WELCH — “I’m just like any other 19-year-old living in McDowell County,” Joshua Hatfield told a Ramp reporter. “I got a construction job lined up for the summer. I spend most of my free time muddin’, four-wheelin’, chasin’ tail, and practicing Chopin’s ‘Prelude in E minor, (Op. 28, No. 4)’.”
“I’m not ashamed of who I am, but unfortunately, the people ‘round these parts just haven’t been exposed to much outside these hills. I guarantee you if I even so much as hummed a lick of Mozart’s ‘Piano K. 332 Sonata No. 12’, my boys would tell me to go suck some ass.” Hatfield was sitting down at an elegant Fazioli F156 Baby Grand.
Hatfield told us about the struggles he faced day-to-day: “It ain’t like I don’t enjoy some of the music they blast in the truck – I have an eclectic taste – but I can only listen to “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” so many times in a row. Look, I love Alan Jackson, Hank Williams, Brooks & Dunn, but Morgan Wallen is problematic. I wouldn’t feel comfortable playing my Discover Weekly or, hell, even taking over the aux cable. I just need a ride to the fishin’ hole.”
As Hatfield sat to play Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata No. 14”, eyes closed and overwhelmed with emotion, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. At the end of the interview, Hatfield walked us to the door and told us, “maybe one day I’ll move to Charleston or Morgantown where the people are more accepting. But until then, I have to pretend that I like Five Finger Death Punch.”
Comments