She's More Than A Dog

She's my best friend!

I recently wrote a new song after going through the loss of several of our beloved cats and several Facebook friends who lost their dogs.

Living and working in the hunting and fishing industry brings me into contact with thousands of people who have amazing dogs. These dogs are much more than companions and add significant value to each of these human lives!

I have three dogs at Hardcore Huntin' Music headquarters and they each provide me with their own brand of education, joy, peace and of course LOVE! Anyone with a dog knows that no human is capable of loving you quite like a dog does...its incredibly humbling! The dogs pictured above is our rescue dog "Midnight". She is a Border Collie/Aussie/Lab mix and is one of the smartest animals I have ever known. Much of the song below is inspired by "Middy" as well as our other dogs "Smoke E" & "Bella Joy".

I hope that others will comment on this post with stories of their dogs! We have them for a very short time but i know they leave a lasting legacy of great memories for all of us. I'd love to get your feedback and hopefully inspire you to share stories of your dog with us!

Honoring Our Heros

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

What a great time it is to spend a little time with family and friends!

I had the opportunity on Thursday to go to Bridgeport, WV with Curtis Fleming and the Fly Rod Chronicles crew to surprise a young police officer named Dustin Hotsinpiller with a fishing trip of a lifetime.

Dustin's brother Derek was a US Marshal and was killed in the line of duty earlier this year. Dustin and Derek were avid fly fishermen and spent many days together chasing the illusive trout in many of our nations streams and rivers.

They had a yearly trip planned when Derek's life was ended so tragically. Curtis Fleming and Bo Preiskorn of the Brazos River Ranch decided to take Dustin on a fishing trip of a lifetime to the mountains of northern New Mexico this July 27th to honor his brother's life!

We arrived at the police station in Bridgeport, WV around 11 AM and met Dustin's Mom, family and friends. The police chief called Dustin and told him that they had a break in a case he was working on and Dustin came in right away!

When Dustin walked in the look on his face was priceless! Curtis told Dustin about the trip, gave him a new fly rod and then his fellow officers gave him the money needed to fly there and get his licenses etc.

Curtis told Dustin that we would be filming a Fly Rod Chronicles show while we are there in honor of his brother as a tribute to the life they both lead and the sacrifice he and his family made.

Then it was time for me to sing a song I wrote for this occasion called "May Your Cast Be True.....I was sure I wasn't going to be able to get through it with crying...my wife gave me a ZERO % chance!....but with Gods help I did. It was such an honor to be able to do that for such a great family and community.

I thank God for giving me this opportunity and am completely humbled by those brave servants who lay down their lives everyday to keep us safe and allow us to live in such a great country!

I know I will be thinking of them this weekend as we celebrate another year of living in the best country on Earth!