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I was born at 11:10 p.m. on February 23rd. I remember it being very, very dark and somebody was pulling on me and then it got very, very bright. I was a bit confused, especially when that guy who was pulling on me suddenly slapped me on my back. I knew right then that he and I would not remain friends.
Okay, this is probably a little more detailed than you were looking for, so I’ll just hit the highlights. Although, I must admit, being born was a pretty big highlight for me.
I picked up a baseball at 4 years old and it’s safe to say that it was my first love. After filling a case full of trophies, including Top Pitcher in the State of Virginia, and two batting titles, I didn’t play anymore once I graduated high school. It was all about the music and writing for me then.
At 12 years old, on a crinkly old 8 track of my brother’s, I heard some guy by the name of Chet Atkins play “The Entertainer.” Hearing that did something unexplainable way down deep in my gut and I knew that I wanted to do that someday. So I had to get started, and that week I decided to learn how to play the guitar.
At 14, while my mom ran down the street to the grocery store, I wrote my first song. It was called “Traditions Always Change” and I haven’t played it since. Kinda scared to, really. In my mind, it was an incredible piece of music eloquently composed in the perfect touching fashion, so….we’ll just keep it that way. I began honing the craft and at 16 years old, The Statler Brothers cut my first song, a gospel song, “He’s Always There For You.” They later performed it on their television show and for my18th birthday, my dad tore out the lyrics from the script and they all four signed it for me. It’s framed and hanging above my desk today.
I then attended Mary Baldwin College (an all female school in my hometown) and majored in Religion and Philosophy. I chose this school---not because of the ratio---so that I could be close to home and available to travel when playing music called. Music called professionally for my cousin, Wil, and me, and our country music duo has released several albums and we still travel the country today playing for fairs and festivals. We toured and recorded under the banner Grandstaff for over 15 years, but recently changed our duo name to Wilson Fairchild. Check us out at www.wilsonfairchild.com. We’ve released two albums nationally: Circles and Grandstaff: Live & Well.
If I wasn’t playing music, then I was writing music. And if I wasn’t writing music, then I was writing prose, or poetry, or jokes and short stories.
I had always wanted to write a book. I read them all the time, but I really wanted to write one. The problem was though, is that I didn’t have anything to say. No plot, no problem, no characters, no reason. So I sat down in my upstairs office/guest bedroom of the house I was living in at the time, and me and the Good Lord made a deal. I told Him how bad I wanted to write a book but I didn’t have anything to say, so if I would be diligent enough to try, would He be kind enough to supply the thought and words? I think He agreed. For the next few years, I worked diligently and He supplied the rest and we came away with a completed commercial literary fiction novel with spiritual overtones and an inspirational twist, which is aptly titled Gideon’s Fleece.
That gave me the fever and the confidence to write more. I co-authored a Christmas gift book with my dad, Don Reid, and my brother, Debo Reid, and it was published in 2005. You Know It’s Christmas When…, chocked full of holiday sentiments, stories, poems, song and movie trivia, is the perfect book to get you in the spirit. You can buy a copy through the online store at www.thestatlerbrothers.com.
Since then, I have written a Christmas novella, The Innkeeper, a religious historical fiction piece that tells the events of the nativity as seen through the perspective of the infamous and mythical innkeeper. Once I had kids, I had a new inspiration and challenge: I wanted to write a children’s book. Just because children don’t know as many words as adults do, does not automatically mean that writing a children’s book is easy. I took a year and half course through the Institute of Children’s Literature to learn this lesson. Once I graduated, I felt qualified and have written three children’s books.
The latest book project was co-written with a friend of mine, Bryan Kennedy. Bryan came to me one summer and told me about a friend of his back in high school, Andy Anderson, who really motivated and inspired him to become the athlete, Christian, and person he ultimately is today. He had felt that he never “thanked” him properly and has lived with these guilty feelings of never sharing their remarkable story. I believe in Bryan and believed in the story and its message, so the two of us wrote Andy Wouldn’t Let Me. It’s available on this site and is a book that has already proven to inspire those who've read it just as Andy inspired those around him.
All this while, I continued to write songs and have been blessed enough to have had over 25 songs published and recorded in the country, gospel and bluegrass fields. I have also been fortunate enough to write with some amazing people and writers along the way: Don Reid, Bill Anderson, Jimmy Fortune, Gordon Kennedy, Bryan Kennedy, Jamie Dailey, and my music partner, Wil Reid. Just google any of these guys and you’ll see why I’m grateful for them sharing their writing talents with me.
I have had columns published in several newspapers and articles of certain interest in magazines such as MAVERICK, HAPPINESS, and GOLF NEWS MAGAZINE.
I serve as an elder and Sunday school teacher in my home church, Olivet Presbyterian. I live with my wife, Alexis, and two children, Caroline and Davis, in Staunton, Virginia in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.
Alexis & Langdon |
