Photo: Courtesy of the Tony Joe White estate

I am always intrigued when I meet musicians and artists. They almost always have a story about picking up a guitar or sitting down at a piano at an early age, and just knowing that was what they wanted to do. For me, it was the opposite. Growing up, everyone constantly asked me, "Are you going to be a singer and play guitar like your dad?" And my answer was always the same: no. Even though I thought it was cool, it just didn't resonate. We had a house full of classic Stratocasters, vintage Wurlitzers and recording gear, but I just wasn't interested.

Honestly, I didn’t want anything to do with the music business, much less be a musician. After being around it my entire life, seeing the ups and downs, I wanted something more “stable”. After working for the Tennessee Oilers (now Titans) just out of college, I learned that “stable” was long hours at minimum wage and no room for creativity. So when TJW came and asked me to work for him, I jumped at the opportunity.

People often asked me: “What was it like managing your dad?” My quick response is usually, that everything was “twice as gratifying and twice as stressful.” Being out on the road with rigorous travel, tight schedules, and worrying about technical issues on stage can wear you out mentally. However, giving your dad a hug as he comes off stage after a badass encore in Amsterdam is truly an amazing feeling. 

The other question I get the most is, “How did you start managing him?” This is actually a little more complicated. 

Really it all started while I was in college at the University of Tennessee during the mid-1990’s. Life was good on Rocky Top. We were winning football games with Peyton Manning as our quarterback and I was living my best life. A fraternity brother of mine had a Rolling Stone book about the history of Rock n’ Roll and was flipping through it one day. In this book was a photo of my dad, on-stage during a show in the 1970s. The next thing you know, he was playing a band party at the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house in Knoxville, TN.

This was a long way from playing with Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker in Germany, as he did the week before, but he was excited for the opportunity. It was a crisp fall night, UT had just lost a tough game to the University of Alabama. and we were ready to let loose. We all sat in amazement as a real life tour bus pulled into the parking lot. I boarded the bus with a few friends, and we gladly indulged in the Herredura tequila my dad had brought for the trip.

Nobody knew what to expect. My dad and his band were in their 50’s, and we were mostly accustomed to having 80’s cover bands play at the house, but Dad absolutely destroyed it! He jammed on “Polk Salad Annie” and “Even Trolls Love Rock n Roll” till we hit curfew and maybe a little bit past. It was the best band party ever! Every year after that, we would book my dad to come play after the biggest home football game of the year. That was the start of us working together, throwing parties.

Fast forward 30 years. My dad is no longer here, but his music is still going strong. It feels like every day I uncover a new song, video clip or story about his life that I didn’t know before. He accomplished so much without having to tell anybody about it. I am thankful to have the opportunity to share these treasures with the world, but none of this would be happening had I chosen to be a musician.

The deluxe edition of The Real Thang re-issue, featuring long lost tapes, releases December 12.