Backroads is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money by the vote of the people November 4th, 2008.

[Music] Dear Loretta why do you hang your head down so low, I wish you would grow Well I've seen pictures of your life in the next and I don't like them any more than you.

So just hold true We'll see this through I've held sorrow for as long as I can see in the past I hope this won't last Don't grow cold now for it's warm out there Just come in, you're wearing thin Don't grow long I fear you're gone So now you are wanting and I am waiting for something better to come along If we were younger we'd not be here trying to make it on our own I am lonely and I am wandering looking for some place If you'd only try dear we'd not be here trying to make it on our own.

On our own own own On our own own own So now I am left here cold and lonely and lost without a single friend And it seems the time's near for all we've waited to come back down here and lay to rest In all the years that there's been silence In those times I must confess that if I stay here too much longer I will be out on my own.

On my own own own So now I am hoping someday maybe you will see that it's all for the best If you cannot try dear then I'll just stay here and we'll lay this heart to rest I grew up around music quite a bit.

My family played a lot of Bluegrass and folk music and a lot of jam sessions and kind of playing in big round circles a lot growing up, and so I sort of grew up around it.

Wasn't really forced into it, but it was kind of inevitable that at some point I would be doing it at least as a hobby and I guess at this point it's become a lifestyle.

It was a little bit different for me.

I grew up homeschooled so we had a lot of creative free time and when I was like 13, 14, I just wanted to start songwriting and so I kind of taught myself how to play piano and then taught myself how to play fiddle, mostly for this project after that and guitar.

And we met actually at open mics playing music solo together, and then started playing actually together.

[Music] Traveling down the highway there's a man headed west He's looking for a better place to hide Dreaming of the stars he calls the one who's made them all He's waiting on the end of his line When I wait for you to come The days they grow longer now his bones are wearing thin Like the fire that burns deep beneath his skin The moon is growing bright but now the skies are turning red Some bones they say are better left for dead And I wait for you to come.

And I wait for you to come to me wash all my pain away And this lonely road is paved in gold on my way.

All your diamond rings your precious things you had on You wear them well this road to hell that you're on...that you're on The devil's at the end of the road The fire it burns the minds of those who hold These things we love all fade away Left only by the flame of those who stay Then there shines a light over head and it burns away the nights that we had said If freedom is a land we must abide We'll give our lives if only to survive And I wait for you to come And I wait for you to come to me I swear I see the light All your darkest days the dark and sleepless nights Weary days will dawn like horses drawn away And this road beyond I swear I'm on take me in - oh take me in The dark and sleepless nights The nights spent full of fright They now are empty and gone away with the light of day So far we started not super on purpose and kind of last minute for a festival that was going on in Grand Rapids and so for the first record we sort of just brought to the table a lot of stuff that we had written down, some of my old songs from a solo project, and kind of just hashed it out, made sense of what it was to be a band, and then that's kind of what made the first record.

After that gig it was just we had all just really enjoyed it so we thought well when can we play again and we just kept booking and then we got in the studio and we just haven't looked back really.

I think that the response after that it was just bigger than I think it would have been if it was just a regular gig or anything else.

It's pretty cool.

The radio called and she's all out of tunes The clouds they fill up as you tell me the news Your heart's like to sea tossed and turned by the waves The moon's holding out for a brighter day Is it all right to be out on your own Adrift like the sea with no place to call home Well I'm asking you now don't leave me alone [Music] The day she's all gone and you're all headed West These thoughts in my mind they all put to the test You say you'll return but the wind and the waves Sing a different song for a brighter day Is it alright to be out on your own Adrift like the sea with no place to call home Well I'm asking you now please don't leave me alone [Music] One day I'll see you driving again down the dirt road where it all began The clouds they roll on as the sun starts to shine These days and these nights now are finally mine Is it all right to be out on your own Adrift like the sea with no place to call home Well I'm asking you now please don't leave me alone Is it alright that I'm back on my own The days grow long like the words of this song Well I'm asking you now please don't leave me alone Well I'm begging you now would you please come home.

I think I was just 16 and I'd gotten to that point where I had spent a lot of time just at my piano, in my house, by myself, hashing out these songs or learning covers or whatever it was at the time and I was just kind of ready for it.

I felt like I needed to share what it was that I, whatever it was at the time, that I had to share and so I really sought out anywhere in Grand Rapids that had live music or fostered that and at the time there was really nowhere besides our local VFW.

Every Thursday night they had open mic nights and so I was just, even though I was 16, I was just chomping at the bit and so I kind of made that leap and I showed up to the VFW.

I don't know what time it was, it was late and it was dark, and I walked in and there was nobody my age, obviously, but I did it anyway and after that I just felt like I couldn't stop, nor did I want to, and then we started playing music together and even more so it was like the the end was, or the end was nowhere near like in sight, so we just kept rolling along with it.

Yeah, I didn't really start performing until I was out of high school and I remember coming home when I was starting to do a little bit of college, I was writing songs and had same thing, yeah, and I was kind of cutting my teeth at the VFW Open Mic as well and kind of enjoying that and that was kind of the switch.

I didn't pursue it full-time until after we were married and I ended up breaking my back and a few other big life moments happened that kind of caused us to question are we doing what we'd want to, and in 10 years if we looked back, you know, what would we rather do and so it wasn't until then where we, you know, ended up getting rid of most of our stuff and the house and bought a van and we're like no matter what it looks like I guess we're going to be, we're going to perform.

You know we'd get to the next gig and did that for a couple years and now we have a little cabin, but we just kind of steadily, it just so happened to be Wild Horses was the fit so far to be able to do that and we're super, super grateful for it.

You came in strong like the winter Then melted like the spring that's on the way The nights they were cold but not empty You left me there waiting for the day The end of my song rang in silence Yours was the one I heard far away In a bar room down at the city We sang all our troubles far away We will live and we will love till we've all run dry and the times no longer remain 'Cause I was cold and far I was scared of the dark when I heard you call my name You were the boy who kept me waiting Till one day you told me I should stay The storms they all told us a story We learned that there was better through the rain Cause we will live and we will love till we've all run dry and the times no longer remain Cause I was cold and far I was scared of the dark when I heard you call my name So wash away all the sorrows and despair Feel the wind blowing through your hair Cause I have gone many long miles just to see you now So wash away your sorrows and despair And feel the wind blowing through your hair Cause I have gone many long miles just to see you now Just to see you now, just to see you now I would say it's a lot less intimidating nowadays.

It's like anything else you practice.

But definitely early on I was very shy and I'm not really sure what the nudge was I think I just felt like it was something that I should do at the time.

I will say definitely a dimly lit room with a lot of your old forgiving friends helps as you're cutting your teeth on that.

There's not a lot of things in life where you take something so personal and present it so publicly and there's times where, yeah, you just have to close your eyes to not feel so exposed.

I think, you know, some songs really get to that part of you but I'd say that feeling comes less and less And even if that feeling does kind of creep up on you I think for us at this point to know that there's people out there that maybe resonate with it, it makes that feeling just worth it to get through, to get past.

I went out just a broken man with a dream But underneath Hope was waiting past the lines I'd drawn in my mind They made me blind But wait in silence now till all your fears come crashing to the ground Look over your hill and see the man you were made to be Then the light will set you free There was silence as I held your hand in my own With all we've grown You spoke softly then my walls they all come down With all my crowns.

But wait in silence now till all your fears come crashing to the ground Look over your hill to see the man you were made to be Then the light will set you free Well I raise my hands and bow my head I was longing for the end of my road All that's left is yours instead So don't go searching for the end of the road Don't go searching for the end of the road Don't go searching the end of the road.

Backroads is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money by the vote of the people November 4th,