Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/757641
December 2016 | Overdrive | 43 Indiana-based trucker Paul Marhoefer's music is the sonic equivalent of a black, sweltering midsummer night on the porch when the power's gone out. Or driving around a big city at midnight, without much hope for parking and with no better way to fill the time than telling a tough story to someone who may not exactly want to hear it. The songs on Mar- hoefer's new "Old Black Epiphone" record are borne out of life's duress in general, wrecks that are your fault and making hard choices — sometimes the wrong ones. Marhoefer's not shy about confronting his own mistakes and those of his culture. The track "George Cor- ley Wallace" stems from the late former Alabama gov- ernor's vilification by many politicians, even today. Marhoefer notes he recently heard New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie call Wallace a "despicable human being." Indeed, history has judged Wallace harshly for his no- torious stand for segregation on the schoolhouse steps. But for Marhoefer, Wallace's full story is one of redemption of a sort, of his eventual reckoning with his own dreadful mistakes. The song hammers the thread home with a parallel story of a trucking father reckon- ing with often having failed his children and himself. Marhoefer calls it the most autobiographical song on the record, and for my money, the weaving of those two tales is nothing short of a masterstroke. Marhoefer himself calls the track's inclusion, though almost accidental, the most mean- ingful piece of the album. It's songwriting with guts and well worth a listen. – Todd Dills Trucker Paul Marhoefer's 'songwriting with guts' "Old Black Epiphone" is available today via PaulMarhoeferMusic.com and a variety of online retailers. Scan the code to hear a podcast interview with the trucker-songwriter, including excerpts from the album. Also find it via OverdriveOnline.com/ OverdriveRadio. FIND A LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR AT MINIMIZER.COM OR CALL 800.248.3855 MINIMIZER POLY PRODUCTS • TESTED AND TORTURED TM • DAILY BY TRUCKERS FOR TRUCKERS TESTED AND TORTURED TIRE BENCH Times change. So should you. NICE TRY NAILED IT Minimizer Poly Fenders Guaranteed for life Typical dented, cracked, and rusted metal fenders Guaranteed to look terrible FLOOR MATS TOOL BOXES TOOL BENCH TIRE MASK Untitled-12 1 11/3/16 2:00 PM