Oh, brother, here he goes again. Tim’s writing this week about somebody else he knew that passed away.

Well, actually, I never met the guy. But just in the off-chance you don’t dabble much in country music, I wanted to make a quick introduction to Toby Keith on his way out.

Back when I discovered I could actually make a career out of being on the radio, one of the unwritten radio rules was, “never go into country music radio unless you wanted to stay in country music radio.” When I was in Yakima at my very first professional radio job and getting restless, I looked in the trades to see if there were any job openings somewhere else that I could apply for. I’d see a job, find out it was a country music station, and crossed it off the list.

Now, we’re talking back in the mid-1970s, back when country music featured the likes of Roy Clark, Johnny Cash, Waylon, Willie and the boys and a newcomer named Dolly Parton. Nothing wrong with their music, but it wasn’t my cup of tea and I just didn’t want to end up trapped there.

Flash forward to 2005. My KLSY days were three years in the rear-view mirror and while I was trying to reinvent myself as a writer and advertising guy, the radio bug was still in me. So, when a weekender opening came up at the new 100.7 The Wolf, they gave me a Sunday morning shift, and on occasion, I also did vacation fill-in.

This was a valuable experience for several reasons. Basically, you had to say what you wanted to say over a song intro or in 10-seconds. Coming from a personality morning show, where we could take our time, my experience on the Wolf taught me that I didn’t just want to be a “time and temp” disc jockey. Being on the air was fun, but after a year of those confines and only getting a whopping $10 an hour, I was good. I gave up radio for the time being and focused on developing those advertising and marketing skills.

However, that year at The Wolf was perfectly timed to be when country music was going through a serious change. Gone was the old twangy stuff, which was replaced with the new country, what they were calling “fresh country.” Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins and some guy named Garth Brooks. And I liked it.

Over the years, I still find myself downloading a country song I heard somewhere, like something from Chris Stapleton or Luke Bryan. And, for the record, I disproved that theory that if you took a job in country music radio, you’d be stuck there.

It was around that same time when I was on The Wolf that I found myself going through a divorce. One of the worst experiences of my life, for so many reasons.

One of those fresh country singers, a guy by the name of Toby Keith had a song out around that time that pretty described how I felt and made me weepy-eyed every time I heard it. Although, when you listen, pay attention to the lyrics, not necessarily the music video. 😉

I hoped you listened to it with your eyes closed, because it’s the sentiment of the song I connected with. To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen the video and while it had a dark start, if you made it all the way to the end, you saw it had a humorous twist. Toby Keith did that kind of stuff. His music was spot-on with topics while he wrote songs that were clever, fun and ground level.

Here’s another great example. He took the old line, “I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m good once as I ever was” and turned it into a catchy tune.

He would also write about simple things. Like putting a spotlight on something as simple as the Red Solo Cup.

And if you’re going to write a tune about plastic cups, you’re probably also a good candidate to write a love song about a bar.

Staying on the theme (a one-degree separation from alcohol), it shouldn’t be surprising that he wrote this little ditty for the little person, the everyday Joe, about getting drunk to feel like they were somebody.

Oh, he’s got plenty more where that came from, including this one, which got a lot of play when he passed away earlier this year from stomach cancer at the younger-every-day age of 62.

He was a good old boy from Oklahoma, who would have celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary this year, but instead left behind a wife and three kids. He only managed to get in 62 years on this rock, but boy, did he make them count, while making the world and music he left behind just a little more fun.

I just wanted to make sure you got a chance to know Toby on the way out, just in case you missed him.

Tim Hunter