I had one of those all too often Facebook moments last week. After a Fourth of July dinner with friends, I logged on, only to see the posting that a friend had passed. I slammed the top down on my laptop, as if to un-see this news. Bob Goldstone was one of those people who make you remember what is important about life. He was impish, funny, warm, sincere, caring, and always teaching, even just by example. His love was boundless, and you couldn’t help but feel it when you were around him. I had the opportunity to work with him on the Emmylou Harris Spyboy album, when he asked me to join his team, I jumped at the chance. He was a partner in Thirty Tigers Records, and on Saturday, hundreds of folks gathered at his farm to salute his memory and tell poignant and funny stories about him. At the end we raised our glasses and toasted him with a tequila shot. Bob would have loved the tears and the laughter. He touched so many people.
Hailey Whitters came to see us during our Music Fog shoot in January, at 3rd & Lindsley Backstage. She had her first album come out last year and came to Nashville, as so many before her, because she knew music was her calling. She is an articulate songwriter and an assured performer. Catch her in the Midwest this month. Hailey played this most amazing song for us, “One More Hell” which she wrote after her little brother was killed in a car accident.
“He was 19. It was awful,” she says. “I went home to be with my family, and we went out West that summer. We had no plan, just got in the car and drove. It was really good being all together––we all just kind of disappeared for a month.” “It’s a sad song, but it’s kind of a happy song, I always say––people just feel it.”
We did, for sure, and I know you will too. Here is the Music Fog recording of “One More Hell," from the album Black Sheep. Say I love you and don’t forget the hugs.
- Jessie Scott