Valerie Smith has released a music video for The Moon Ain’t Square, a track she sings on the new Daughters of Bluegrass CD, Pickin’ Like A Girl.
It’s a silly song and a funny video, but Valerie tells us it was hard won, arising from an unusually difficult time in her life.
She said that she had been having a terrible day on the road, wasn’t feeling well, and it seemed like no one was happy with anything she was doing.
“I called my family from the hotel room to gather their advice and thoughts about my unfortunate situation. I knew they would be truthful, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It ended up being a really life-changing moment.
Well, my father gave me a moment to tell my story, and I asked him if I had lost all common sense? He then instructed me to look out the window, asked me, ‘What shape is the moon?’ I answered, ‘Round,’ and he went on to say, ‘as long as you know the moon is round, you haven’t lost your mind; if everyone told you it was square, would you believe it?’
Of course, when he put it that way, I understood what I needed to do… believe in myself to make practical, logical decisions that some may not agree with.
I flew home to gain perspective, but my father’s advice stayed in my mind during the long journey.
I have always believed in making bad experiences into good ones. I thought about making this into a song, and felt like it deserved special treatment. Tom T. and Dixie Hall were perfect! I needed their knowledge, wit, humor and insight to be able to create this song that could have such a strong message using simple words.
I arrived at Blue Circle Records and shared my misfortune with Dixie and Tom T. Hall. It was like magic! Tom T. began playing the guitar and thinking of my story and started singing the song. It was like watching a olympic song gold medalist! Writing this song taught me a valuable lesson of independence and learning to think for yourself.
This song ended up being a group writing effort. Tom T Hall and Dixie included my dad, David Stevens (who is beyond himself!) and they also included me (although I felt that I learned a lot more than I wrote!).
The video was my attempt to draw a fun message to the listeners. It was shot in one day in Bell Buckle, TN, and it was a lot of fun to do!”
