A Little Bit of Bluegrass
Photo by Jackie Stewart
“A little bit of bluegrass will chase your blues away.”
Derived from that simple sentiment and written by David Stewart, “A Little Bit of Bluegrass” was released late last year by Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road. Currently, it sits at #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited Survey chart (June and July 2023).
The song is the third by Stewart that Jordan and her band have taken to #1. The first two were “True Grass” and “Bill Monroe’s Old Mandolin,” the latter inspired as Stewart (and the rest of us) watched Ricky Skaggs play Monroe’s beloved instrument during Skaggs’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “I watched as he held it like a bible and embraced it like a friend,” said Stewart. “He spoke to it and put his ear down to it like it spoke to him. Basically, I wrote what I saw.”
Writing what he sees—and hears—is a pattern for Stewart, whose songwriting builds around a strong hook and typically tells a story. “I get to the hook as quickly as possible,” he explained. “It’s what people remember in a song. Take ‘Country Roads,’ by John Denver. Everybody sings that chorus—that hook—it’s what they relate to.”
On telling a story—happy or sad, true or false—Stewart believes it needs to feel authentic. “That’s what makes a song work—something real,” he said. “Gordon Lightfoot was one of my favorite writers, and he approached a song that way.”
An Encouraging Conversation
“A Little Bit of Bluegrass” tells the story of someone turning to music to lift his spirits. The singer isn’t bolstered by just any music, mind you, but by the unique collective sound of guitars, fiddles, banjos, and tight harmonies.
The idea grew from a phone conversation between Stewart and his older brother. “He hadn’t been feeling well,” recalled Stewart of his brother, “and that day, I could tell he had the blues. I don’t know why, but I said, ‘Hey, do you have a radio with you?’ and he said, ‘I’ve got my phone.’ I said, ‘Well put on a little bluegrass music … the Bluegrass Jamboree if you’ve got the app on your phone or Sirius XM if you’re in your car. Turn on a little bluegrass … it’ll chase your blues away.’
“You know, a lot of times when you’re talking to people, they will give you a [song] title. This time, I spoke one to him. After that call, I wrote down, ‘A little bit of bluegrass will chase your blues away.’ I had to get to work, but I pondered it all day, how music can change your emotions or help you through things.”
In the days that followed, Stewart found that the idea wouldn’t leave him alone. A drive in the mountains one morning yielded a melody that he liked, and that night, he couldn’t sleep. “It kept sticking with me, wanting to be written,” he said, “So I got up and started writing … but before I did, I turned on the TV. Every channel, bad news. That became a verse.”
While shaking the bad-news blues became verse one, a reminder to be thankful for each day rounded out verse two. In both his verses and chorus, Stewart used lyrics that point strongly back to the music, and—mission accomplished—finished the song that very night.
Upon laying down a bare-bones demo and listening back through, Stewart found he had a simple song with a happy melody. He knew just who to pitch it to. “Lorraine Jordan has given me two big records, so whenever I write one that I think fits her, I’ll send it to her first,” he said. “I sent it, and she hit me right back and said she loved it. ‘Course, at the end of that song, I wrote, ‘Carolina Road will lift your load when you’re having a bad day.’ That may have helped seal the deal.”
A Connection is Made
“That’s a cool thing to get your band name in there,” confirmed Jordan, who worked up the song with Allen Dyer on lead vocals and made it the title cut to her latest album on Pinecastle Records. “To be able to let people know, ‘Hey, come hear our music … sit back and relax and let us take care of you,’ people need that. We all need that.
“You know, I think it was time for a song like ‘A Little Bit of Bluegrass,’ especially after COVID. It makes people happy, and they love to hear it. We just finished playing it five or six times in Branson.”
Reflecting on Stewart as a writer and friend, Jordan recalled their first meeting. “Our mutual friend Eddy Raven introduced me to David, and I found out what a nifty person he was,” she said. “I told David, ‘Eddy thinks I should talk to you about writing a song for me.’ David studied us a while before writing anything. He took time to listen to the music, got to know the band and our personalities and styles. I appreciate that.”
Jordan didn’t hear from Stewart for a while, until he sent her a song called “True Grass.” It was a perfect fit, as she tends to stick closely to a traditional bluegrass sound. “True Grass” went to #1 for five months and stayed on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart for 15—a good start to Jordan and Stewart’s relationship. “Next came ‘Bill Monroe’s Old Mandolin,’” said Jordan, “and it was the most played song in radio in 2020, another great bridge we crossed together.
“Sometimes, you get a connection with a writer, and it clicks. That’s the way it’s been with David. Our first two hits, Tom T. Hall wrote. Tom T. was known as the storyteller. We all know that. Well, David Stewart needs a title, too. He’s a genius of storytelling. The man can put the words together, and I’m excited to have somebody write about him. I tell you, he’s the ‘walking cowboy.’”
The Walking Cowboy – The Story Behind the Songwriter
Along with his cuts by Jordan, Stewart has had his songs cut by bluegrass artists Junior Sisk, David Parmley, Danny Paisley, and others. A performing artist in his own right, he plays music seven nights a week at the historic Occidental Hotel that he owns with his wife near the foot of the Big Horn Mountains in Buffalo, Wyoming. Yet all of that isn’t what he is most celebrated for. In 1988, Stewart took a walk that changed his life and affected many other lives along the way.
It all started in a truck stop in the wee hours of the morning, back when truck stops still had juke boxes. Stewart and his wife were enjoying breakfast as they watched snow fall outside and listened to George Jones singing, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” As Jones’ voice faded, Stewart’s began humming one of his own songs, a tune called “In the Wings of the Grand Ole Opry.”
“When I was seven years old, I used to stand on a milk crate and my audience was my sister, Diane. I’d make her listen to me, and I’d pretend I was on the Grand Ole Opry,” Stewart elaborated on his song and his lifelong desire to play the famous venue.
“Well, my wife heard me humming and asked me, ‘David, what would you do to sing on the Grand Ole Opry?’ The hair began to stand up on the back of my neck at the thought, and I told her ‘Heck, Jackie, I’d walk to Nashville if I could sing on the Opry.’ Jackie being Jackie, she said, ‘What a great idea!’”
It was a long walk—1600+ miles over 84 days—but walk he did, from the open skies of Wyoming to the crowded streets of Music City. He had plenty of ups and downs (and blisters and bruises) along the way, but with a little help from his friends and his little dog, Snicker, he did it. Thanks to an AP writer’s coverage, CB radios, and thousands of letters sent out by his wife, the whole nation knew of Stewart’s adventure and rooted him on. Early on in his journey, a trucker dubbed him “The Walking Cowboy,” a moniker that has stuck with him since.
“When I got to Nashville, Hal Durham from the Opry called and said, ‘David, I understand you walked all the way here to be on the Opry.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir, that’s my hope and desire,’ and he said, ‘How about Saturday night?’”
That Saturday night, a somewhat overwhelmed but jubilant Stewart took the stage and sang two songs, including his “In the Wings,” to a wildly supportive crowd with a substantial cheering section from Wyoming, his home state of Florida, and several other states he had walked through along the way.
For all its hardships, the walk was monumental for Stewart and those who followed his story. It was instrumental in getting his songs heard, too. Soon after his walk, he began writing in Nashville for Raven, who went on to cut some of his songs and helped him get country cuts by Tanya Tucker and others. Recent cuts for Stewart have included Nick Chandler’s “I Don’t Want to Be Me Anymore;” Shannon Slaughter’s “Common Ground,” started during Stewart’s famous walk and finished with cowriter Linda Buell; and “I’m Chasing Old Memories Down,” recorded by Sisk. Stewart chronicled his walk in a book he wrote, Heart and Sole, first published in 1994.
Through his own rich life and in authentic songs like “A Little Bit of Bluegrass,” Stewart has shown us how to enjoy the journey and tell the story. Learn more about David Stewart at thewalkingcowboy.com and occidentalwyoming.com. For more on Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road, visit carolinaroadband.com.
