This intimate six-track EP explores identity, values, and simple truths through a country lens. At its heart is a heartfelt tribute to Dolly Parton, celebrating her authenticity and generous spirit that defines the best of country tradition.
The collection weaves together personal reflections on finding yourself, choosing substance over superficiality, and the relationships that sustain us. Each song asks fundamental questions: Who are we when everything falls away? What legacy do we leave? How do we stay true while growing?
Musically, the EP embraces classic country storytelling with warm, acoustic-driven arrangements - like front-porch conversations set to melody. The production stays intimate and organic, allowing space for the vulnerable truth-telling that country music does best.
Themes: Authenticity vs. pretense, wisdom in simplicity, honoring trailblazers, small-town values in a big world, and the courage to be genuinely yourself.
Country music for anyone needing to remember what really matters - whether you're a lifelong fan or just need "a little country" wisdom in your life.

[DAUGHTER]
"Dad... you never really talk about the old days...
What were you like... before?"

[FATHER ]
"Before what, sweetheart?"

[SON]
"Before you settled down... before me and Jess... when you were... you know... out there."

[FATHER]
Started out with no name worth keeping
Just a poncho and a bad attitude
Drifted into towns like smoke
Left the same way
Nobody asked questions
I didn't offer answers
Back then I thought mystery
Was the same thing as strength
Turns out it was just loneliness
Dressed up fancy

[DAUGHTER]
"Were you scared?"

[FATHER]
"Every day

[DAUGHTER]
But fear keeps you alive
Out there"


[FATHER]
I collected dollars
And enemies
Sometimes it was hard
To tell the difference
The good, the bad, the ugly...
I've been all three
Depending on who was asking
And what day it was
Your hands remember
Every trigger pulled
Even when your mind
Tries to forget

[DAUGHTER]
"Do you regret it?"

[FATHER]
Regret's a luxury
I couldn't afford then
Now...
Now I got time for it"
Somewhere along the way
I stopped being the man
With no name
Started being the man
With too many names
Legend, killer
Hero, villain
Depends on who's telling the story
But out here
With you
With this fire
With this coffee that tastes
Like morning instead of whiskey...

I'm just your dad
And that's the only name
That matters anymore

[DAUGHTER]
"Are you happy now?"

[FATHER]
"Happy's another luxury
I'm learning to afford
One cup of coffee at a time"

The frontier's gone now
Towns got names
Roads got signs
Law's got rules

But sitting here
With you asking questions
I never learned to answer...

Maybe this is what
I was riding toward
All along

[DAUGHTER ]
"Will you tell me more stories sometime?"

[FATHER]
"Yeah, sweetheart
I reckon I will"

A Little Country (One)

The Only Name That Matters

This piece began as a reflection on age, wonder, and the universe. It carries the bittersweet truth that some of us may not live to see the answers we’ve always longed for the moment the sky finally “answers back.”

But it’s also a message of hope. Our place isn’t measured only by lifetimes. It’s carried forward in the songs we write, in the questions we refuse to let go of, and in the wonder we pass down.

The closing nod to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star reminds us that curiosity is timeless from the child’s lullaby to the elder’s last reflection, we are joined by a shared yearning to understand.

This isn’t just about stars. It’s about legacy, belonging, and the truth that even if we don’t grow into tomorrow ourselves, a part of us will.

Some of us are too late in the day
To see the gates swing open
To watch the sky answer back

But we’ve left our fingerprints
On the glass of the telescope
Our breath fogging the lens
For the next set of eyes

The truth is our place
Isn’t just measured in lifetimes
It’s carried forward in songs
In questions that refuse to die
In the wonder we hand down

So even if I don’t grow into that tomorrow
A part of me will
In the echoes, in the chords
In the starlight that remembers
We once asked

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are

Oh, how we wonder

Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star
How I wonder what you are

Oh how we wonder
What you are

Yes we wonder

Footnote to the Stars

Quiet Places

les pommes

Our Vow

Echo is the first song on my upcoming debut EP. It is about the spirit of a lost love, Ms Gecko, coming to visit in the night. I hope you think it is lovely and that it gets stuck in your head.

Echo

This is the 4th track for Rocktober. 

I had the plan to make a medieval ballad about a trucker and his wife and kids at home.

I wrote and wrote and had 6 verses.
When recording, it became a very long ballad. Really, really long.

I got distracted and started with a beat after the last verse. And another beat. A sound. It became fantastic 😆
So, tomorrow's track (5th) will be the remix of this ballad.

I kept 3 verses and perhaps the lyrics are going nowhere, but at least I have something for day 4 🤭

#edit 20251112
Thank you all so much for listening, I am happily surprised that this track found such a great audience 🥲
I will also try to make something good with all the verses!

04 Ballad of the road and the hearth

Track Four

In my world
If you fall
That means
You lose it all
You don’t get up
And say
Well I guess
There will be
A better day
Cause when you’re down
Face to face
With the ground
You’re going to get up
With mud on your face
And when you do
There’s a sense of disgrace
You’re no longer the same
And there’s
A stain on your name
Forever more
People remember
Yeah, they know the score
Your self image becomes poor
And you have to question
If you’ll ever rodeo any more
Cause they never look
At you the same
You lost at the game
And you tarnished your name
And you only have you
To blame
©2025 wr heustis

To Blame

One of 3 different incarnations of this song. Breaking My Rules and My Way are different versions that lived throughout the years.

Written in (verse )1994 and 2024 (New Chorus)

This song is available for artist cut, and publishing, sync, and licensing.
This project is a songwriting showcase for artists, and publishers.
Contact: tsdmusic73@gmail.com
Visit https://confessionallifesongwriting.com for more information. #unsigned #newmusic #originalsongs #sync #licensing

Light My Way (Songwriters Version)

a song about the quiet wars we fight inside but also questioning opinions you've been fed about war your whole life.

grace

Cry When I Die (prod.IOF)

https://www.instagram.com/_wyattsmall_?igsh=eWxhejZpcmJhamNv

wyattsmall19@gmail.com



Cry When I Die (prod.IOF)

WYATTsmall

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