Saturday's Songs for the Soul: Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Day After Valentine's Day

Thought for the Day; The day after Valentine's Day, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Michael Doucet and  BeauSoleil changed my life. Back in 1981, I was doing a lot of country western dancing. The music and fun dance steps were like therapy for my soul. One of the songs and the dance that went with it "Down at the Twist and Shout," written and performed by Mary Chapin Carpenter with the Cajun band BeauSoleil was a favorite of mine. At the time, I was also writing country music and spending time in Nashville whenever I could to improve my writing skills. After I saw another zydeco band, Beau Jaques and the High Rollers, I came up with a tune called ,"The Zydeco Swing," which was in some ways similar to Mary Chapin Carpenter's crossover hit. I was in New York City for the Valentine's/President's Day weekend. I was feeling a bit down because plans to meet with a long distance friend from Texas did not work out, due to the possibility of a snow storm (Sound familiar?). My brother and his wife were leaving town Saturday morning and I had no plans for the rest of the weekend.

I was determined to have a good time. So I scoured the New York Times for things to do. When I saw that BeauSoleil was playing at Tramps (which closed in 2001) that night, I knew where I was going. I even took a tape with "Zydeco Swing" on it, in case I got to speak to the band. I hoped I would get a chance to dance, but knew that I would enjoy the music.  What I did not know was that I would not only get to dance, but would meet my life partner, Jerry, that night. A friend of his, who DJ's a music program on Long Island, even gave my tape to BeauSoleil when he interviewed the band during their break. Jerry and I have been together ever since that night. If I had not gone to that concert, we would never have met!

Today's song for the soul is dedicated to Jerry and to finding love on the day after Valentine's Day or any day of the year!