Lawrence County Seat
4. Lawrence County Seat:
My friend Connie Leigh (Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On, Doyle Lawson) and I started writing on this song right before Christmas in 2009. Connie had a really good start on the 1st verse and part of a chorus. Together, we wrote the 2nd verse and the back half of the chorus and called it a day.
We never got together again to finish the song.
In April or May of 2017, I was getting stuff together for this CD. As it just so happened, my Sister Miranda had gotten a couple of the original church pews from the old Cordell Freewill Baptist Church at Blaine, KY.
She had them refinished, kept one for herself, and gave the other to me.
They are beautiful antiques of a bygone era.
Now, I’d like to tell you that Sis giving me the old pew is what led me to look at the lyric again, but I can’t say that for certain.
What I do know is for some reason, while compiling the song list for this CD…. something told me, look at the church pew thing. I’m a night owl, so after Wanda was asleep one night,
I opened the file… I remembered the melody…wait…. I’ve got a little piece of something. The next thing I knew, it was well after midnight—but I was really into the song. I was not going to let it go. I got what I thought were the last two verses but something still wasn’t right…. Does it need a bridge? I need to start thinking about getting in the bed…. but…. not… yet. Around 2:30-3:00 AM, I got the bridge to a place that I thought it might be finished, though I wasn’t sure if Connie would like it.
Connie and I don’t see much of each other these days, but we are friends on Facebook. So the next day, I sent her all I had worked on the night before. She really liked it and so with her blessing, Mike Bub and I made a chart for it and the finished product is what you hear.
I didn’t think the song title should be ‘Old Church Pew,” since that gives the hook away right off the bat. I had some other alternative titles in mind among them: ‘The Retirement Song’ or maybe, ‘I Saw It All.’ One night at the Station Inn my friend and great songwriter Craig Martin [Don’t Take The Girl, Tim McGraw] had come to see the ‘New Monday’ band perform. At my wife Wanda’s urging, I played my new song for him, explaining my title dilemma. Craig, knowing I was from Lawrence County, KY, and knowing it was about a church pew, suggested I call it Lawrence County Seat. I loved it! So Craig gets credit for naming the song. Thanks, old friend for giving me the title. And now you know—as Paul Harvey used to say—“the rest of the story.”
I thank God Almighty for giving me the words when I’m stuck. Connie and I (and she would tell you the same thing) would not have gotten this song without His guiding hand. He deserves all the credit, for bringing Connie Leigh and I together and giving us this song.