Ochlockonee River Serenade

Our kayak had maybe moved 10 feet from the put in point when a man fishing under the old train bridge told us to “Hold on.” He ran and grabbed a guitar. After a little tuning, he belted out “The River,” a song about the Ochlockonee River.

That man is Gary Asbell, a Tallahassee attorney with south Georgia roots. He had just purchased a new Taylor guitar, and when he saw the camera he knew he had to try this song out on it. “The River is a song I had written for two friends with whom I used to camp on the Ochlockonee.” Gary wrote to me. “One of them, who was Bernie Gandy, founder and owner of Gandy Printers on South Monroe Street in Tallahassee, never heard the finished song. I actually played it in public for the first time in February 2007 at Bernie’s funeral.” His other friend, Danny Ouzts, requested that the song be played at his funeral as well. Gary did that in 2012.

I want to thank Gary for sharing and letting us use a song so personal to him, about a river that many of us enjoy.