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I've been making music for over twenty-five years. I got my first guitar at twelve — Christmas morning, from Santa Claus — and since both my parents were musicians, that guitar was less a surprise than an inheritance.
My dad was a real piece of work — a Rolling Stone wild man, concrete-pourin' construction worker, slash blues man. My mom was the more educated musician of the two. They started me in the blues. By fourteen or fifteen I'd found punk rock, and after that it was a long curious stretch — experimental music, reggae, ska, a little punk, and underneath it all the old soul and blues records my dad loved so much. I've never stopped loving any of it.
My career has been a non-typical one. Long. Lower middle class, with a few little licks along the way — bursts of success just long enough to keep going. I've loved the freedom of it.
Now I'm home with my family on a little farm in Northeast Texas we call Big Hope. What I love most about music is the kind of presence it asks of you — long-form, long-focus, no rushing. There's a lot of grace in that, and I'm honored I still get to do it.
— Paul Simon
The Front Porch strips it all back. A 5-song acoustic EP from Cas Haley, it trades the full-band groove of Boots Rock Reggae for something quieter and closer to the bone — songs about distance, love, and the moments in between. Just porch chords and honest writing.
Listen on Spotify
Big Hope Farm started years ago when our family decided to homeschool the kids. We wanted real, practical projects to work on around our place — something the kids could put their hands into, season by season, instead of just reading about.
One thing led to another. A garden became a bigger garden. A small fence became a pasture. We learned by doing, asked a lot of questions, and slowly started to figure out how to grow food. In 2025 we started bringing our produce to the local market — that felt like a big step. It still does.
The farm is the other half of life when the tour is off. It's slower, dirtier, and full of small wins — a tomato that finally ripens, a piglet born in the night, a melon that splits open red as can be. It's where the songs come from, too.
Reconnect with the things that sustain you.
We raise Kune Kune pigs — a small heritage breed from New Zealand, friendly enough to nap next to. They graze the pasture, fatten on apples and acorns in the fall, and have a way of slowing the whole place down around them.
They're a big part of why the farm feels the way it feels. If you want to come meet them, just ask.
We'd love to share the place with you — whether that's a chat at the farmer's market, a podcast conversation, or a visit out to meet the pigs.
