That night, I had dinner with Sheryl Crow. And a thousand other people. It was a Kennett Chamber of Commerce event thanking Sheryl for providing a chunk of capital to help build the new city swimming pool. Friends in the area say she visits Kennett often; her sense of family roots appears undiluted, and she knows from personal observation that a kid in a sweltering Bootheel town needs a good swimming hole. She was gracious enough when a mutual friend pushed us together and snapped a photo. I thanked her for making a good choice…referring neither to our photo or the pool. My gratitude was more business-related. A year earlier, to promote Missouri I’d compiled a cd of legendary bands, a list that includes Coleman Hawkins and Count Basie, Bird Parker and Fontella Bass, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Pat Metheney and Chuck Berry, the Belairs and Big Smith–all acts with Missouri roots. For the cd, Sheryl offered a gem, a song she wrote called “Home.”
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