Pony Bradshaw didn’t know he could sing because he’d never tried. His dad was a military man turned Elvis impersonator whom a young Pony helped keep stocked with scarves on stage for admirers. Pony had always listened to music, but he’d never made it. He played baseball. He joined––and got kicked out of––the Air Force. It was about five years ago when Pony discovered not only that he could make music, but that he should.

“It was a little open mic in Chattanooga,” Pony says of his first time to perform in public. “I was scared to death. It was a competition––and I never liked competition, but for some reason, I wanted to go show my tunes. I played the first song I’d written at that open mic.” He pauses, then sighs and laughs a little at the same time. “It worked out good, you know? I won that competition. It made me believe what I was doing was okay.”