Bledsoe: McCarver goes for real life in his country

Cody McCarver’s song “Through God’s Eyes” hits closer to home than he’d like.

Cody McCarver’s song “Through God’s Eyes” hits closer to home than he’d like.

The contrasts in country performer Cody McCarver can be seen in the difference between two songs - "White Trash With Money" and "Through God's Eyes." The first is a light-hearted take on a country star moving into a snobby neighborhood. The other addresses the difference between the human and the divine outlook on a homeless man and a man serving life in prison.

"Every word of that song is true," says McCarver.

The inspiration for the latter song came when McCarver's daughter asked him why a man in their hometown, Dunlap, Tenn., picked up cans from the highway and he tried to explain it. But when he began writing the song, he included someone much closer to his heart. The character in prison is Bill McCarver, Cody's father.

"I had always run with a rough crowd, but I had never seen my dad even have a beer," says Cody.

On Aug. 14, 1996, Cody was home in Dunlap preparing to celebrate his birthday. His father, still recovering from heart surgery seven weeks earlier, was trying to work through the fact that his wife, Cody's mother, was having an affair.

"Dad ran into the guy my mom was having an affair with and he shot and killed him," says Cody. "Then he went to the jail and turned himself in."

On Jan. 24, 1998, Bill McCarver was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole until 2056.

For Cody, the situation inspired more than a song.

One day when McCarver was visiting his father at Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility in Pikeville, he started looking around:

"I was thinking, "This is bad. This is hard. But if it's hard for me, and I'm an adult, how hard is it for that 5-year-old girl or that 11-year-old boy over there?"

McCarver began looking for groups that offered support for the children of parents in prison.

"I found a statistic that 70 percent of the children with parents in prison would go to prison, too, and I wanted to help change that," says McCarver.

To that end, McCarver began promoting and doing work for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Amachi program, which finds mentors for children of prisoners.

McCarver understands enough about the shades of gray in life to relate them to children and his concert audiences. He began playing piano in church in Dunlap and performing with various bar bands. At the age of 20, he became the keyboard player for country star Lynn Anderson ("I Never Promised You a Rose Garden").

"Those people who call themselves 'outlaws,' don't know outlaw," says McCarver. "Lynn's mornings started with a screwdriver and her nights ended it with Jack Daniels. She was great. I had a blast."

After a tenure with Anderson, McCarver landed a deal with Giant Records. An album, which included a duet with McCarver and Johnny Paycheck (one of the Paycheck's last recordings before he died) ,was caught up in the politics of the record company's dissolution and was never released.

When McCarver was offered the steady gig of playing keyboards for Confederate Railroad he took the gig, letting the group know he planned to resume his solo career.

McCarver says some have acused him of stealing the title of his new single "White Trash With Money" from the title of a Toby Keith album. However, the song actually premiered on a Confederate Railroad's 2001 album, "Unleashed." Ironically, Keith's 2002 album was titled "Unleashed" as well.

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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