Celebrating Father’s Day with some awesome dads

BY CLAIRE LYNCH

Father’s Day is on June 18 and it is a great day to thank all those dads out there for their love, support and guidance. One father I think of is country music singer and songwriter John Rich who is one half of the top country duo Big & Rich.

Rich knows all about being a dad. He dated his future wife, Joan, for five years before they got married in December 2008. The former Joan Bush was a model who ran a Houston modeling agency. Together they have three sons, Cash was born in 2010, Colt was born in 2011 and Luca, born in 2014. John Rich has said that he named his first son after singer Johnny Cash, someone he admired and whose music influenced him as a musician.

A Texas native, John Daniel Rich was born in Amarillo on January 7, 1974. His father, Jim, was a Baptist preacher, “the fire and brimstone kinda guy,” according to John Rich, and his mother, Judy, was a homemaker. He has two sisters, Joy and Jamie Rich. The family moved to Tennessee, where his mother grew up, and Rich graduated from Dickson County Senior High School in Dickson, Tenn., in 1992. As a boy Rich played gospel music in church and his father encouraged his musical ability.

Rich moved to Nashville where he worked as a singer at Opryland USA. He wanted to be a professional team roper in rodeos but that was not to be. While in Nashville in 1992 Rich joined a country music group called “Texasee” that was later renamed Lonestar, a group that became the multi-platinum selling country act. Rich was the bass guitarist and the co-lead singer.

One of the band’s singles, “Heartbroke Every Day,” featured John Rich’s lead vocals. Rich also co-wrote two of the band’s singles: “Come Cryin’ to Me” and “Say When,” the former being a #1 single for the group. In January 1998, Rich left Lonestar and became a solo artist with BNA Records.

In 2002 Rich partnered with “Big Kenny” Alphin to form Big & Rich, a ground-breaking country duo. They released three studio albums over six years getting 10 Top 40 singles. “Lost in This Moment” in 2007 became a #1 hit. Rich is also a three-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, writing over 14 Top Ten hits for artists.

John Rich’s first example of what a father is came about one Christmas when his father wrapped up the wellworn acoustic guitar he had used, put it in a big box with a bow on top and gave it to John as a gift. Rich was six years old but when he was five, Jim Rich was preaching and playing gospel music on his acoustic guitar and the dad handed his son a plastic toy guitar so he could be a part of the group.

Within months Jim Rich realized that young John was playing really well. In fact, Jim Rich reported John was playing everything he played. He had a real knack for music and Jim realized that John would end up being a much better guitar playing than he was. It was John’s innate talent that stood out to Jim Rich.

That Christmas gift made a lasting impression on John. He had seen his dad playing that guitar all his life so when Jim gave it to John, it meant a lot. John said it changed the direction of his life - just a few years later he started his major-label career with that guitar. John Rich has often said publicly why his father’s actions impacted him so much and these days how he can influence his own three children.

A celebrity for several years now, Rich has said he has always played country music because he loves it. The way he explains it is, “If you took everything that I’ve accumulated away from me, you’d still find me in a country bar somewhere, singing for tips with a guitar until two o’clock in the morning.”

About the creative process of songwriting, Rich has said, “There’s a lot of different ways to approach songwriting depending on the job at hand. When I’m writing with and for another artist, I go into their mind and their world voyeuristically into what they’re trying to do, and I try to add to it. If I’m writing for myself, then it’s coming straight out of your chest. I think that any professional writer will tell you that they pull from different palettes depending on what the job is at hand.”

On the subject of fatherhood Rich has said, “Being a dad is the most important thing I’ll ever be. I’ve done a lot of big things in my life, but they all pale in comparison to being a father. I take more pride in watching my sons hit a tee-ball than I do singing for a sold-out crowd.”

Other celebrities have talked about what being a dad means - and about what their father meant to them:

Singer/songwriter George Strait, Sr. has said about his son, George Strait Jr. and daughter, Jenifer Strait: “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then, it’s a love without end.”

Baseball player Harmon Killebrew said: “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass.’ ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys.’”

Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said about his daughter, Ava: “I realized being a father is the greatest job I have ever had and the greatest job I will ever have.”

Novelist Umberto Eco said about his son, Stefano, and daughter, Carlotta: “I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”

I wish all the dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day!