Nashville songwriter Thom Shepherd’s world cracked apart two years ago when a doctor said the one word nobody wants to hear: cancer.
Shepherd had been doing well in country music. His story-song, “Riding With Private Malone,” was a breakthrough radio hit in 2001, and Shepherd’s return to the studio produced the song, “Redneck Yacht Club,” that reached number one on the Radio and Records chart and number two with the leading music industry magazine, Billboard.
Thanksgiving week “we had our big, number-one party” to celebrate the song’s success, Shepherd said. His parents and siblings flew to Nashville to be part of it.
“I didn’t feel sick at all,” said Shepherd, 37. But two days later, a doctor confirmed that the mass Shepherd had felt in a self-exam was malignant.
“The number-one party was on Monday, and I found out on Wednesday,” he said. “Talk about your highs and lows.”
Testicular cancer was the diagnosis. Shepherd had discovered it during a self-exam “like women do,” he said. “I had seen something on TV and felt a little bit of soreness.”
An ultrasound followed and two days later, surgery. Then came radiation treatments.
And then, recovery. Shepherd, who had cancelled studio and tour dates, resumed writing and playing with his two bands, Twang Thang and the Nashville Songwriters Band. He went into the studio to record demo CDs of new songs. He joined an Armed Forces Entertainment tour and traveled overseas to entertain the military.
And he put cancer behind him. His six-month follow-up examination showed no malignancy.
But his one-year physical indicated cancer in Shepherd’s lymph nodes.
“This time we’re going to have to do something stronger,” Shepherd said his doctor told him. After his surgery, Shepherd had undergone 30 days of five-minute radiation treatments. This time, it would be nine weeks of chemotherapy.
“The radiation made me feel nauseous, but the chemotherapy just knocked me down,” Shepherd said.
His schedule began with a five-day week of chemo that started at 8 a.m. and went until 4 pm. “It was like a full-time job, going to work,” he said.
“I lost all my hair, felt lousy and was scared,” Shepherd said.
“The longer I did it, the worse I felt,” Shepherd said. “I felt lost and mad and sad, and wondered what did I do to deserve this.”
Shepherd converted the feelings into lyrics, for a song called, “My Own Personal 9-11,” that is included on his newest CD, “Side Effects.” Today, after four consecutive follow-up examinations that have showed no remission, Shepherd has once again beaten cancer.
And he’s back on the road. After completing a string of appearances around his hometown of Winchester, Va., Shepherd is scheduled to travel with Armed Forces Entertainment at Thanksgiving, for troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Africa and Germany.
But Shepherd isn’t leaving songwriting behind entirely. I’m still going to write songs,” he said. “I’m not giving that up.”
Being sick made Shepherd face “stuff you normally, hopefully don’t have to think about,” he said. He took stock of how he had spent his time, and how he would want to spend the rest of his life.
“What is it I really want to do, and what is it I really want to accomplish,” he said.
Thirteen years in Nashville had taught Shepherd that what he most loves is performing. So he’s going to emphasize that.
His recent appearances were as a solo artist, without musical backup. Shepherd said he likes the spontaneity that performing alone allows. “You don’t have to rehearse and be the travel coordinator of four or five other people,” he said.
It’s just him and his guitar. After every few songs, Shepherd leads the crowd in a “swaller and holler,” inviting them to take a swig of their chosen beverage, while he sips on ice water. The hair Shepherd lost during chemotherapy has come back curly
Shepherd relates his pride at having recently won an award from ASCAP, the organization that monitors royalty payments for writers. He received it at the Grand Ol’ Opry, center stage, on the same circle in the floorboards that has enclosed artists from Hank Williams to Patsy Cline.
“He was beaming,” said Shepherd’s wife, Misty.
“It’s just a total thrill when they call your name and you get to stand on that famous stage,” Shepherd said. “Jon BonJovi was there. He’s a writer. Brad Paisley was there. He’s a writer. We’re all writers. We’re all in the same club.”
