Another Conversation with Beverly Gosdin

                                                                                  By Scott Coner

                                                                            Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author            

   It must have been a hard hit for Beverly to walk away from being the wife of Vern Gosdin. From where most of us stand, it would appear that she had everything. She was married to one of the most beloved country music singers of the time. She traveled with Vern; she sang backing vocals for Vern, and in many ways, she was his manager. There was a very deep problem in their marriage, though, and she had reached the point where she could no longer stay in such an environment. I am going to leave this part of the story on the table for Beverly to tell in her upcoming book, though. Today, we are going to go in a bit of a different direction…

(Beverly and her parents)

     It was a brisk morning as she got out of bed in the darkness and grabbed her first cup of coffee. The house was silent, but she could sense there was a heavy frost outside. She felt miles and miles away from her former life. All was calm here. It was a new day, and she was at least an hour ahead of any resemblance of sunlight. She parked her truck at the edge of the woods and quietly stepped into a world of natural beauty far away from the wear and tear of the city. After about thirty minutes of walking through darkness, she arrived at her deer blind. This blind was special and close to her heart. Her brother and his best friend had designed this blind. It opened up like a large umbrella, and the sides dropped down like curtain walls. It gave the hunter room to move around and also to have more than one direction to monitor for deer or other game. “ I threw myself into hunting after being given the opportunity to promote my brothers “Pop Top Hunting Blind.” I know it seems odd to most folks, but I had grown up around hunting, and it seemed like a natural transition to me.” Beverly told me that around that time, she just wanted to be as far away from her old world as she could be. She said that being in the woods and being surrounded by the people that loved the outdoors and hunting gave her the opportunity she needed to breath and allowed herself to finally begin the healing process.

     Honestly, I was surprised when Beverly told me what she did to work through her divorce. In today’s world, everything that a couple has is cut pretty much right down the middle like a big slice of pie. “When I left, I walked out with the clothes on my back and a few of the clothes out of my closet and that was it. I didn’t want any of the things we had shared. I didn’t want a house or a car, and I didn’t want any money. I just wanted to be gone.” Beverly told me that her life began to slowly make sense while she was alone in those woods. The cool, crisp air and the quiet seemed to give her a chance to finally understand who she really was and not who she had allowed herself to become. “I began doing shows around the country demonstrating the hunting blind. I only wore RealTree camouflage in those days. Other outfits like Mossy Oak tried to give me endorsements, but I was a Realtree gal. I loved shooting guns as well as a bow. But I suppose I was partial to an open sight 30/30. I also had a 243 and a muzzleloader.” Beverly has much more to say about these days as well as others. She and I have talked privately, and I am of the opinion that most of her stories need to be saved for her book that comes out in the spring.

(Beverly on the cover of her ex husband's album)

     We are all different. We process pain and loss differently. I find that talking to Beverly Gosdin gives me hope in my own future. She has seen hard days and just kept going on. She didn’t let bumps in the road send her too far into the weeds. By being the wife of Vern Gosdin, I suppose she saw many of the finer things of the time. But she was smart enough to know that it took more than just “things” to make a home. She understood that if she stayed, she would never find true peace. She stepped out on her own and walked away from the sparkle and the glitz of Nashville. Her next stop would be a deer blind in the middle of the woods drinking hot coffee waiting on a buck. (Sounds to me like she would have been better suited for Hank Jr.)

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Scott Coner is a country singer-songwriter who has worked in the studio with legendary artists such as Tanya Tucker, T. Graham Brown and Charlie Daniels. You can learn more about him and hear his music at his music page.