Full Circle

by Blair Lovern

Deryl Dodd has been down just about every road in life, and he sings about it with his newest release.

A few months ago, when life was good again for Deryl Dodd, someone or some people stole most everything in his and his band's musical life. A trailer full of equipment, instruments and merchandise was swiped in the middle of the night in Fort Worth.

It wasn't that long ago when Dodd's backside had more or less felt Nashville's boot out the door, after he had moved there from Texas and made a name for himself. And it's only been a few years since he had been stuck in bed for six months, at first unable to even comb his hair, recovering from viral encephalitis.

But a move back to Fort Worth and a full recovery from the illness had rejuvenated him. Then everything he and the Homesick Cowboys owned, right down to the bag that kept the drum sticks, was ripped off.

Dodd says events like that are a test of one's character and strength.

"They took everything from us," he said of the robbery. "We never got anything back. But we had such an outpouring of love from and family and friends - people who put on benefit shows to raise money basically for me to get my guys' equipment back. I mean, I had two old Gibson guitars, PA equipment - you know, things that meant something to me that were just gone.

"But I tell you what: I honestly forget about the whole idea of getting ripped off, and I think about who has helped us out since. It really just establishes your faith and hope in people, because the world can be so negative sometimes. You see this kind of thing on the news, which can be so negative. And then here we have all these people, they were popping up everywhere to help out. I felt overwhelmed and blessed that they were doing this. I mean I thought, people are raising money for us?"

For the past several months, it's been impossible to see a Deryl Dodd show on the TexasGigs calendar without "benefit" surfacing in the description. Music stores tossed in discounts, fans, friends and family did what they could to help.

"I had to turn some of it down," Dodd said. "I thought it was too much. But it was very humbling, I just couldn't believe it."

He and the Homesick Cowboys now have new stuff. (No one knows where the old stuff is, or who took it.) And they have a new CD called Full Circle, which was released this week. The CD's title means a lot to Dodd, he said.

"When we give to someone else, it's really like giving to ourselves because eventually it comes back around. That full circle thing, man, it really works. It's real. It's like seeing things through different eyes. You have the physical world but there's also a spiritual world, and you may not see it happen but there are things at work that can help you out."

Dodd's grandfathers on his mother's and father's side were pastors. He grew up in a musical family and often performed in church. As a kid he was scared to sing but he liked to play an instrument.

"I still probably get that way at times," he said. "It's kind of strange, everyone's watching you onstage. The light's right there on you. You've got to go."

The new CD is full of story songs that describe where he is in his life right now. At age 42, he said,"I've come full circle in my life. I've been down every road you can go down, I've had great fun and success, made it in the music business big time in a way. But other things beside music now are more important in me. I think the CD is about letting go in a way. I let my producer guide these songs for me, and in a spiritual way I've allowed a much greater and bigger power than me guide me.

"I've made a mess of things in my life, I guess we all do when we're younger. And I've always known the right way to head in life but I was too thickheaded to go there. It's a learning process that's for sure. You can get really caught up in what you're doing, whether it's music or whatever else, and people say you're getting a little to far over here, you don't want to get way over here. Life's over here, you've got to get back to the main road somehow."

Dodd said he began to take music seriously as sophomore in high school. In college friends would force him to the stage on open mic nights, and that's when he really got bit by the bug. After Baylor University his musical career took off fast. In 1991 he and a buddy from school, Brett Beavers (who is producer of Full Circle), moved to Nashville and played their way into Martina McBride's band, with Dodd on guitar and Beavers on bass, and they toured the world. Dodd also played in Tracy Lawrence's band, sang backup for other stars and embarked on a solo career. But by 1998, Dodd had gradually found out that Nashville wasn't the place for him and he wasn't what that town was looking for. That's also when he was struck with encephalitis. (He gives an awful account of the start of that virus here.)

"Basically, I wouldn't say I was run out of Nashville, but didn't get my feet real solid in the industry because I wanted to do my own thing. I was always very stubborn. I was in a band and played their kind of music, but when I got signed on my own and started playing my songs, I played them for me, not anyone else. The sounds were more personal."

Dodd said when he recorded a Tom T. Hall song, "That's How I Got To Memphis," for his 1996 release One Ride in Vegas, the Sony label about had a conniption.

"It wasn't a wrong move," Dodd said. "It was a song I grew up with. But the label rejected me early on. They said I sounded too Texas, too country or that I sounded too personal. But what I did realize is that the songs that did get out to radio were played a lot. The label said, 'We need to keep a lid on this. It's not what everyone else is doing.' Well, I don't want to be doing what everyone else is doing. I want to be real.

"With my songs I hope my experience can be used to inspire other people to make a different decision, if they're on the wrong path. We all make some doozies when we're young, don't we? I mean, there's no testimony without a test. I enjoy it when younger people come up to me asking my advice. I'm definitely not the expert on things. But I just want people to know that no matter what takes place in your life, don't lose yourself."