January 1.2024
"Billy Ray Montgomery" is the only song on the new album that doesn't have
an accompanying short story. There's a reason for this. It ties in with another song and its
story in ways that are hard to explain. But the other story is the more important one. You'll
see what I mean.
"Billy Ray Montgomery" began its life as a riff that popped into my head one morning on the way
to work. I couldn't get it out of my brain, and it was on a loop from then on, on the way to work,
on the way home from work. At some point I started playing a beat to it on my steering wheel. And,
well, as good songs do sometimes, it took on a life of its own. One day as I was driving by a
particular house (I remember which one), a lyric and its melody popped into my head.
"There's an old man over there / Sittin' on his porch, he ain't goin' anywhere"
That's how I met Billy Ray Montgomery.
