“FINDING YOUR WAY TO SILENT PASSAGE” – A TRIBUTE TO OWEN MAYS

Trying to put the loss of our friend Owen in perspective has been a very daunting task.  He was a man unlike any other.  His genuine spirit deeply rooted in what he held closest to his heart – the music.  My first chance encounter with Owen was in 2013 at Muddy Roots, I was sitting against the old wooden stage in the stagnant summer air reviewing photos.  The crowd in front of me seemed to part quietly and my attention was drawn to a man larger than life who was clearly making his way toward me.  He politely asked in a very quiet voice if I would mind taking some pictures during his duet with Shooter Jennings.  My reply was most certainly a yes, I watched as his eyes lit up and sparkled, he smiled with his big cheeks and extended his hand – I’m Owen he said, if you need a hand with anything I’m your man!

When Shooter Jennings took the stage, I watched as Owen paced a little at the edge of the loading area, he then was summoned by Jennings to the stage.  Albeit nervously at first, he stood at his microphone as Shooter caressed the opening lines to “The Other Life”.  As the chorus approached, Owen stood his ground and grabbed the microphone with his tattooed arm, his ball cap tucked down low he gently complimented Shooter as they harmonized in tune, balancing the stage.  It was at this moment I believe I began to see the real Owen for the first time.  A man as big as could be, a heart to match, an enormous vocal ability but the sense to control it with precision and skill.  After the set, I found Owen behind the stage alone, the next act was setting up and he was standing in the dark just staring off into space amidst a chorus of cicadas, crickets and bullfrogs.  “How was it ?” he asked me, I replied that it was magnificent and genuine, that it came from his heart.  Again his eyes sparkled and that beautiful grin widened across his lips.  “Thank you brother – this was a big moment for me and I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  Thank you for taking the pictures – I can’t wait to show my family”.

When I returned home I was editing images and came to the shots of Owen – now I’m a big guy and not a big fan of having my picture taken.  I admittedly was nervous showing my work to Owen, I decided to take a leap of faith and send him my shots and wait to hear the verdict.  He replied with “Hey! Saw the Shooter photos. I was totally blown away! I normally cringe when I see photos of myself…I’m tough to get a good photo of. You do amazing work!”  This made me so happy knowing that he was happy – I think that happiness of others was always Owen’s goal. 

I’ve watched the Facebook tributes and stories flow endlessly from around the world in the past 24 hours and it’s a tribute to the memory of giant man.  From his good friend Frior Kalor D in Russia, to the Juiceman at the Bacchus in Geel, Belgium; Owen’s love knew no boundaries and neither did his passion for what he loved.  I read a piece on Owen today that said on the recent Muddy Roots Europe Tour he spent some of his downtime mentoring a young 10 year old girl in Norway to play guitar – that is what a “legacy” is all about. . .at the end of each day when we are gone and stripped from our mortal earthly core; our memory with reside in the artistic endeavors we pursue in our lifetime. 

Beyond the passionate music historian side of Owen was the playful child that resided just beneath the surface, this was what he and I discussed one night that first year at Muddy Roots.  I found myself sitting beneath a tree with this giant of a man talking about professional wrestling of all things.  Several years earlier I had filed many of those childhood passions and memories away thinking they were silly to cling to in my adult years; Owen showed me its okay to be a kid, its okay to laugh, and its okay to like something that isn’t mainstream.

If this year has taught me one thing – its that there’s a small voice within us all.  I want you to find your voice – I need you to listen to it as a member of this Muddy Roots and Farmageddon Records extended family.  This voice is a voice that will communicate silently with you through your heart.  We’ve all felt this voice at some point in our years and too often we chalk up the experience to “coincidence” and move along without a second thought.  This is incorrect, to be a true family of fans, musicians and artisans alike that voice will tell you when it’s been too long since you last spoke with a friend, it will tell you when someone needs healing, it will tell you when to speak and when to listen.  We must learn to tune our ear to our voice – this ability to listen will put to rest the problem of never having the chance to say goodbye to someone we hold close.  As family we need to reach out to each other and embrace one another no matter what the distance.  I know this voice, it spoke to me last week sometime and I thought of Owen in my many daily thoughts, I thought of his large toothy grin and those beautiful eyes – I was looking forward seeing him in September at Muddy Roots.  My only problem ? I didn’t reach out to him and say it.

Last night after learning of the days events, my friend and I were sitting talking and she said “how sorry she was that my friend passed away” – I’ve learned something in Owen’s departure though; the worst part of having many friends spread all over the world is the potential in waking one day to find them no longer with us.  I sat under the night sky last night thinking about this – I came to realize that there is a blessing through all this and it is the interconnected web of friendship that has formed between us all.  Though Owen is gone, we will see him again and we will reunite in a new field under a new sky, with a new moon and a dusting of new stars.

As I go to sleep tonight I know he’s where he needs to be, I know I’m not meant to understand though I continually try my best.  I wish my friend Godspeed and continued safe passage as he meets his idols in the new field under that new sky.  Rest easy my friend, you have influenced people far beyond you ever could imagine and your talent was too bright to contain and was only superseded in the immense room of your heart.

Wait for us all on the other side, until then give our best to Hank Sr., Little Jimmy, Johnny Cash, Ray Price, Farron Young, Waylon and the Possum.

“The Other Life”

This life is a dream
When I wake up I feel your face
smiling over at me.
And you tell me that you love me,
And I light up when you touch me and this life
is all that I need.But heaven was just illusion
One hell a better conclusion
To this life with you.

So I stay out late at night
Tryin’ to hock a room with my guitar
And sing my “poor me’s” at another lonesome bar
Unrehearsed, dyin’ of thirst
and cursed with the other life. 

And sometimes I sit and look at old pictures
and air another unanswered prayer
But I won’t look too long ’cause I’m just not that strong
so I pretend for a moment you still care.

And like these pictures that life would frame
There ain’t a song that I would not trade
for one minute with you.So I stay out late at night
Tryin’ to hock a room with my guitar
And sing my “poor me’s” at another lonesome bar
Unrehearsed, diyin’ of thirst
and cursed with the other life.
​
Yeah the other life.So I stay out late at night
Tryin’ to hock a room with my guitar
And sing my “poor me’s” at another lonesome bar
Unrehearsed, diyin’ of thirst
and cursed with the other life.
Oh the other life
With the other life.