Nevada Honey, not surprisingly, was written in Nevada. The year was probably 1985. The recording was made in Bethel in 1992 or so. It was one of the first songs I recorded on the Tascam 38 after I bought it from Pat DeSmet.

Although I was still playing music regularly in the 80s when we lived in Reno, I had come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to be able to make a living at it. And I probably wasn't going to stumble into being discovered and become an overnight songwriting or performing sensation. I wasn't pretty enough or young enough or, face it, good enough to really Make It Big. I wasn't in the right place either. But mainly, I just never had the immense ego drive it takes to push into the Big Time, neither the energy nor the inclination to transform myself and sell myself as whatever the Buyers were telling each other to Buy that year.

I described it thusly: Commercial success (fame and fortune) was like a sweet mirage of green pasture two fences over. Between here and there was a wide field of waste-deep horse manure. Many plunge happily into the muck. Few make it to the other side, most likely by walking over the bodies of those who stumble and flounder and splutter in the poop. Those of us who remain over here might wonder if those who Made It over there are really having any more fun rolling around in the green grass (probably) or ever able to get the stink off (probably not).

I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of being tied to a day job for the rest of my productive life, but I liked being married and having a regular home to come home to every night‹or every night I wasn't out in some casino town playing a two or three night country lounge gig. I decided the objective would have to be to try to derive as much satisfaction as possible from the present situation. Play the kind of music I liked to play with the people I liked to play it with and hope to make a few bucks. Maybe someday I could successfully pitch a few songs and get a hit and have some royalty income in my old age.

Several Reno casinos had "Paycheck Wheels." You could cash your paycheck at the Nugget and they'd give you a couple coupons to take a spin on a circus wheel. The pointer would stop at various prizes. Usually a couple free drinks, tickets to the cabaret show or a T-shirt. The big one was double your paycheck I think. I never hit the big one.

--Michael