Joey Garland admits he probably wouldn’t be friends or drinking buddies with former President Donald Trump.
“He’s from New York, for Pete’s sake,” said the Powell resident.
But that hasn’t stopped Garland, an established country musician who recently moved to Wyoming, from being one of Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters. And now his home is the state that supports the former president more than any other in America.
Not only does Garland support Trump’s policies and politics, he’s working to shoot a Wyoming-based music video this spring for his original song “Trump Train 2024.”
To add credence to the song title, Garland wants to shoot the video on a box car train with about 150 people on board and stick his band on top. It’s not an easy thing to coordinate.
And he wants to shoot the video by late April or early May.
“In Wyoming, that’s hard to do, to find a train that may be part of a tourist thing or a museum thing because you’re not going to be able to get on a commercial train,” Garland said.
All Aboard
The song’s chorus beckons listeners to climb “aboard the Trump Train 2024.”
Garland said when lyrics came into his head, he thought it would be a good idea to shoot a video for Trump if he got the Republican nomination so that he could beat famous country singer John Rich in getting the first Trump music video out.
“I know that sucker’s going to, so I'm hoping to beat him to the punch,” Garland said.
Garland hopes his video will get recognized by the Trump campaign, but said he’s doing it for the larger reason of assisting Trump.
If it doesn’t catch the attention of the campaign, Garland said it at least will get more people directly involved with assisting Trump, particularly in Park County.
“Fire them up and get them involved,” he said.
Garland already owns most of the camera equipment needed to shoot the video, but said finding people to operate it in northwest Wyoming has been a challenge.
He said he needs unpaid volunteers to help with the project, an approach he believes will result in a higher-quality finished product, espousing more authenticity for the driving purpose of the song.
“Pretty much if you believe in the cause, that’s what it is,” Garland said. “I think that I can get a better video from a producer’s point of view if people are there because they believe in the cause. I think I can get a better video than paying people.”
The Song And Trump
In his still-unfinished song, Garland remarks that, “make no mistake, you make America great,” referencing Trump. Garland adamantly supports all of Trump’s policies, including his stances on the southern border, energy and foreign affairs.
“You name it,” Garland said.
Garland also gives a shout-out to veterans in the song, and in the next breath insults Democrats.
“Their swords they carried so brave, now the Dems just want to piss on their grave,” he sings.
Who’s Garland?
Garland is a professional country musician who grew up in Georgia, but recently moved to Wyoming.
He has spent nearly his whole life on a stage, appearing in a family show throughout his childhood and his first paid professional show at the age of 8.
His family did a lot of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis covers while he was growing up. By the 1980s, he moved on to covering Lynyrd Skynyrd and other similar bands.
Now, Garland describes his music as a combination of rockabilly and country.
A well-known figure within the Georgia country music scene, Garland has recorded with the likes of John Michael Montgomery and Zac Brown, and also co-wrote music with Brown. He’s also hosted a traveling variety show where he’s performed at places like the Branson Star Theater in Branson, Missouri.
Garland wants to set up a year-round dinner theater in Cody that can broadcast and livestream online, which he would hope to use as a venue for hosting political debates, events and TV shows.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
