Roger Murrah playing the 1929 piano his father got for the family by trading a pick-up truck for it. He is playing “High Cotton” in honor of High Cotton Arts
Piano purchased with pick-up truck led to one man’s musical career and is now inspiration to local artists
ATHENS-Roger Murrah, a talented wordsmith who was Broadcast Music Incorporated’s Songwriter of the Decade for the 1980s, found his poet’s voice in Athens, Alabama.
That voice reverberated through High Cotton Arts in downtown Athens on Tuesday, Aug. 4, as Roger Murrah, playing the family piano, performed a tune he co-wrote that aptly fit the venue, “High Cotton.” He performed the No. 1 hit, recorded by the group Alabama, to highlight his support of the arts in Athens and Limestone County with his “A High Cotton Homecoming.”
As part of “A High Cotton Homecoming,” the Murrah family is loaning the 1929 Howard piano to High Cotton Arts along with some of Roger Murrah’s awards. In addition, Roger Murrah will perform a benefit concert in October to help fund programs and the operation of High Cotton Arts.
Roger Murrah, his sister Tina Swindell, and Tina’s husband Bill Swindell performing “High Cotton” together
“It is always a pleasure for me to have an opportunity to perform my songs in my hometown of Athens, where I’ve received so much support and good will through the years of my career in music,” Roger Murrah said.
High Cotton Arts, a non-profit art incubator in downtown Athens, opened this year in the H.C. Blake and Co. building on Washington Street to promote local artists and provide art opportunities for local youth. The Athens Arts League, a committee of Spirit of Athens, operates the incubator with the support of H.C. Blake Co. Funding came from grants and the first hometown performance by the Grammy-nominated Alabama Shakes at the Isom’s family Dinner in the Orchard event in October 2014. Eight artists currently rent studio space.
Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks showing Roger Murrah a CD he kept that Roger autographed for him
“Downtown Athens needs this art incubator because as human beings we crave access to creative endeavors,” said Diane Lehr, a Spirit of Athens board member and chairwoman of the Athens Arts League. “We appreciate the ways that art in its many forms – including music and painting – broaden our horizons while drawing us toward ‘home.’ We are eternally grateful to Mr. Murrah for his gift that will propel this arts incubator forward in our beloved downtown.”
Roger Murrah’s childhood on the family’s Athens farm is a composition of musical 
memories. He grew up singing with the family on Sunday drives through the Athens and Limestone County countryside. He heard his mother’s humming as she hung clothes on the line or picked cotton. His parents, James Ernest and Reba Ball Murrah, favored groups who sang harmony such as Limestone County’s own Delmore Brothers, the Chuck Wagon Gang, the Blackwood Brothers and the Happy Goodman Family.
James Ernest, who owned a farm off Alabama 251 in Athens, would trade cattle, horses, tractors, trucks and cars. One of those trades gave Roger Murrah, then 13 or 14 years old, the keys to a musical career.
“Fortuitously, he traded an old pick-up truck for this piano,” said Roger Murrah’s sister, Tina Swindell of Athens. She was the only girl out of five brothers. “Several of us learned to pick out a few notes and chords and play by ear as they say, and went on to become singers, songwriters and drummers.”
Roger Murrah’s brother Wendell Murrah picked out the song “Blueberry Hill” on the piano, and Roger Murrah decided he could learn to play songs as well. Music took root in Roger Murrah much like his father’s crops took root in the red Alabama clay. While serving in the Army in 1967, Roger Murrah signed as a staff writer with Muscle Shoals music publisher/producer Rick Hall. After his military service, Roger Murrah and some partners opened a recording studio in Huntsville.
By 1972, with the encouragement of recording artist and music publisher Bobby Bare, Roger Murrah was ready to explore songwriting in Nashville. He had his first nationally charted song, “It’s Raining In Seattle,” in 1973.
Roger Murrah wrote 10 No. 1 hits for recording artists such as Alabama, Alan Jackson, Lee Greenwood and The Oak Ridge Boys. He helped Waylon Jennings write an autobiographical album titled “A Man Called Hoss,” and collaborated with Keith Stegall on the song “We’re in This Love Together,” a major pop hit for singer Al Jarreau. Murrah was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and received a Bronze Star induction into the Walk of Fame at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. He has served as chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation, has served on the board of the Country Music Association, and served as governor and vice president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.
When Roger Murrah co-wrote the song “High Cotton” with Scott Anders, he found lyrical inspiration from his life in Athens. He said his family was not wealthy, but he and his siblings never lacked for the things they needed, a theme found in the lyrics of the song.
We didn’t know that times were lean
‘Round our house the grass was green
It didn’t seem like things were all that bad
I bet we walked a thousand miles
Chopin’ cotton and pushin’ plows
And learnin’ how to give it all we had.
As life went on and years went by
I saw the light in daddy’s eyes
And felt – the love in mama’s hands
They kept us warm and kept us fed
Taught us how to look ahead
Now lookin’ back, I understand.
(Chorus)
We Were Walkin’ in High Cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Those fertile fields are never far away
We Were Walkin’ in High Cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Leavin’ home was the hardest thing we ever faced.
Roger Murrah
“My songs have certainly been inspired by growing up in Athens, and it’s only fair for me to come home and give back,” Roger Murrah said.
The “A High Cotton Homecoming” benefit dinner and concert will be Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Limestone County Event Center and will include musicians Jimmy Melton, Chris Holt and Neal Coty. Tickets are on sale for $40 each. Sponsorships also are available.
Tickets are available by sending a check made to Athens Arts League to 103 West Washington Street, Athens, AL 35611. Tickets are also available at High Cotton Arts at 103 W. Washington St. on Fridays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For sponsorship information, call Diane Lehr at 256-656-6588.
Proceeds will benefit the operation of High Cotton Arts and programs, such as art camps for youth including those from local Boys and Girls Clubs and foster children from Limestone County Department of Human Resources.
“It’s an honor to be asked by the High Cotton Arts supporters to come and be a part of their good efforts to bring recognition and support to the individuals who make up the arts community in this special city,” Roger Murrah said. “I believe for a community to be whole, it is vital for it to have an appreciation for the arts, whether it is music, painting, sculpting, poetry, or other means of individual creativity.”
Roger Murrah advised others who want to develop “their God given talents” with art to have one attribute, which is persistence.
“There are many things one might recommend,” he said. “What I first recognized as being important is persistence – having the determination to hang in there and not give up.”
Athens Arts League Treasurer Vickie Camp said Roger Murrah’s gift of his time, talent and family treasures will allow the League to support that persistence in local artists.
“This will allow us to continue the support of artists, our promotion of arts education and our presentation of magnificent cultural events in Athens,” Camp said.
