I was on my way out around mid-afternoon Saturday at the Louisville convention center when I happened to stop mid-stride and turn back to grab a cup of coffee for the road. That’s when I noticed a familiar hat and pair of overalls on a man sitting beside a big guitar case out front of the South Wing, head down over his phone.
![Hear a feature Overdrive Radio podcast interview with Paul Marhoefer about his 2016 “Old Black Epiphone” record at this link.](https://img.overdriveonline.com/files/base/randallreilly/all/image/2017/03/ovd.Paul-Marhoefer-at-MATS-2017-03-28-08-47.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&q=70&w=400)
None other than Paul Marhoefer regular readers will recall from among our Trucker Talent Search finalists in 2015, likewise for his part in the all-stars show I hosted at GATS last summer, among other coverage of his last, “Old Black Epiphone” records. He was in Nashville a few weeks ago, where he picked up this new, brown Epiphone, which he’d toted under a load to Louisville to take part in a multi-songwriter acoustic show out at the Papa John’s parking lot Saturday, which sadly I missed. Luckily, though, he took a moment to play me the dark blues of a folks song you’ll hear in the video, about a scourge that’s touched the lives of many around the nation — crystal methamphetamine.
Marhoefer saw a little of such at a carrier he worked for years back now, and just yesterday a reader wrote in expressing dismay over a story about a federal bust in Wisconsin that involved associates of a trucking company that apparently remained in operation. “The DOT says it’s looking out for my safety and the public safety,” he wrote. “This company is a blight on the trucking industry. I have been in the industry for 30 years and this is a disgrace. It gives a bad name to a great industry.”
As for the Trucker Talent Search, the video-submissions period is open for those among you who have a talent for musical performance and/or songwriting. Read this post for more about entering the competition, which will bring three finalists to the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas for the competition.