grandmother.

So I went from having roots like little blades of grass, to roots like that big old oak tree in the backyard, for generations of Sturgills and my brother paying tribute to my mom.

It was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever done in my life.

I think that every adopted kid in the world always has a yearning to know, well, where did I come from?

Who am I?

♪ I wish I could meet you for the first time today ♪ ♪ And know what I know now ♪ - And then to find out that the extensions of me that made me were an awful lot like me gives a sense of closure and a sense of fulfillment that I think can only come from knowing your real roots.

I began this, a fatherless son from an orphanage in North Carolina, and I ended the son of Clyde Holloway and of Shirley Sturgill and having family that I love and I adore.

♪ Love goes on (calm music) (upbeat music) - [Rockie] There comes a time in your life when you surround yourself with the people who make you laugh.

You forget the bad and focus on the good.

You love the people who treat you right and pray for the ones who don't.

Falling down is a part of life, but getting back up, that's living.

- The music's great, but every person in this band is a comedian all the time.

Like this guy right here.

We get along so well.

- We do, no drama.

- You guys look so good.

(upbeat music) - [Rockie] Building a new band here in North Carolina was really a blast.

Now we're all set with Doug McCowan on drums, June Annas on bass guitar, Mark Holland playing the keyboards and Dirk's daughter, Daelyn rounding out the group with her beautiful vocals.

What a great group of folks here On our album "Love," we tried to capture that onstage live feel while at the same time breaking some new ground for us musically.

(soft music) - Now I would just take a guitar and I would say, here's how the song goes.

No chart, no recording, no bass line from Rockie, no drum line from Rockie.

Just here's me singing.

And then we would stay in that little front area of the studio on the couch and bang away at it till we had it.

♪ I fight the good fight even if I lose ♪ ♪ I answer for myself if it's heaven or it's hell ♪ ♪ I'll be the one to choose ♪ Who's gonna love you now ♪ Who's gonna love you now ♪ Who's gonna love you now ♪ Now that I'm gone ♪ I wanna run until I run out of runway ♪ ♪ I wanna breathe as long as I can catch my breathe ♪ ♪ I wanna watch the sun come up out of the ocean ♪ ♪ And go down to the deep blue sea ♪ ♪ I don't have the answers if you think I do ♪ ♪ Then run away I'm not a martyr not a hero not a saint ♪ ♪ But if you think it's over for it ain't.

♪ (Upbeat music) (soft music) - [Rockie] Dirk and I have so much in common, from those famous onstage duals, to our devotion to family.

Did I mention that our lovely backup singer Daelyn, is Dirk's daughter?

Daelyn started singing with the band at the tender age of 12 years old and became the inspiration along with my own daughter for the song "Real World."

♪ Stay young as long as you can girl ♪ ♪ Just let life unfurl ♪ ♪ Don't rush into the real world ♪ ♪ Don't be afraid to take your time girl ♪ ♪ I know all your dreams someday will come true ♪ ♪ It's gonna be all right girl ♪ Don't rush into the real world ♪ (Upbeat music) ♪ Don't rush into the real world ♪ ♪ Don't be afraid to take your time girl ♪ ♪ I know how all your dreams someday will come true ♪ ♪ It's gonna be all right girl ♪ Don't rush into the real world ♪ ♪ Don't be afraid to take your time girl ♪ ♪ I know all your dreams someday will come true ♪ ♪ It's gonna be all right girl ♪ Don't rush into the real world ♪ - [Rockie] You know I never forgot that advice that Tony Brown gave me a long time ago.

For the "Love" album, I redesigned and updated what has become one of our signature songs.

I think finally the time has come for "More" to have its day.

- You know, it's timing.

Everything's timing.

So this documentary could be the thing.

It just takes things lined up to go, where have you been?

He's got all the ingredients of a star.

You've got stage presence, charisma, confidence.

I'm just glad to see that some people don't lose their drive and their blind faith.

Never lose that blind faith man, that's priceless.

- [Rockie] Tony couldn't be more right.

I've had many mentors like him help me through the rough times.

The point is I made it to this point.

I'll never stop using the gifts and abilities that God gave me to make my music or try to be a good citizen on this planet.

I hope, I hope somebody is inspired by this film, to believe in yourself always, to know that whatever knocks you down, you can get back up.

You can keep going 'cause life always gives you one more shot.

(soft music) - Start from the beginning.

- One, two, three, four.

(soft music) ♪ You say I am your everything ♪ The half that makes you whole ♪ ♪ You say you love me with all your heart ♪ ♪ Your body and your soul ♪ You say your love is an ocean ♪ ♪ Without any shore ♪ You ask how much I love you ♪ I love you more ♪ I love you ♪ Waking' up with you in the morning' ♪ ♪ Seeing your smiling face ♪ Makes me feel like God ♪ Has put us in a permanent state of grace ♪ ♪ Your kiss tells me you need me ♪ ♪ Like nobody has before ♪ You say how much you want me ♪ But I want you more ♪ ♪ I'd give you my seat on the train to Heaven ♪ ♪ If only one of us could go ♪ Give every ounce of blood in my body ♪ ♪ If no pain you'd ever know ♪ I'd fight every evil ♪ That ever came against our door ♪ ♪ I know much you love me ♪ I love you more ♪ More with every day that goes by ♪ ♪ More ♪ When I hold you every night ♪ Our love will last till the end of time ♪ ♪ Then baby we'll find even more ♪ ♪ I'd give you my seat on the train to Heaven ♪ ♪ If only one of us could go ♪ ♪ Give every ounce of blood in my body ♪ ♪ If no pain you'd ever know ♪ I'd fight every evil ♪ That ever came against our door ♪ ♪ I know much you love me ♪ And I feel blessed and lucky ♪ I know how much you love me ♪ I love you more ♪ ♪ I love you (soft music) ♪ My father's guitar laid silent ♪ ♪ In the closet of his home in Millers Creek ♪ ♪ His hands no longer played the way they used to ♪ ♪ I guess he was keeping it for me ♪ ♪ Back when he was younger on the road.

♪ ♪ He took it everywhere... (Music fades)