On Saturday, about 30 minutes after his show on the Budweiser stage, I was able to sit down with Stephen and have the opportunity to do a short interview. Stephen was injured (broken back) while serving his country proudly with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion; 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Here is a brief summary of the interview:
JD: how do you like the race so far?
Stephen: This is my first NASCAR race, I have never been brought into a family like NASCAR as I think that NASCAR is a family…it reminds me of when I’m doing live shows…my ears are still ringing like I’m on stage. One of the highlights of my day was when an Army Veteran came up who had served in Iraq, and he took his sun glasses off and said “I want to thank you for this (pointing as his eyes to symbolize crying)”, he was crying and said that he hadn’t dealt with these emotions in ten years, and that he really didn’t like country music, but he cried today because he needed to. And we both cried a little bit together.
Stephen uses his music to try and send a message to those that have served and are hurting and are having a hard time dealing with the stress and the