I realize quite a few people subscribed to the MoaT during the Allen Stone Electric Ensemble Fall Tour Extravaganza, and my referencing a “walking Buddha masquerading as a toothless, hillbilly sociopath” raised some eyebrows.

Long time readers know all about my Nashville neighbor, Big Country. Feel free to scroll through the MoaT archives and check out the “Ballad of Big Country” posts - I wish the exchanges were made up, but BC really is that much of a maniac, and incongruously wise.

When it’s all said and done, I’ll have been away from home for about four months, and Big Country will greet me the same way he always does, whether I’ve just returned from a world tour or grabbing a bag of Doritos - where the hell’ve you been? He’ll follow this with a belly laugh that hurls particulates of chewing tobacco in a physics-defying number of directions, then, in an Eastern Tennessee accent as thick as his weedy, un-mowed lawn, give the assurance that if I need anything, just ask, and he’ll take care of it. Jesus Christ.

That I’m missing a probable criminal and indisputable wack job means it’s time to go home. Time to release music, make the rounds, and see what the new year has on offer.