It was 1982, and I was just a three-year-old. My father owned a car repair shop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, not far from where I grew up in Sevierville. My very first life memory is listening to Alabama's "Mountain Music" on an eight-track as he drove me to preschool in his big white wrecker with Bill Watts Body Shop emblazoned on the side. Back then, in the early 80s, "The Dukes of Hazzard" was all the rage. The exact time it took to drive from our house to the bridge with the little dip was precisely the same as the time it took Alabama's Randy Owen to reach the end of "Mountain Music", where he would yell "yee-haw", just like Bo and Luke Duke in their car, the General Lee. So, when my dad's white wrecker flew over that little dip, we would all yell "yee-haw" too.

My Dad Taught Me I Can Do Anything

My dad had a deep love for country music, along with The Beach Boys and The Hollies. A native of Sevierville, he rode the school bus with Dolly Parton. He lived in a small two-bedroom house that was filled with the smell of cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes, and it had more garage bays than living space. His garage radio was hotwired to the light switch, so as soon as you flipped the lights on, WIVK, the Knoxville country station, would start playing. He would walk through our Tennessee mountain home, singing the wrong words to country songs.My dad made me believe that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. He took me to do all the things I wanted to do. My first concert was The Oak Ridge Boys, and Alabama was my second. After that, I was hooked. I mean, by the age of 8, I was completely obsessed. I wrote fan letters to Owen and received an autographed picture in the mail, which I hung over my bed.I grew up so close to Dollywood that when the train whistle blew in the morning, it would wake me up. In the 90s, the park hosted contemporary country artists in its DP Celebrity Theater. I saved my birthday and Christmas money until concert tickets went on sale. Then, I would take the morning off school and stand in line to buy tickets for my favorite artists - Exile, Sawyer Brown, and Restless Heart. (I've always had a thing for bands.)

My Parents and My Band Broke Up The Same Year

Exile was another significant turning point in my life. The members were so kind to me, a random little kid. They made me feel like they cared about me, so I cared about them. I called the local radio station WDLY every day for years to request Exile songs. When Exile celebrated 30 years as a band in 1993 at the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, my mom took me to the show and the family-friendly after-party. During the event, the lead singer's wife, Jamie Allen Martin, told me about the Recording Industry program at MTSU and Professor Beverly Keel. She said that when I graduated from high school, in more than four years, I should go to MTSU, major in Recording Industry, find Professor Keel, and tell her that Allen sent me. And that's exactly what I did - and that's why I'm here today.Within months of that show, my parents told me that they were getting divorced. I also received a note from the fan club saying that Exile was splitting up. (Exile is now back together and touring and recording music.) I was devastated by both events. My dad bought me an electric guitar and got me guitar lessons. The first songs I learned were "Mountain Music" and Exile's "She's a Miracle". When Exile announced their final show eight hours from home in Owensboro, Kentucky, Dad took me. And when their bass player Sonny LeMaire played a songwriters' night at Douglas Corner Café in Nashville, Dad drove me four hours to that. He did it because he knew how much it meant to me. Dad would always say, "That's my job! I'm your dad!"It was my first of what must have been hundreds of songwriters' nights.

At 21, I Started Interviewing My Heroes

After I was old enough to go to shows alone, I don't think my dad ever went with me again.A few years later, I went to MTSU and majored in Recording Industry. I accidentally got my first writing job. The university required me to take journalism classes, and when the local paper reached out to my journalism teacher and said they needed to hire someone, he recommended me. Until then, I didn't even know I could write. I walked into The Daily News Journal, and they asked me, "What do you like?" When I said music, they told me to "write about that." I made $6 an hour, but I was so proud. And my dad was proud of me too.My first story was about Tom Wopat from "The Dukes of Hazzard", who was starring locally in "Annie Get Your Gun". My next story was about Sawyer Brown being nominated for an award for their song "800 Pound Jesus". At 21, I was interviewing my heroes - and I never stopped.Seven years later, country singer Chris Young took me to meet Alabama's Randy Owen on the set of Nashville Star. He told me not to embarrass him. When I stood face-to-face with Owen, I burst into tears.

When Dolly Parton Kicked Me

I went from working at Murfreesboro's Daily News Journal to Nashville's Tennessean and USA Today. Then, I progressed to People, CMT, and American Songwriter. I've worked with almost everyone in country music over the years. One way or another, nearly all of them heard about my dad. I was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry once with Dolly Parton. She asked me if I liked her set. When I told her that "Tennessee Mountain Home" made me cry, she nudged me with her foot and said that had nothing to do with her. She said the song just reminded me of my daddy. She was probably right.Dad preferred to be at home in the Smoky Mountains. He would occasionally come to Nashville, but not often. Sometimes, he would help me with work from Sevierville. When the CMA Awards revealed nominations on television shows that aired first on the East Coast, and I was in a different time zone, I would call Dad, and he would lay his phone on the TV so I could hear them before anyone else in my time zone. He would always say, "I'm your dad! That's my job!"I can't remember how many stories I wrote from his couch or the number of celebrities I interviewed from his back deck while trying to find cell reception in the holler.Dad just wanted me to be happy and be able to support myself and my kids. He didn't care who I talked to or how close I got to fame. He was the most even-tempered person I ever met. But when I needed health insurance last year and one of the artists I had written about over the years helped me get it, Dad said, "Out of sight." That was quite a compliment.

"That's My Job"

I got the news that he had unexpectedly passed away as I was getting ready for the CMA Awards. Two cousins drove up from Sevierville to get me because they thought I couldn't make the trip alone.I went home in a daze and made the arrangements for Dad. He didn't want a funeral, but we had a graveside service. I posted about his passing on my Facebook page, but other than that, we kept it relatively quiet, just as Dad had wanted. When we arrived at the graveyard, there were dozens of people and a few flower arrangements. I didn't pay much attention. I just focused on holding myself together for my kids.My 12-year-old son was on one side of me, and my 15-year-old daughter was on the other. My cousin, David Henry, did an excellent job speaking before Dad was laid to rest in the family cemetery, recounting Dad's common phrases, "That's my job" and "That's life."When it was over, David said, "I always listened to his music on the radio, but I didn't expect him to send flowers to your dad's funeral."I hadn't looked and had no idea what or who David was talking about. I went to look at Dad's flowers, and more than half of them were from artists I worked with. Dad had never met them, but they knew me and how much I loved my dad.One of the cards - the one from the man who helped me get health insurance - said: "Honoring dads and heroes."

Honoring Dads and Heroes

Losing Dad is the hardest thing my kids and I have had to endure. But through teaching me about country music, he prepared me for life - and for losing him. He led me to these songs - and a community - that would carry me in his absence.I didn't realize until now that even "That's my job" is a country music quote. Gary Burr wrote "That's My Job" for Conway Twitty. The song is first a dad singing to his child.The lyrics include: That's my job, that's what I do| Everything I do is because of you| To keep you safe with me| That's my job, you seeThen the adult child says to his dad: I make my livin' with words and rhymes and all this tragedy| Should go into my head and out instead as bits of poetry| But I say, "Daddy I'm so afraid| How will I go on with you gone this way?I'll search for that answer for the rest of my life.(Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)