by Gail Parsons,

Special to the Herald

He may not have known it at the time, but growing up in Effingham County gave Keith Evan Gay, whose stage name is KEG Country, all the fodder and inspiration he needed for a career in country music.

“I grew up going to church, made lifelong friends and there wasn't a whole lot to do other than hunt and fish,” he said.

Effingham was more rural back then, but the influences of those Georgia southern country roots are evident in the songs he writes. Songs like “Opening Day of Beer Season”, “Only One Dawg in This Fight”, and “Muddy Water” reflect his views, passions, and life.

“I used to just write every day, and I would try to think of things to write and just make songs about anything, but the good ones — the good songs come from real experience and a place in my heart,” he said. “You get heartbroken and drink through a big heartbreak and write a bunch of heartbreak songs. Then you just want to look at the brighter, fun side of things and get inspired by something great that happened.”

“Muddy Water” is a prime example. The song is based on memories of the times he and his buddies would spend fishing. One of his friend’s grandparents had property on the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers where they often went.

“The summer I turned 18, I was on my own, although I never actually left home,” he said. “We would go and stay, almost like we lived there.”

In “Muddy Water”, he talked about drinking Early Times whiskey from a liver cup.

“We would buy beer and go down to the river and we would drink beer, then take a swig off the bottle,” he said. “One night Matt decided he would make himself a mixed drink instead of drinking straight whiskey.”

They didn’t have any cups, so Matt cleaned out a chicken liver bait cups and made himself a drink.

“When we came back, we were upstairs by the fire, and Matt says, ‘Oh, man, I left my drink on the boat,” Gay said. “So, he runs down to the boat, comes back up and we're standing around … he takes a big swing out of that cup and just started spitting chicken livers back into the cup.”

He had grabbed the wrong cup but never dreamed that one day that mistake would make it into a song’s lyrics.

The “Only One Dawg in the Fight” is a nod to the Georgia Bulldogs. He recently performed the song for fans at Bulldog Park in Athens.

Long Road to a Career

Gay started thinking about music as a career, long before it happened. Trying to pinpoint when he believed it was possible is tough, but he remembered going to Danny Frawley’s house when he was in the sixth grade and watching his friend’s father play with his band.

“It was just cool, that influenced me a lot right there,” he said. “Also, Chuck Thompson, he was a big influence on me too.”

Gay’s father was also a singer, although growing up, he never knew it. His father sang Motown but always told Gay that being a professional musician was just a pipe dream and not to do it, which led Gay to a career in construction and his becoming a master carpenter. His father’s opinion changed, however, the day he went out to hear his son play.

“Afterwards, he came up with me, his eyes were watered up, he goes, ‘I know that I told you not to do this, but I was wrong. You definitely need to be doing this.’” Gay said. “I was just playing in bars and stuff but with him saying that that was like the green light for me; however, my mama and sister were always my biggest fans.”

He went to Nashville, got rave reviews, performed on Nashville Star, lived on Music Row where he spent most of his time in the studio, and met big names in the country music world.

Randy Wood, of Randy Wood Guitars in Bloomingdale helped him to get in touch with Pat Lasetar who then introduced him to Greg Perkins.

When Perkins heard Gay sing, he said he could get him a record deal.

With that kind of support, he began to believe he could move up from playing in bars to performing in concert halls, recording records, and earn a legitimate living.

He was settling into Nashville life when the 1990 Effingham High School graduate was thrown a curve ball that sidelined him for about 10 years. He started having trouble with his joints and the doctors couldn’t seem to help. Gay ended up needing a wheelchair, he couldn’t make a fist. He watched his musical ambitions slowly die.

Then one day, as he puts it, he was God-smacked.

“I was in the garage, and I got hit by lightning,” he said.

For about 20 minutes all he could see was a bright, white light but as that light faded and his vision cleared, he suddenly realized — he could make a fist again. It was only then, after going to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville that he learned for the past decade, he had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

The lightning strike, however, reset his body and awakened his dreams.

Today, Gay is a Nashville resident but spends a lot of time on the road performing in Florida and more recently, Texas. Currently, he is focusing on his Georgia Bulldog song, “Only One Dawg in This Fight”, which is available on all streaming platforms.

Gay’s music is produced by Dave McAfee Productions. All of Gay's current songs are released under KEG Country and are available on all streaming platforms. Locally he performs at Riley’s and Brass Rail, and recently at the Greenside Bar and Grille in Rincon.

No matter where life takes him, Gay said he will always come back to perform for the Effingham County Rebels — this is where his roots are and this is where the people who made him who he is today, still live, work, and play.

[Gail Parsons is a freelance writer in Rincon.]