I had the title “Twelve Steps From A Six Pack” for several years before it got written. I want the song to be humorous, but not make fun of twelve step programs which have been invaluable for so many people. I spent some time just collecting bits of trivia, like counting the number of days since a last drink; chain smoking; getting rid of old baggage from the past, etc. When I was finally ready, I got together with Bill and Lizard and we wrote a good part of the song. But it was over a year before we finally got together to finish it. In spite of all the delays, I’m happy with how it turned out and I hope my listeners are too. “Mom And Dad” was written at the kitchen table at 6:00 AM one morning when I woke up with the idea of writing a song as an anniversary present for my parents. I have nothing but admiration for my parents. They both had great senses of humor. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” So of course that made it into the song. “Everything I Need’s In Tennessee” was written when my son Travis was very young. It was written as a way to get out of a funk from terrible allergy problems I was having. “Hammered And Nailed” came about one Saturday afternoon. Bob McCormick was in town and we were finishing up a week of writing. We’d polished up the songs we’d been working on and were taking it easy, trying to find something to work on until it was time for Bob to leave. He brought up the title and a couple of hours later the song was done. We had no idea where it was going when we started. Or, for that matter, how it got there. My friend Judy Hinger had heard me mention several times that I wanted to write a yodel song. One day a lyric arrived in the mail from her. I wrote some music, we got together a couple of times and “Yodel Lady” came about. “Bars On The Door” came from Bob McCormick seeing a church in East Nashville with bars on the windows and doors. He found that a very strange sight. We had some ideas down, maybe the first verse and then I heard a sermon on Sunday from our deacon who works in the prison system. Next time Bob & Bill and I got together, I told them I knew where we needed to go with the song. “Gonna Love Lovin’ You” and “Now He’s Talkin’” were Bob’s ideas. Lizard wrote like crazy “Gonna” and “Now He’s Talkin’” came together as a tribute to fathers. Boomer Castleman mentioned the line “When We’re Cheatin’, We Don’t Fool Around” one smoky, noisy night at Bobby’s Idle Hour and Bob and I loved it and we ran with it. “Born To Believe In Love” is a tribute to my wife Mary. “Chair Dancin’” was the idea of my former neighbor Cal Meece. We were talking about having two left feet and sitting at tables around the dance floor moving in our chairs. “Diamond Reo” was written on a napkin in a restaurant in Southampton, NY after I saw a Diamond Reo garbage truck go through the alley. I knew a trucker who had talked about not being able to afford a Diamond Reo and I was struck by the irony of sitting in a rich town watching a Diamond Reo garbage truck go by.