In between the jokes and fun, there’s a personal message about accepting yourself, and finding your own brand of happiness.Sylacauga songwriter Troy Jones joins scriptwriter Bryan Kennedy and songwriter Wynn Varble in Saturday night’s production of Toe Roaster at the Sylacauga High School Auditorium, a benefit for The ARC of South Talladega County. The musical starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15.
Done with a mixture of dialogue and their own lyrics and music, Toe Roaster put three cowboys around a campfire to tell their stories and question the issue of life itself.
The play reflects some of Jones’ own feelings about life, particularly those about the journey life brings to all.
“There was a time I was looking for happiness in all the other things in the world, like material things, other people’s approval, money, success,” Jones said. “But none of it ever satisfied.”
While working to make his musical career a success, Jones finally found what makes sense for his own journey through life.
“Today, I love what I do for a living, but it’s not where my happiness and self-worth comes from,” he said. “I have a huge support system that starts with my family and some special friends who teach me to live one day at a time. And I’ve realized that our purpose on Earth is to be of service to God and to our fellow travelers.”
Jones said living long enough to learn to appreciate simple things like a hug and a sunset is something he’s grateful to God for.
“This is something that’s said in the play,” Jones said. “Be who you are without trying to be what you think other people think you should be.”
Jones learned by age 12 when he played guitar for church events he liked the sound of applause.
“It was like a drug, I wanted more,” he said. Growing up in Port St. Joe, Florida, Jones preferred to sit in his bedroom and play the guitar rather than spend time on his schoolwork.
He got serious about music about 13 years ago, after putting it aside during his 20s.
When he started hanging out at some Nashville writers’ nights, Jones’ music got the attention of some Music Row folks who signed him on as a staff songwriter.
Jones’ resume in the music world includes John Roland Wood, recorded by Deryl Dodd, and he has been a staff writer for Polygram/Universal, Mosaic Music and now writes for Carnival Music. He recently wrote a song for country music artist Joe Nichols titled The Shade Comes Free With the Tree.
Varble co-wrote the hit Have You Forgotten with Daryl Worley, and also wrote I Hope You Dance (recorded by Leanne Womack), Self Made Man (recorded by Montgomery Gentry) and Big Money (recorded by Garth Brooks.)
A songwriter as well as playwright, Kennedy wrote songs recorded by country music giant Garth Brooks which include Cowboy Cadillac, The Old Stuff and The Fever, and co-wrote Brooks’ hits Beaches of Cheyenne and American Honky Tonk Bar Association.
Toe Roaster had its debut last March at a golf and country club in Franklin, Tenn. Jerry Reed, who produces the show, heard of the musical while playing golf with Kennedy, a family friend.
Kennedy is actually a former cowboy and ranch hand, and some of the material for the play comes from that background. He met Brooks at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe before Brooks’ had a recording contract. When Brooks became a big name in country music. he invited Kennedy and singer Dan Roberts to open more than 70 of his shows from 1996 until 1998.
The two went on stage as Chuck and Rodeo, and sang while sitting around a fake campfire.
But Kennedy says Toe Roaster is quite different from the performances he and Roberts did.
Tickets are $15, available by calling The Arc offices at (256) 245-2323, Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Advance tickets are also available at the Sylacauga, Talladega and Childersburg Chambers of Commerce offices.
