Más Cowboy, Más Catholicism

©terry towery

It's been too long. I miss you and do hope you remember me.

My passport says I've been to 73 countries. I had to order one of those extra-pages passports. It looks and feels more like a little booklet than a travel document or form of identification. Hundreds of stamps, full-page entrance visas (thank you Saudi Arabia and China), hand signatures (India's crazy that way). My passport marks me as well-traveled American which, for some, is as un-American as bilingualism.

I wanted to travel the world as a musician but a breached recording contract, a prolonged lawsuit, and some seismic shifts in the music industry (to say nothing of some God-awful personal decisions!)warped what was once a typical arc of "making it." Add fatherhood to the mix and, well, commercial success quickly takes a back seat to artistic- and familial integrity. I had to find ways of doing right by my kids -- the flesh and blood ones (2!) and the songs I write.

The last few years have been a blur of international travel, recording, writing, and recalibration as an artist, father, and person in Recovery. I didn't expect - but am so grateful for - that the globe trotting would be primarily as an educator. Not too shabby, I suppose, for a former high school English teacher from Florida:).

On the música front, the band and I have released 9 new singles since last year, and are about to release an album. It's a new direction for us, decidedly less Cuban and more Cowboy (and pensive/personal) than ever.

We're releasing a memoir later this year as well. It's the second edition of an ebook built around one of our songs (Jinetero). Jinetero 2.0 will be available in print, audio, and ebook formats. Suffice to say I've been busy but def have (finally) gotten back in the saddle artistically.

All of that said, one of the most profound changes I've undergone has been a return to my Catholic faith. Don't worry, I'm not about to proselytize here! Like mentioning "I used to be an English teacher" can make some folks self-conscious about their grammar or vocabulary, or, when telling strangers that I've been clean-sober for 17 years makes folks uncomfortable and (at times) defensive, I'm mindful that mention of religion (or lack of religion) in everyday conversation with colleagues or strangers is likely to stir up x amount of tension or discomfort. I'm just telling you because I want you to know where I'm coming from and how I view where I'm going - directions and perspective that you'll be privy to via the upcoming album and new memoir.

Here's the short version of how it happened: My son (now 19, a college sophomore) converted to Catholicism two and half years ago. I had never had him or his younger sister baptized. I'd long ago abandoned the Church by the time they were born, and figured, since I no longer believed in- or practiced the faith, why go through the motions for something I thought they should decide for himself later in life (horrifying my Cuban mom, claro!). During a college tour road trip back then I noticed he was reading the Bible and praying quite a bit but thought little of it besides "What the fuck!? How can this my son??! I took him to Portugal and Galicia later that summer and really enjoyed watching him pray in churches or basilicas in every town we visited (culminating at the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, the Camino's terminus and one of Catholicism's most important sites).

I began attending Mass with him on Sundays, driving him to Adoration on Fridays at churches in San Francisco. At first, I did so in order to bond with him (especially since no one else in our/his mom's family is Catholic). But, damn, his faith, his fire for the Church, for Christ, burned/burns bright. I found myself saying the Rosary each day ("It's meditative," I said!), going to Mass during the week by myself more often. I ended speaking to a parish priest about maybe coming back to Catholicism. He suggested that I wait and see until my son had gone off to college. Would I keep going to church? Would I keep infusing my Recovery with key aspects of Catholic faith? Was it all just for bonding's sake? I took the priest's advise. If anything, my old faith awakened more and began to deepen.

On November 14th, 2024, I made my first Confession and received Holy Communion for the first time in 42 years. It hasn't yet been a full year since this happened, but so much has changed for me. I've spent 17 years 'in the rooms' (i.e., Recovery), saying that my 12-Step program did more for me than the Catholic Church ever did. And now an inversion of sorts is taking place, as Catholicism is doing more for my Recovery than I could have ever imagined.

Life is weird. God works in some strange-ass ways. I've learned that through travel, sure, but also through figuring out how to find God in art as much as in others. I'm sure I'll write more about this eventually. But, for now, just wanted to give you a head's up.

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