I'm Your Biggest Fan - Watching My Son On Stage

My mind started wandering Thursday night. It’s been a journey that is just beginning in some ways.

Thursday night my son Matt, who goes by his middle name Hunter when he’s performing, was the opening act at Moonshine Alley in Providence for recording artist Drew Baldridge. It was a great night!

If you don’t know, my son is a country singer/songwriter who has been singing and recording for a couple of years now. He has several songs out on Spotify and anywhere else you go to for music. He’s been performing for about a year-and-a-half at some local places. You can see a schedule for his upcoming gigs on his website hunterbraley.com.

About a year ago I asked him if he wanted me to reach out to some of my former colleagues at Cat Country in Providence. He thought for a moment and then said, “Thanks, but no. I want to do this on my own.” I can respect that. So imagine my surprise when he got an email from the Cat Country Promotions Director asking if he would be interested in opening for another act at Moonshine Alley. He asked me, “Did you reach out to them?” When I told him I had not we were all excited about the offer.

The morning show co-host at Cat Country is Brendan Sharpe who I worked with at WBSM years ago. Bren is a Facebook friend who commented on one of my posts a few months back. I had included a link to one of Hunter’s songs and Bren wrote, “We’ll have to get him to play at one of our shows.” I simply replied, “That would be great! Just let me know when.” That’s all I did. When I asked Hunter if he wanted me to reach out to Bren, once again, he said, “Thanks but I want to do this on my own.” A few weeks ago the invitation came and that brought us to Thursday night.

Hunter opened for Drew Baldridge who currently has the #12 song on the Country charts. It’s called “She’s Somebody’s Daughter.”

Drew has a very interesting story himself. He moved to Nashville 13 years ago and he was signed to a record label but nothing really happened. He was dropped by the label and just kept grinding in Nashville. When the pandemic hit, he posted music on TikTok and Instagram and even started doing backyard concerts. He said he would play in anyone’s backyard and he got hundreds of offers.

He told a story Thursday night about how he wrote “Somebody’s Daughter” about his wife when he met her and met her family. He put the song on TikTok and wrote, “If I get 3,000 likes I’ll release this song on Friday.” He woke up the next morning and had —- 10 MILLION! When he tried to get picked up by another record label he was met with rejection left and right. The message was, “You already had your chance so….no.” So he started his own label and now has the #12 song in the country. He recently joined syndicated radio host Bobby Bones on the “Bobbycast” podcast where you can hear his whole story.

Like I said on the radio the other day, “He’s one of those ‘Overnight Sensations’ that only took 13 years.

Ironically, Hunter saw Drew open for another artist five or six years ago and now he’s the opening act for Drew. Hmmmmm.

It was so cool to watch my son perform the other night.

I’ve seen him a number of times at spots around the area but this was a different setting. True they serve drinks and food but the difference was these people came to see the artists. It’s not like just going to a restaurant and “Oh! There’s a singer!” There was a sound guy and lights and a real “concert feel.”

There were so many memories flashing through my mind the other night. I remember the time at the dinner table years ago when I said, “You need a haircut.” To which I was told, “It’s my head and I like it this way!” Then there was the time he was pitching for the Little League team I managed. I told my assistant coach, “Go out there and tell him he’s dropping his elbow.” Steve said, “Why do you need me to go out there?” I answered, “He won’t listen to me, he’ll listen to you.” Then there was the time the little boy, who was two, got in trouble for goofing at the table, so he slid off the chair to pout and fell asleep under the table.

Thursday night I was looking at my son and thinking, “Alright, he’s in good voice, guitar sounds good.” I couldn’t help but wonder what my mother would have said about the torn jeans. “You paid money for that? You should get your money back. They’re ripped!”

I also looked around at the crowd. I know how it can be with opening acts. “Yeah yeah he’s okay but when is the main attraction coming out? That’s who I came to see!” I was happy to notice people were singing along, swaying to the music and some were dancing. He did a couple original songs and some people were really listening to the lyrics.

He played for 45 minutes and then Drew Baldridge came out and played for an hour. After that, Hunter came back and played for another hour. I was worried the place would clear out after the headliner but quite a few stayed. It was a great night.

I must say I’m proud of all four of my children. One is a teacher who is SO creative in the classroom. One is a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy who is currently on Liberty in Lima, Peru while the USS Washington takes a break on her deployment. And my other daughter is a high school athletic trainer enjoying her summer vacation before football starts up in August. They’ve all done well.

Hunter has actually written a song about growing up in our, at times, crazy family of six. It’s called “Under One Roof” about how he misses everyone and those days when we were all “Under One Roof.” We keep telling him to release it as I’m sure other families can relate. He says he will someday but for now he just sings it around the backyard campfire. And yes, I’m a blubbering idiot when he does.

So it’s another interesting journey in life. I don’t know where it will lead but, for now, we just enjoy the ride.