“I moved down here from Perryville. I’ve got four kids that live in Fruitland, and so we all come down here to get an education. I just did a welding certification at the CTC. But, man! There’s so many winners down here, you know? So many people striving to do better down here. Great attitudes.

“I love to write, though. It is my outlet. I took a college writing class and it’s just a passion of mine. I know that I am a capable writer, I just know I am. Nobody’s ever told me that, but I feel it. It takes me a long time to edit and stuff; this right here took me like a week of rewriting and stuff.

[reads lyrics he wrote and explains] “Basically, somebody feels like the devil has their soul, so to speak. They’ve done bad things, but he wants her to be proud of him. Retribution. I can make that sound a lot better, but I think this song has potential, you know? It really does. And it means something to me. For me, it’s like, just making mistakes and being involved in bad things. Breaking the law. Being on probation. Not upholding a place. I made excuses, but you know… back slidin’. To me, that’s holding me back and has just robbed me of my youth. A lot of squandered potential.

“I’ve had a lot of time to myself. I’m a single guy. I’ve noticed in my adult life that a lot of single guys, they’ve taught themselves how to do certain things. I can’t really sing-sing, but if I practice, I think I could really make myself better. I still want to be in it and I still want to believe in myself no matter what.”