Keep the Wolves Away.

A prelude to Music Mondays.

I plan to start doing a Music Mondays! Has a nice ring to it, right? Probably stole it from someone subconsciously. Sorry friend.

I will be finding and posting music that I enjoy or has had some kind of impact on me. Or even impacts on those I love. We will see what Mondays bring.

In 2018, the band announced they were parting ways. In July of 2018, their song "Keep the Wolves Away" was featured prominently on an episode of Yellowstone, which had 1.89 million views at the time it aired. The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 21, 2021 and certified platinum on September 20, 2022. As of July 2024, the song has been played over 159 million times on YouTube.

The band reunited in 2023. They supported Paul Cauthen on his fall 2023 tour and Silverada at the Ryman Auditorium in July 2024. In 2024, they headlined the Briggs Farm Blues Festival. In the fall of 2024, Uncle Lucius will tour in Europe and Australia.

Wikitia

The band is performing in the States this February. Look here for tickets and dates.

I can’t help but feel this song. The location is slightly different, the career of the father is slightly different. My father was a shrimper, and I spent much of my younger years working on a shrimping boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Every summer while I was out of school was spent on that boat. I have so many memories of the waves, salty air, and shrimp! Most are pleasant memories and bring a smile to my face. Some are not so pleasant. My first novels were read on that boat; funnily enough, they weren’t read in a school. It was a different time, and a hard work ethic was the demand. My father never had any failings of a hard work ethic. It was a theory of 'can’t catch shrimp if the nets aren’t in the water.' And that is what we did. Sometimes we only worked during the day. Other times it was day and night. Nap when we could. Got to catch the shrimp while we can! I did this for a few years even after graduating high school. Winters meant getting a 'real' job, with spring, summer, and fall spent chasing shrimp with nets. He’s long retired now, living on the sweat of yesterday.

I learned a lot on that shrimp boat, but shrimping wasn’t a good future for a young man. I eventually went to work in the oil field, working my way up the ladder the hard, old-fashioned way: sweat. My dad supported me the whole way, always trying to help me solve the problems, too, waking up in the middle of the night to make sure I was safe, even through the mistakes and challenges. He was there, chasing the wolves away. I don’t know if he will understand how much he shaped me. But here I am, 45 years old, with five kids of my own, learning how to fight like hell to chase the wolves away. I probably should have learned earlier, but here we are. God has a funny way of pointing our vessels north at His right time. God has a theme of picking sinners who have struggled and failed and giving them a purpose. That I have done, and Thy will be done by the grace of God.

I love you, Dad. Thanks for keeping the wolves away.

Please listen to the song below.