My name is Rex Mingie, and I am the webmaster of this site which is dedicated to Andrew James Smalls, also known as Marshal Andy; and this is my tribute to my dear friend.

I met Marshal Andy many years ago, probably about 2016 or so. He and Kathryn would come to my barber shop to get Andy’s hair cut. For a while, he was simply a customer who I would see once a month; but, as time went on, he became a friend. He began inviting me to his Christmas shows at the Buddy’s Barbeque Banquet Hall; and at some point, he came up with the idea of trading a haircut for a commercial on his radio show, which I agreed to.

As the years passed and his health declined, Andy asked me to come to his home and cut his hair which I did for a few years.

And then one day as I was listening to his radio show, I realized how cool of a song his opening musical intro was – “Eddy’s Song” by Eddy Arnold who was a dear close friend to Marshal Andy. I then had the idea of recording that song with Andy and posting the video on my barbershop website. Instead of posting it on the business website, I posted it on my YouTube channel. Andy and I then decided to start recording music videos on a regular basis and uploading them to YouTube. This decision was the birth of what is now known as Marshal Andy and Friends – The Loudon Sessions.

This is where my debt of gratitude to Marshal Andy comes into play. You see, I had played guitar since I was fifteen years old; but I had never recorded anything and had never performed in front of an audience. I assumed that I never would play guitar publicly. But as we began recording songs, something unexpected happened: I was drawn out of my shell of shyness and fear of publicly performing, because something about singing changes you. It strengthens you and builds your self-confidence and character.

Andy asked me on several occasions to perform songs at his concerts. I could not, even though the thought of it made me a bit nervous, refuse him because it would have been rude to do so after having recorded all of our YouTube home videos together. So, I did what I never thought I would ever do and never thought I would ever have the courage to do – play guitar and sing in front of an audience.

Publicly performing made me a better person, and I have Marshal Andy to thank for that. I will forever be in his debt.

Thank you, Marshal Andy, for your friendship over the past ten years and thank you for helping me become a better, more-self-confident person. I will always be in your debt for the contribution you made.