💡✍️ADN #177: The Opening Act Thank You

“It was the end of the tour, so I decided to get Todd a little thank-you gift.

It was a dog lamp that also served as a planter.

I wrapped it up and left it on his porch,” Hayes Carll said from the stage at Willie Nelson’s ranch a few weeks ago in Luck, TX.

We were at Todd Snider Rules! A Tribute to Todd Snider, held a few months after he passed away too soon last winter.

The story continued, “A few weeks went by, and I hadn’t heard from Todd about my gift.”

“Then, someone told me Todd had mentioned me in an interview about his new album.”

When Todd was asked about his new album, he started with “First, we have to talk about Hayes Carll.”

“It is terrible what the government has done to him.”

Fast forward to Todd’s next interview, and he continued the story, “It’s awful what they’ve done to Hayes and his dog.” (Hayes didn’t have a dog at the time.)

And then the next interview, “It is so messed up that the FBI came and kicked in Hayes’ door and took his dog from him.”

The whole thing was made up — Todd’s way, I can only assume, of saying thank you for the dog planter lamp.

And because he thought it was funny.

You never know where a thoughtful thank-you or a kind gesture will lead.

At the time, Hayes wasn’t getting press in big publications.

He was just out trying to find his way, and the road led him to open for Todd.

When the tour ended, he did the thoughtful thing and gave Todd a memorable gift.

Todd then did the thoughtful thing and gave Hayes a memorable gift in return.

20 years later, Hayes found himself standing on stage, telling the story as the headliner after the far-too-soon passing of his hero and friend.

It was generous of Hayes to share that story with the couple thousand of us standing in a field in the hill country, and as he told it, it felt like Todd was somewhere laughing just like I’m sure he did when he made up the tall tale in the first place.

If you’ve ever done a gig where the headliner shared their stage with you, make sure you find a way to say thank you.

You never know where it might lead.

See you next Sunday,

Neil

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