Before

Don't Think I'll Cry
W. Patton

     This guitar/vocal demo is where it all began! Don't Think I'll Cry is one of my first two songs ever recorded.  It was released on Ricky Skaggs' Highways and Heartaches album in 1982. I pitched the song to Ricky's wife, Sharon White, backstage at the Kerrville Bluegrass Festival in Kerrville, TX. I'd known Sharon for several years and went to the festival to see her perform with her family band, 'The Whites'. After their show, I told Sharon I'd written a few songs I thought Ricky might like. I asked if I could play them for her, and she graciously listened as I performed "Live! From the Back of The White's Van". When I finished, there was no standing ovation (you can't stand in the back of a van!) or encore (it was very late). But, she told me to send a tape to their home in Tennessee and she would make sure Ricky listened to it. This is the demo I sent. It just goes to show, it's not who you know...it's whose wife you know!

Let's Love the Bad Times Away
W. Patton

     This is the second of my first two songs ever recorded. It is also  on Highways and Heartaches. After my impromptu backstage performance for Sharon White, I drove back to my home in Stephenville, TX. I was excited about the future and wired on caffeine. As I drove through the night, I began writing Let's Love the Bad Times Away. The song was finished before I had made it very far from Kerrville. The next morning, I picked up my guitar to "learn" the song I had written the night before. This guitar/vocal demo is the version included on the tape I sent to Ricky and Sharon. Ricky's recording of Let's Love the Bad Times Away is still one of my favorite recordings of one of my songs.

Land of the Living
W. Patton/Tia Sillers

We Should Only Have Time For Love
W. Patton/Jim Rushing

Check Back Soon For More...Before & After!