What a treat it was to see Kathy Mattea win the Best Song award at the Academy of Country Music awards show on April 25.
Many members of the Louisville Area Songwriters' Cooperative will remember hearing Kathy's husband Jon Vezner perform "Where've You Been" on the cooperative's first annual Songwriter Symposium showcase in Louisville on November 19, 1988. (And we thank Alan Rhody for lining Jon up for us.)
At the time of the performance, Vezner related that his wife was planning to cut the song. (We heard later that Don Henry and Jon had tried without success to get the song cut by several other artists, so they twisted Kathy's arm and she recorded it. Don't know if that story is 100% accurate or not.) Vezner and Henry, who has also graced a number of L.A.S.C. stages in the last couple of years, are the co- writers of "Where've You Been."
Several members of the Louisville Workshop of the Nashville Songwriters Association Intemational were in the audience when Kathy sang the song at NSAI's Spring Symposium & Songwriter Awards Ceremony in Nashville in April of this year.
After Vezner's 1988 performance in Louisville, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with him and I specifically mentioned how much I enjoyed "Where've You Been." It had reminded me, I told him, of my parents situation and that my mother had passed away just a few months earlier. Vezner seemed very touched and told me that the song was about his grandparents.
Congratulations to Kathy, Jon and Don. We're proud of you. And we're glad you shared your song with us.
Don Heiiry is in the middle of recording his first album of originals for CBS Records. We wish Don good luck and look forward to the release of the album — probably later on this year.