By Scott Coner
Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author
I take writing seriously. It doesn’t matter if it’s a song or a blog, a short story or a full length project. I usually crawl inside of whatever it is and look around for a while. I have a room that’s attached to my studio that is like stepping back in time. It’s a quiet place with warm lighting and a stereo and lots of vinyl. I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like, but it’s nice to know that it’s waiting on me when I get the chance. I suppose you could call it a “man-cave,” but not the kind you would expect. There are no televisions and pool tables. Instead, there is a piano, a couch, and a stereo. The walls are full of things from my childhood as well as some great articles from my wife’s young life. This room allows me to relax and write.
I think a lot of folks live in the moment. People don’t look back over their shoulders often. I don’t live in the past either, but it seems like many of the characters or stories that I write about are set in a season that has long since passed. This process has been going on for years with me. It began when I was still very young and has continued along. I don’t think I would change my approach even if I could. I am a child of the 70’s. I identify with the music, the movies, and the styles from that decade.
I take writing seriously. It doesn’t matter if it’s a song or a blog, a short story or a full length project. I usually crawl inside of whatever it is and look around for a while. I have a room that’s attached to my studio that is like stepping back in time. It’s a quiet place with warm lighting and a stereo and lots of vinyl. I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like, but it’s nice to know that it’s waiting on me when I get the chance. I suppose you could call it a “man-cave,” but not the kind you would expect. There are no televisions and pool tables. Instead, there is a piano, a couch, and a stereo. The walls are full of things from my childhood as well as some great articles from my wife’s young life. This room allows me to relax and write.
I think a lot of folks live in the moment. People don’t look back over their shoulders often. I don’t live in the past either, but it seems like many of the characters or stories that I write about are set in a season that has long since passed. This process has been going on for years with me. It began when I was still very young and has continued along. I don’t think I would change my approach even if I could. I am a child of the 70’s. I identify with the music, the movies, and the styles from that decade.
A while back, I ran across a photo of a “Charlie Brown/Peanuts” pillowcase on Pinterest. The picture immediately took me back to my eight -year-old self. I remember how my mom had painstakingly decorated my room with “Peanuts” characters. My walls were blue. My bedspread was red. My sheets and pillows were from a 1971 print from the Charles M. Shultz characters. I loved my little room. I liked how it always seemed happy in there. I shared the Pinterest photo with my mom and niece at our most recent Thanksgiving dinner, and I figured our little step back in time was over. But, the other night my niece and nephew came over to visit. They gave me a Christmas package, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened it. Inside the little package was an honest to goodness “Peanuts Gang” pillowcase straight out of the 1971 line-up! It was special to hold part of my childhood in my hands. But it was far more special to know that Alisha and Josh Coner cared enough to do something so special for me.
Last night my wife must have been overjoyed to see her husband’s new pillowcase on her beautiful bed when she walked into the master bedroom. But that is where it will stay. Yes, we are fancy that way. She has made our home beautiful for our family just like my mom did all of those years ago. Everything in our house has Cyndi’s special touch. Everything seems to flow and compliment. But you know, some things match up in different ways. (My pillowcase for instance.) You wouldn’t notice, but it’s a marker from my past. In a glance, this happy artwork from 1971 takes me to an innocent time. It was a time when my parents were still young. I was just a little boy. And the world seemed like a pretty big and wonderful place.
Scott Coner's pillowcase
Now, all these years later, we’re all still here. We are all older now, but that’s ok too. I realize how special my family is. I know how we got to where we are at in this very moment. I see that everything happens for a reason and I’m very glad for that. These days, I still listen to quite a bit of 70’s classic rock. I still wear Levi’s jeans like I always have. And I still watch “Charlie Brown” cartoons every holiday. I lay there on my new pillowcase last night and dreamed and planned for the future just like I did when I was a kid. There alone in the darkness I had an epiphany!
Next year, I’m going to show everyone at Thanksgiving a picture of the Starsky and Hutch car on Pinterest…Good grief.
Keep in touch!
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.
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