Hey Daddy, can you make me an album?
Good morning, friends! Tennessean storytelling columnist Brad Schmitt here.
My good news of the week: My teen foster son actually unloaded the dishwasher without being asked! 🎉 (I suggested this once-in-a-lifetime event be put on the front page of The Tennessean, but my editors demurred. 🤷♂️)
Anyway, a salute to my fellow dads out there. To honor fathers, here are stories about three extraordinary ones.
Music producer makes his little boy an album of faves
Nashville music producer Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Lake Street Dive) loves making music. And he loves his kids.
Dan found a cool way to combine those loves. His latest album is "Friends Play My Son's Favorite Songs."
The project started when Dan had one of his artist friends, folk singer/songwriter Erin Rae, record a cover of "What a Wonderful World" — which just so happens to be a fave of his older child, Willoughby, 4.
When the boy heard Erin Rae's version, he loved it.
"He was really interested that Dad made a version of a song he knew and this human being he knows sang a version of it," Dan told me.
So Dan, 33, kept going, asking his friends — including his father-in-law, country/Americana stalwart Rodney Crowell — to record more of Willoughby's faves.
"I thought, oh, this can help him understand what I do for work," Dan said. "I genuinely think it's a project for both of us. It was fun and satisfying for me to make."
Willoughby's favorite song on the album is, of course, his "Papa" (Rodney Crowell), singing "Route 66."
Three of the album's 11 cuts already are streaming online if you wanna check them out.
Paying it forward for other dads
He never had a relationship with his dad growing up in Nashville public housing. Just hit him up for a dollar for chips and sodas when the boy saw his father around the neighborhood.
Thomas Gooch grew up and started selling and using drugs — and having four children of his own.
But he didn't see them very much. In 15 years, Gooch racked up seven felonies, in and out of prison and jail, never spending more than a few months at home at a time.
He eventually went to Nashville's felony drug court program and got clean. And Thomas has stayed clean since.
He also has reconnected with his kids and had some more, loving on them, raising them and being present in their lives.
Now, Gooch operates a sober living place called My Father's House in Bordeaux, where he helps men get and stay clean, find jobs — and, yes, become better parents.
"I believe God can do anything," he told me, "and that's allowed me to believe the best is yet to come."
We'll have a full feature on Thomas on Sept. 1 to help launch National Recovery Month.
He didn't have to be
Ever hear that Brad Paisley song "He Didn't Have to Be"? It's a salute to an awesome step dad.
That song kept running through my head when I heard about Williamson County math teacher Andy Fleenor.
He has been married to a Williamson County Schools administrator, Julie Oyer, for 10 years, though, funny thing, they didn't meet at work — the two first met 2,000 miles away at an education conference in California.
Within the past few years, Julie's brother and sister-in-law died a year apart, leaving the couples' two young daughters without parents.
Andy agreed to have the girls live with him and his wife with no hesitation.
"They need adults in their lives. They need love," Andy said, "and we need to honor their parents.
"It sucks to be in this position that I have to do this at all. It sucks that the girls have to be in this situation. Living their whole life without parents? That sucks," he said.
"But the fact that I was able to, that we were able to do it, really is great."
Tell Me Something Good
Did you experience something amazing, fun or hilarious this week? Wanna share it with me and hundreds of good-news lovers in Middle Tennessee? Please do! Email me at brad@tennessean.com.
► Friends jump in when her car dies
"My 2000 Honda Civic finally went kaput. While I am looking for a new one, I have generous friends who are loaning me a car, and others who have offered the same. It takes a village, and I am grateful for mine."
— Brooke Wanser, 28, Belmont law school student
► Line dancing, big smiles, important celebration
"Recently, I was invited to attend the Sneaker Ball for Watson Grove Baptist Church. They celebrated 133 years of struggle and triumph here in Nashville while celebrating the amazing leadership of their pastor, the Rev. Dr. John Faison Sr. Line dancing, joyful smiles and strong hugs from the elders made for one of my favorite moments of the week, if not the whole summer."
— Dr. Maya M. Buggs, 40, education agency director
► Connecting with a customer on a deeper level
"This week I had a beautiful woman walk into our store who had been unable to shop for the past year because she has been battling an illness. Being able to take time to listen, talk with her, and both of us feel encouraged at the end of our visit — knowing that we are cheering each other on as women in all our seasons of life — was such a good thing! 💕"
— Kimberley Mitchell, 48, fashion stylist, Franklin
Yo, HMU!
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hey Daddy, can you make me an album?
