C l a r e n c e   W o l f s h o h l

The Real Reason for Country Music 

“And they always give us bigger pyrotechnics on stage.” 

 --The Perrys about the American Country Music Awards 

I had a nightmare: 

Hank Williams with heavy 

eye liner swinging on a rope 

across the Ryman stage, 

bottle rockets sizzling 

into the curtains, and 

a million barrooms filled 

with silence.