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Pictured is John Shepherd, who plays Robert's Western World every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday afternoon with his wife Lois. In his 70s, John is the kind of country act I wanted to see - steeped in the tradition of the music, simple, straight-ahead country singer.

As soon as we walked into the bar, he pointed at us for a request; there were maybe ten people in there, and clearly he was simply taking requests from anyone and everyone. I asked him to play the old Webb Pierce song 'There Stands The Glass' and he jumped into it perfectly; a little later on he made his way back and I asked for the Willie Nelson song - later and famously done by Faron Young.

The variation on the title that I used here is also a reference to the large windows John was playing in front of while in the middle of 'Hello Walls'. They were tough to manage from my seat, so I wandered a bit until I found a good spot near the door and snapped a few up close. In this one, you can get a sense of the fashion and style of both the bar and the performer. The broach or pin he's wearing there isn't actually glowing, just reflecting a couple stage lights.

Lyrics of the song 'Hello Walls' below - one of my favorite breakup songs, a country music specialty (clicking the link will take you to the Grooveshark site where you can listen free to the song):

Hello walls (hello hello)
How things go for you today
Don't you miss her
Since she upped and walked away
And I'll bet you dread to spend
Another lonely night with me
But lonely walls I'll keep you company

Hello window (hello hello)
Well I see that you're still here
Aren't you lonely
Since our darling disappeared
Well look here is that a teardrop
In the corner of your pane
Now don't you try to tell me
That it's rain

She went away
And left us all alone the way she planned
Yes we'll have to learn to get along
Without her if we can

Hello ceiling (hello hello)
I'm gonna stare at you a while
You know I can't sleep
So won't you bear with me awhile
We must all stick together
Or else I'll lose my mind
I've got a feeling she'll
Be gone a long long time (hello hello)

Larger version on Flickr, here.