Alabama Pines

I noticed yesterday that Alabama native, Jamey Johnson, released a new song and was giving away free downloads. I've been a fan of Jamey for several years. He has a good first name, he is from Alabama -just down the road from where I live now- and he has a realness about him that comes across in his songs.

The song is "Alabama Pines." You can download it here: http://biggassedrecords.com/collections/download

In a note posted on the site, Johnson writes that "Alabama Pines" is his "love letter to the time and place from whence I came."

I think I know how he feels. I wrote my first book "Telling Hands" thinking along those same lines. My love for my home is one of the themes in the book. I tell about my connection to the land, and her people.

In the book, I recall my grandfather, and how he used to sing us songs. Listed in the book "Telling Hands" are a few of the songs he would sing us, one of which was "In the Pines."

"In the Pines" is a is a traditional American folk song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The identity of the song's author is unknown, but it has been recorded by many artists in numerous genres. Traditionally, it is most often associated with the American blues musician Lead Belly, who recorded several versions in the 1940s, as well as the American bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, who helped popularize the song (in a different variant, featuring lyrics about a train) among bluegrass and country audiences with his versions recorded in the 1940s and 1950. -per Wikipedia

When I listened to Jamey Johnson's "Alabama Pines," I thought about my Paw Paw singing "In the Pines." Oh, how I would love to sit with him on the porch and hear him sing it once more.

Someone I know, who used to be a truck driver and make runs to California all the time, told me once that the best part of going out west was coming back home; that moment when you start seeing the pine trees again.

There's just something undeniably lovely about those pine trees, and the way they sway in the wind.

~ Jamie Godwin Brooks
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRVTJ9K

The Alabama state tree is the Southern Longleaf Pine.