We're getting married!

Matt - I, Matt “Red” Moore–the Crimson Hillbilly and self-acclaimed Southern Playboy–had finally made my way with a guitar westward. Los Angeles, California. First stop: The Viper Room, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood. I was billed to open this show solo then resume my rhythm guitar position a few bands later in the one for which I was hired. After my stage duties were fulfilled, I beelined beer-in-hand to our merchandise booth at which there were the band’s items for sale (tour T’s, hats, posters, etc.) and my own Matt Red Moore items (apparel geared more towards the ladies). There wasn’t a single place to sit in the room but a couple spots around our booth where we had tightly fit all this stuff in. I hovered over my spot in the booth, both protecting my seat and trying to sling some merch. The band’s stuff was a hotter sell than mine, but as sales diminished a woman approached the booth. I intercepted her, an old friend of the band’s frontman wanting to buy a tour shirt. I was happy to handle this transaction and additionally managed to talk her into my personal merchandise. I loosely offered to give this to her for free, but she insisted on paying the ten bucks. She had no cash and opted to use a mobile payment instead. I guided her to my account, and the application on her phone asked for the last four digits of my phone number to verify the money was going to the right place. I provided her those four and with a McConaughey-like charm offered her the rest of my number too. She thought that was awfully sweet. She sent me a message with her name so I’d have her number too. Subsequently that night she called me cute and I kissed her. After the show she left with a best friend of hers as the bar began to clear out. The boys and I packed our gear out to the truck, finalizing thank-yous and see-you-soons to the staff and other bands. Sitting in the back of the truck awaiting departure I found a moment to process the night, and she was everything. My desire to bring the best out of life converged into her. My refutal of impossibility got me to Hollywood in the first place, and found me once again in meeting this girl. In that moment of reflection I knew–I thanked God, and I knew. Jess - I had taken some time to “date myself”, and then one night I turned to Karly and declared, “I am ready to start dating again!” An hour later, I met Matt. Dusty had called to say he would be in town playing the Viper Room. Fun! I decided to go. After the show, I went to buy merchandise to support, and Matt was at the table. Venmo asked to confirm the last four digits of his phone number, and he cleverly stated, “You can have the rest of the number, if you want.” Cute! He asked if I would sit with him, and I said yes. Immediately drawn to him, like the pull of a magnet. Over the next few days, I wondered, “Who is this guy who feels like sunshine?” I attended one last tour show to find out, and he stole my heart that night.

Matt - A man proposing to a woman is a funny thing. First, the man has to decide if the relationship is ready for engagement; then he picks out a ring based on, at least in my case, no qualifiable sense of choosing jewelry for women, let alone a diamond (3 C’s has always meant Cold Coors Can to me); then the man virtually gives up getting a new bass boat for this thing the size of a bottle cap, finally being left with the task of planning how to ‘pop the question’–creating the perfect Hallmark moment she’s waited for all her life without her input or knowing. Now I was one of the very rare ones who bowled a perfect game, hit the grand-slam, fixed up an old bass boat, and made Jess as happy as she could be. However my point is: If a man dedicates himself to a woman, help will find him along the way. When I had enough money to buy a ring I had no idea where to start. Luckily I had a lot of people in-the-know of my intentions. First came where to get it–a friend who I look up to a lot pointed me towards an old bartender buddy of ours whose family has a small jewelry shop. He’s the guy that all the big-box stores take their stuff to when they can’t fix it themselves. He’s a master at his craft and I could trust him. Second came what to get–an intelligible and wise girlfriend of a bandmate of mine directed me to look at the shape of the other jewelry Jess wears (who’da thunk?!). The shape of the diamond I needed became clear. Then for the ring itself. Simply put, Jess is a first-place girl. I knew gold was the right choice. In choosing a time and place I had limited options. Granted the long-distance aspect of our relationship up to that point I only had a few different weeks over summer to choose from. I determined that I wanted it to be in Kentucky rather than California (as Kentucky would become her new home), and more particularly I wanted it to be in La Grange, my hometown and her soon-to-be town. There was a little city-sanctioned get-together with live music that would be happening that Friday of her week-long visit to Kentucky, so Friday it would be. The week before her arrival I drove around looking for the exact place to take the knee, somewhere that would look good in a photograph. Of the many beautiful street murals La Grange has I saw a butterfly one–butterflies have been a strong synchronicity in our growing together. So in front of this mural it would be. Friday came with weather in our favor. While she got ready for the block party I rehearsed my lines. Nervous isn’t the word, but I felt something. I might call it a difficulty in suppressing my anticipation. I really just wanted to play it cool without her knowing until the very last second before. We made it to the first band’s last couple of songs, and during the intermission I suggested walking her around the little downtown of La Grange for a better look. My route was planned. My dear friend with his camera was stationed incognito. A tranquil silence fell around us as we entered the alley at the end of which we’d enter a deeper level of love. We reached the end; I turned her around, took her purse and set it down, winked at the camera man, pulled out and opened a little red velvet box lined with white fur, displayed her ring to her and said: “Jess: You are patient, kind, gentle, clever, intelligent, grounded, and whole-hearted. Your laugh warms me in a way that only yours could ever do. We’ve witnessed the entwinement of our souls in each other’s eyes. We can feel our hearts’ inseparability. Our love has the power of God behind it and cannot be broken. I know so strongly that you are the woman for me, and you know that I am the man for you. I want to grow old together and stay young forever with you. This ring represents my commitment to you for as long as we both shall live. Jessica Marie Honeycutt, will you marry me?”