“I feel like different person,” said Jayce when I asked him how he felt about coming back to play in his old neighborhood at the Iron Horse Saloon. “I’m excited about presenting the new me. I’m a totally different person than I was three of four years ago,” which was the last time he played anywhere in town. “It’s a cool feeling. I was always the big guy. I put on a front to be happy, but I always worried about what people thought.”
After a year of intense learning, workouts, and completely changing his lifestyle, Jayce is now living inside a new “home” – one that is almost 200 pounds lighter than the old one…and he’s loving it. After agreeing to an opportunity presented to him to become a cast member for the Extreme Weight Loss show in 2013, he now looks back and sees that not only did his outward size take up a lot of space, but his inward thoughts about his size took up just as much space.
“Before playing at a show, I would always beat myself up with thoughts like whether or not the chair they gave me would hold me or would I fit in the booth if we went out to eat afterwards. You don’t realize how much time you spend thinking about yourself. My perception was that people don’t take you seriously when you’re that size. They just write them off. That may not be true, but that’s how I felt.”
But not anymore! “I would never have done this on my own,” says Jayce. “It took the show to make me believe I could do this.” And now since his show aired in June, he’s been overwhelmed with comments and emails he has received. “I never gave myself credit for anything before losing the weight.” Now others tell him how inspired they are. They say, “If he could lose 188 pounds, I can lose my 50!” It’s been so encouraging to know that his story is helping others to take charge of their own lives and do what he did. “Anybody in that situation can change it,” says Jayce.
If you haven’t seen Jayce since 2007 when he left for Nashville, then you’re in for a real shock! A good shock. Along with his appearance at the Iron Horse Saloon on October 17, he’s celebrating another big accomplishment – the release of his very first album: Small Town Summertime, which is also the name of single he released a few months ago. You can find the lyrics and story behind that in last week’s article. Be sure to download it from either itunes or Amazon. It’s a catchy tune you’ll be able to sing along with at the show!
Geauga News continues this series with the background and lyrics of a second song which will be on the album: Slow Dance.
“This is one of my personal favorites,” shares Jayce. “I wrote this with my buddy, Greg Barnhill (who wrote Walkaway Joe for Trisha Yearwood) and another buddy, Steve Pasch. I had written the melody the night before. I didn’t know what the song was about, but I kept singing ‘slow dance.’ Greg said, ‘What if we use slow dance as the way they’re going to approach their new relationship?’ We all agreed it would be a cool way to take the direction, and about two hours later we had ‘Slow Dance.’ “
Slow Dance
Written by Jayce Hein, Greg Barnhill and Steve Pasch
Pretty girl we’ve been ridin’ round here all night, and it couldn’t feel more right, with you ridin’ shotgun next to me right now.
Hey, what do ya say we call up the DJ, and tell him that he ought to play some old school Strait and take this tempo down.
CHORUS:
I can tell by the smile in your eyes where the night is goin’, put your head on my shoulder and baby just let it go.
Turn the headlights off and we’ll just get lost in a feelin’, with the moon and the stars and music on the radio
We’ll take it like a slow dance, yeah baby like a slow dance.
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I never noticed how bright them fireflies looked against the summer sky, tonight they’re shining down on me and you.
That night at the bar we were talking and laughing, we both had a feeling that this was gonna happen, if we let our hearts do what they wanted to.
[repeat chorus]
BRIDGE:
There’s never gonna be another night like this, so bring it on in girl, gimme that kiss
And we’ll take it like a slow dance, yeah baby like a slow dance.
[repeat chorus]
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Come see the new Jayce Hein on October 17 at 8 pm
at the Iron Horse Saloon!
Purchase your tickets now at any of these locations:
Online at Ticketbud
The Iron Horse Saloon
13468 Main Market Road
Burton, OH 44021
Middlefield Minimart
15965 E High St.
Middlefield, OH 44062
Find Jayce on Facebook
or at his website
