First I must say that we are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene here in Gulfport, Florida. We escaped any major damage at our place, but our little slice of paradise has been changed forever by the wind and storm surge that rolled in and destroyed half of the downtown area and many homes close to the water. Our hearts go out to all the folks who are now struggling to clean up and trying to decide if they should rebuild or not. We got lucky this time.
We discovered Gulfport in 2016 after our son Colby moved here….and fell in love with the small town vibe, the beach front on Boca Ciega Bay, the friendly people, and the live music scene here and in St. Pete. I started writing some Florida songs right away, and they just kept coming. One of the earliest ones, called Alone With The Stone, popped out one morning at Colby’s place in May of 2017 after a strange dream I had about riding on a tombstone truck. For those who don’t know me, I have always had a fascination with cemeteries and have worked in the monument business for years. I started out as a trucker’s helper at a company in Fort Dodge, Iowa and eventually became the truck driver, yard man, and finally learned how to design and layout the stones on the computer. I started my own cemetery repair business in 1994 and affiliated with Nevada Monument Company to sell granite. Since then I have been able to help many families through what can be an emotional process of deciding on what sort of tombstone they would like for themselves or a loved one.
That summer we were back in Iowa and on June 8, 2017 I went over to Byron’s bar in Pomeroy with my guitar pickin’ pal Herb Dreasler for a Songwriter’s Night. Herb and I have been playing together for forty years or so….in various incarnations of the Billy Buffalo Band, the Frontier Fiddle Band, and even a duo we called The Little Fiddle Band. One of the songs we tried out with no rehearsal at all was Alone With The Stone. Here’s the video I recorded that night….sorry I got a little carried away with the fire motif on the video edit.
Here are the lyrics:
I had a dream I was ridin’, in the back of a tombstone truck
Wonderin’ if I was really there or just ran out of luck
We were headin’ for the cemetery, to set a brand new stone
The name that was carved on it, was my own
Alone….With The Stone
I felt a chill when they set that granite down
I closed my eyes when they put me in the ground
Nobody comes out here, when the cold wind blows
Nobody visits, when it rains or snows
Alone….With The Stone
The grass is growing up around this little plot
It’s hard to tell who is here, and who is not
And then the dream just ended, I woke up again
Wrote it down real fast, so I could tell my friends
Alone….With The Stone
There’s a bluejay singin’ in a spreadin’ Southern oak
When the moss is hangin’ low, it feels like you could choke
So you take the guitar down, and have another toke
Everything feels better, then your heart gets broke
Alone….With The Stone
© 2017 Shadric Smith. All Rights Reserved.
Supposed To Be Music BMI
Written in Gulfport, Florida
In August of 2017 I decided to make a studio recording of the song. I used my ProTools program to record and overdub acoustic guitar, vocal, mandolin, lap steel, bass & snare drum. It sounded good, but I thought pedal steel might give it more of a country flavor, so I contacted Jon Mitguard, our old steel player from the Out Of The Blue Band ( 1979-1980 ) and asked him if he would consider adding a part. ( See my Goodbye To The City Substack post ). He used a Zoom H1 handheld recorder to create a WAV file which he dropboxed to me. After some juggling around I got it synched with my tracks and it sounded great! Jon was an amazing player forty years ago and is even better now. He lives in San Rafael, California and performs with many great musicians out that way.
Jon Mitguard at the Mullen Steel. Photo by Carolyn McCoy.
On November 4, 2019 we were back in Gulfport, and I went down to Caddy’s Open Mike Night with our son Colby. I tried out Alone With The Stone as a singalong of sorts, and at the very end of the tune was surprised by guitarist Ron Clausnitzer who jumped up and ripped off a cool lead to end the tune. ( See my Red Guitar Substack post for more of Ron that night ).
On February 15, 2020 I made my first appearance on the Florida Folk Show, hosted by Pete Gallagher and Gary Horrell and broadcast on WMNF radio. There were two other Florida songwriters on the bill that Saturday, Tom Scudiero and Big Jim Allen.
Jim jumped in on Alone With The Stone and it sounded like this:
In November of 2021 I released a song collection called Reflections and used Alone With The Stone ( with Jon Mitguard ) as the opening song. You can find this album on all the streaming services these days. Most of the songs on it were written and recorded here in Gulfport.
So that’s about it for the story of Alone With The Stone. Thanks for listening and reading this far. Please include Gulfport in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery from the hurricane.