Texas artist Jamie Lin Wilson sings about the most captivating woman in the county on her new song "Alice," a character-driven tune centered on a gutsy, 93-year-old "tough as saddle leather" crack shot who seems to hold all the answers of the universe (and probably does).
Penned by Wilson, John Hadley and Kelley Mickey, the song is about a real woman who lived down the road from Wilson when she was growing up.
Wilson says when she was 19, she spent an afternoon with Alice. The experience — and life lessons — stayed with her.
"I grew up at the dead-end of a gravel road in Southeast Texas. Our road ran parallel to another (Nowak Rd) for a while, then split off in different directions. At the end of that one, lived a brother & sister — Alice & Henry Nowak — two old farmers who were old forever as far as I was concerned," Wilson tells Wide Open Country. "I knew of them for my whole life, but only caught glimpses as Henry would go check his cattle or drive by with a trailer full of square bails. One summer day after Henry died, I saw Alice walking down that long road, using 2 walking sticks, dressed in full polyester. She was going to get her mail, she said. I would take her there, I told her. She refused, I insisted. After getting her mail and taking her home, I sat and visited with Alice for about 3 hours. I was 19. She was in her 90s. About ten years later, my friend Kelley Mickwee and I were writing with John Hadley (a great Oklahoma-Nashville man who used to write for the Smothers Brothers), and I started talking about this feisty old lady I met one time. Hadley decided that's the song we would write that day and we basically just took everything she told me and made it rhyme. So, here's a true story about a real old lady named Alice, from the point of view of a real young lady — me."
Listen to Jamie Lin Wilson's "Alice" below.
Jamie Lin Wilson released her latest album Jumping Over Rocks last year. For more information, visit her official website.
Now Watch: 8 Rising Country Artists to Follow in 2019
