It is said that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Tragedy is the harshest challenge in a person’s life.
Former Cahone resident Joyce Shaffer can relate. Shaffer has taken the torment of two family tragedies and overcome them by using her faith and music.
After all the suffering and turmoil in her life, Shaffer has achieved great success in the music business.
One song in particular, “Loretta’s Shoes,” made it all way to the No. 10 spot on the Main Country Chart of the top 85 country songs played on radio stations around the United States. Out of the top 85 songs, Shaffer’s is now No. 11.
And it took a country music superstar to knock her out of the top 10.
“Kenny Chesney bumped me, so I’m after him,” Shaffer said with a laugh.
Shaffer said she still can’t believe she’s on the country charts, let alone up close to the top.
The song is about Loretta Lynn, a country music legend, and includes eight of Lynn’s songs in the lyrics. Shaffer has always admired Lynn as a strong woman and musical mentor.
“She came up the hard way, driving around in her car to radio stations and playing her music face to face. She’s had some rough knocks, and she’s never given up on it,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer not only has the song “Loretta’s Shoes,” but she also feels that she’s figuratively walked in the country music legend’s shoes.
Shaffer and Lynn share common ground, having both grown up poor with a hard life strengthened by a faith in God.
Shaffer grew up in Cahone as a bean farmer’s daughter, living in a tiny three-room “shack,” the baby of nine children.
“I didn’t know it was rough,” she said. “When you’re poor and everybody else you know is poor, you think that’s the way the world is.”
But life was harsh and challenging for the family in the 1950s. Then, tragedy struck.
In 1960, when she was 12 years old, her father went on a shooting rampage over a family feud over land, killing her sister and her husband before turning the gun on himself.
“My dad died a very violent death, and it shook the area,” she said. “I guess that’s what made me the strong person I am.”
Looking back on that terrifying and tragic day, Shaffer admits that the incident influenced her life.
“We came out of it just fine. I regret the loss of lives, but I appreciate being able to come out of it with a brighter look on life,” she said.
Shaffer suffered another tragedy in 1991, when her only daughter, Kim, was killed in a car wreck. The torment of that day was slow to vanish. She said she dealt with that “bad year” for another 14 years.
Not always a believer, now Shaffer is quick to give God the credit for helping her get through the difficulties. She also credits God for her songwriting ability, saying the Lord called her to it.
“He gave me my first song (“America’s Colorblind”) in the shower two years ago,” she said. “I got out of the shower and tuned the guitar I hadn’t played in 20 years and wrote the song in about 10 minutes.”
Shaffer’s nickname is The Patriot because she often writes patriotic music to “uplift America, encourage people to do their own thinking, and to face what’s happening in our world and be willing to take responsibility and do something.”
Her patriotic style comes with love of her country and her family members who help defend it. Her son, Jeff, served with the U.S. Marines in Desert Storm, her husband Danny served with the Marines, as did seven other members of her family. She also has a grandson in the U.S. Air Force.
After all her struggles growing up and two horrible tragedies, Shaffer refuses to hide under the covers in a dark room. She continues to see the positive things in the world, and that’s reflected in her music.
“Nobody is singing encouraging songs of value anymore, and we absolutely have to get back at looking at the brighter side of life and be willing to be tough and turn things around,” she said.
She said she doesn’t write “empty” songs about “rusty trucks and love gone bad.” She said she tries to write about Americans who have overcome, and like Loretta Lynn, have earned their American dream. Shaffer’s music is available at www.joyceusa.net.
Shaffer’s dream of meeting Lynn is going to come true in about a month, and another dream of getting a record contract is possible, too, with the success of her song.
It’s an impressive feat that Shaffer made it to the top 10 on the country charts without a record contract. But that rise didn’t come without a sacrifice.
She had to sell her horse in order to afford studio time to record “Loretta’s Shoes.”
Now, Shaffer lives with her husband, Danny, in Loma, Colo., near Fruita.
She still has many relatives in the Cahone, Dove Creek and Cortez area and said she feels like she represents them in her music.
Bad things may happen to good people, but some, like Shaffer, take the bad, turn it around, and use it to make them stronger and become a voice for survivors.
“You don’t have to be a superstar to do great things,” she said. “If you just let God run the show, He’ll just blow your mind.”
Reach Paula Bostrom at paulab@cortezjournal.com.