Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer
There’s a young singer out on the road with past (and most successful) The Voice winner, Craig Wayne Boyd. There’s more than the simple truth that both performers sports three names, both, and much more importantly, are great talents — the kind who will be around for years and years to come.
David Adam Byrnes graced the Southern Junction (Royse City/Rockwall) stage in a solo concert prior to Craig Wayne Boyd’s taking it with full band (April 8, 2016). It was a sell-out crowd. It was an enthusiastic crowd. It was a crowd that sang along to many, most, and in some cases — all — of the songs.
Craig Wayne Boyd had been in Nashville (making his way there from his hometown of Mesquite, Texas) for quite a long time, since the mid-2000; with some minor success (but that’s till ‘success’) when he joined The Voice’s Season 7 and came out the Top Winner that season. Since then, he’s obtained good management, is touring nationwide, had a song hit high numbers on the Billboard Chart , and played the Grand Ol’ Opry — and now he’s played SoJo.
Boyd, through it all, has retained his good ol’ Texas boy genuine friendliness — after all, Texas is known as The Friendship State, named from the Caddo Indian word “teyshas” or “tejas,” meaning friends. And the motto, “Drive Friendly, The Texas Way,” has greeted travelers since the 1960s. He signed guitars to be used for fundraising, he had his photo made in unofficial “meet-and-greet” style before his set and made his way to his merch table afterward, where he stayed until the last fan had said his say and has his photo made with the musician.
Byrnes, from Arkansas, was just as friendly, holding his own with his many fans there as 
well. Witness this photo bomb… That happened just moments before a table of fans called him over for hugs. He, too, left his hometown for Nashville a while back. It’s not clear just how he and Boyd teamed up for road trips, but team up they did, and the mix is working wonderfully.
Watch Southern Junction (SoJo)‘s Website for a list of their upcoming special guests, or just enjoy the venue’s regular house bands, which are all completely dynamite. And there’s dance lessons there, and great steaks, and sometimes other good times, such as this Sunday’s (April 24) Crawfish Boil, Car Show, and music and kids activities… well, it’s gonna be fun! Click here for SoJo’s Website
There were two divisions: youth and adult. Prizes were given for the top-weighing catfish caught “by any legal means.” After the 6 p.m., cut-off for weigh-ins, Gus handed out some super-sized checks to the winners. The first-place fish weighed more than 62 pounds — think about it, that’s more than three 10-pound bowling balls and a little bit less than the weight I’ve lost in the past three years! I’m not carrying those bowling balls around any more!)
