God comes first, but the music flows in Jimmy and Jim Hayes

CAMILLA — On the surface, at just a cursory glance or two, Jimmy Hayes appears to be one of the least complicated men you’ll ever meet.

Oh, he’s made a name for himself, turning a request from God into the ultra-successful Andersonville Theological Seminary, a multimillion-dollar institute that he built from his kitchen through an ad he managed to get on credit and a borrowed typewriter into a biblical sanctuary whose students come from all parts of the world.

But Hayes — and, as it turns out, his son, Jim — has talents that stretch beyond the walls of the Andersonville Seminary, talents that have each of the Hayes boys on the verge of potential musical careers that have their names being bandied about by the elite along Nashville’s Music Row.

Jimmy Hayes is currently waiting out aggravating legal hassles that have held up the release of his patriotic anthem “Believe in America,” which country legend Charlie Pride had selected to include on an album he was recording before his untimely death. The song’s inclusion on what was turned into a tribute to Pride got new life when another country superstar, Garth Brooks, signed on to record it. Until those legal hassles are cleared up, though, the project remains in limbo.

Meanwhile, Jim Hayes has suddenly found himself the lyricist with the most downloaded song on Christian Country radio, singer Joshua Clark’s recording of his “Half the Man” having been downloaded by more than 2,800 radio stations, several of which have added the song to their playlists.

“Downloads of the song entered the charts at around No. 200, and within six days it was up to No. 12,” the younger Hayes said. “Vince Gill’s new song kept ‘Half the Man’ at No. 2 for a while, then for five days it was the No. 1 most added song.

“Joshua had signed with a big label, but they let him go. So he signed with a small, independent label and recorded ‘Half the Man.’ Now the big labels are back, trying to sign him.”

Pretty heady stuff for a couple of down-to-earth, aw-shucks humble guys from Camilla, the elder of which declared of their songwriting talent, “It’s just a hobby.”

Not that the Hayes men don’t have plenty to occupy their time. Jimmy is the founder and director of the Andersonville Seminary, and son Jim is the seminary’s curriculum director. The humble seminary has become a force in Christian education, graduating some 30,000 students from more than two dozen countries since it opened in 1981.

Still, they’ve found time for their “hobby” in recent days, writing 11 songs that are in various stages of having demos recorded and shopped by their Nashville-based writing partner Ron Wallace.

Tired of having the demos he sent to Nashville returned with a “no, thank you” note attached, Jimmy Hayes, who’d been writing songs most of his life, cold-called a Nashville studio looking for a writing partner and, as fate would have it, was put in touch with Wallace.

“We talked on the phone and made an agreement: I’d send him the lyrics, and he’d write the music and record the demos,” Jimmy Hayes said. “We agreed to split any royalties 50-50. It was one of those things that just seemed right. Now Ron is one of the most respected singers/songwriters in Nashville.

“I trust Ron 100%. Once I turn something over to him, it’s his.”

Although he’s starting to make his mark in the music business later in life, Jimmy Hayes is no fly-by-night, you-got-lucky hack. He’s written more songs than most of the musicians who perform country music’s current Hot 100 playlist combined.

“It’s something I did, writing songs to sing to my daughter to stop her from crying,” Hayes said. “I remember my wife, Cherry, asking, ‘Where did that come from?’ So I just kept doing it. I’d say I’ve written about 14 pure gospel songs and about 400 to 500 country songs.”

And Jim?

“Let’s see: If he’s written 400 songs, I’m about 390 behind him,” the younger Hayes lyricist laughs. “I’ve written maybe a dozen songs. I started writing poetry in college after I read some of my dad’s poems. He has such a talent, and I’ve always wanted to write as good a songs as my dad.”

Of course, the growing interest in “Half the Man” is a huge step in that direction. In addition to the budding hit that has Nashville abuzz, recent songs written by Jim Hayes include “Mean Street,” “Tiptoes,” “Too Far From Home,” “Pretty Green Cornfields” (based on his grandfather’s dying words, ‘I see pretty green cornfields.’) and “Little Joe and the Gorilla,” a tune he wrote about one of his dad’s exploits.

In addition to “Believe in America,” Jimmy Hayes’ latest compositions include “Without Your Love,” “If God Wore Denim,” “God and Guns,” “Battle With the Bottle,” “Superman,” “Heaven Bound,” and “Castles in the Sand.” All of the songs except a couple written by Jim have been recorded by Wallace.

“Dad will sit down and write a song in a matter of minutes,” Jimmy Hayes said. “It might take me hours. I have to work my way into writing. You might have the craft and talent, but if you don’t use it, you have to knock off the rust.”

The question arises, and both Hayes men swat it down quickly: Does your songwriting interfere with the business of the Andersonville Seminary?

“Oh, no,” Jimmy Hayes says. “The songwriting comes next for us. We’re entirely focused on what God has laid out for us to do. We do this if we have some free time.”

Adds Jim: “In theology, one of the primary things you do is study. Writing songs like this helps me to relax my mind.”

A rarity involving the Hayeses’ songwriting prowess might offer an indication of the lyrical talent that runs through the pair’s DNA. In 1967, when he returned home from service in Vietnam, Jimmy wrote a poem called “The Trial,” which chronicled the story of a man who killed someone. Jim picked it up some 55 years later and wrote the sequel, which included the killer’s actual trial and the aftermath in which the man “cleaned up his life and got right with God.”

“I read what he had written and realized Jim’s definitely got the talent for this,” Jimmy Hayes said.

The Hayes men draw inspiration from some of Nashville’s finest, listing Pride, Brooks, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson and Jim Reeves among their inspirations. But they are on their own when it comes to the writing process.

“I’m always trying to find something, that hook, to get me going,” Jim says. “Like in one of my songs, the line ‘Screen doors and sweet tea are calling me back home’ was what I needed to find the song.”

Notes Jimmy, “Sometimes I might have a song come to me whole, all at once. And there are times I’ll be lying in bed asleep, when a song will come to me. I have to get up and write it down. Cherry will say, ‘What are you doing?’ and I’ll say, ‘I’ve got this song and I’ve got to write it down now.'”

Unlike many “starving artists” who, as Roger Miller once said, “Sing for your supper? Remember on the other end of a spoon a guy’s working on a song,” the Hayes men are not relying on the next big hit to feed their families. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to see one of their songs earn a bit of recognition.

“I guess the goal is to have a dozen or so songs go to the Top 10 and maybe one hit No. 1 on Billboard,” Jimmy Hayes says. “We know we’re playing against the house, and to make it to the top you’ve got to beat what’s in the house.”

Staff Photo: Carlton FletcherStaff Photo: Carlton Fletcher