Purple Gene’s review of the premier of the CMT original series “Unsung Stories” … “Jake’s Goin’ All the Way”

Jeffrey Steele is the Cole Porter of Country Music !!!!! He not only writes songs that are Standards…..”My Town”…..”When the Lights go Down”….”The Cowboy in Me”…”Unbelievable”…”These Days”……Not only did he write the number one song in Country Music right now….”What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts…..but he, along with Keith Anderson, wrote a song that inspired a whole town and started a new series on Country Music Television.

“Unsung Stories” is a new and unique television experience….imagine….. a songwriter hears about a real life story…gets inspired to write a song about it….then goes and plays the song for the people involved…and it’s all on film…..

Just another Friday night in McDermott, Ohio….another High school football game with one team going for the state championship…playing the Northwest High School team…but we have a story inside the story…It’s Jake…who is a mentally retarded kid with dreams of putting on the uniform and the spikes and playing football…..Well number 45 did just that and for four years he practiced with the Monarchs but never got to go in….then the coaches got an idea….let’s give Jake a shot….so at the end of the Waverly Northwest game, with Waverly leading 42 zip…coach Curry and Dewitt put Jake in for a final play….and guess what Jake goes all the way…and scores……Jeffrey Steele and Keith Anderson read about this event and they just have to write a song…

“Jake’s Goin’ All the Way” tells the story of Number 45 and that magic night in McDermott, Ohio where one kid, with his dedication and determination, inspired a whole town to believe that anyone can achieve success, with a little help from their friends…and the picture of Jake crossing that finish line was really amazing…

Well Jeff and Keith came back to McDermott, Ohio and sang their song for Jake and the whole damn town…parents , kids and coaches….”Jake spent the last 4 years on the sidelines….tonight Jake’s goin’ all the way…he’s gonna win the game” Ya man!

I got a chance to do a little songwriting with Jeffrey Steele last year at Durango…I told him about an old loner who lives way up in the mountains that only went out to get supplies a couple times a year…I found his shopping list on the dirt road it said “Whiskey, Cigarettes, Bullets and Beer”…well he grabbed hold of that idea and an hour later we had a hit song….but it all starts with a real life story…and this guy is the real thing….

Here’s to Keith and Jeffrey and Jake…..and inspiring lives put to music!!!

Purple Gene gives “Unsung Stories: Jakes Goin’ all the Way” 10 totally teary eyes out of 10 for being so goddam real in a world of Paris Hiltons, George Bushes and Jessica Simpsons….let’s hear it for the little guy with big dreams !!!!