Playing It Forward
By Michael “Doc” Studard – Kickin Kountry 101 / Doc & Friends
When I sat down with Carl Wayne Meekins, I expected to meet a man who loved music. What I found instead was a man whose entire life hums with it — every nail he hammers, every song he sings, every person he helps along the way. The Chesapeake-born artist has the kind of energy that fills a room before a note is played, and when he starts talking about his journey from attic drums to Nashville stages, you can feel that spark he’s been chasing since he was five years old.
Carl’s story starts in a Virginia attic. “My brother and I found Dad’s old drum kit,” he told me, smiling like it had happened yesterday. “Hot-pink sparkle finish, still had dust from another life on it.” In that same attic sat a box of faded photos — his dad and Uncle Bill in a bar band, guitars slung low, grinning like they owned the world. Those pictures lit something in the little boy who would one day light up stages of his own.
From Sock Hops to Honky-Tonks
By middle school, Carl was the kid playing talent shows and sock hops, pulling friends into garage bands that shook the cul-de-sac. His mom’s stereo stayed busy too — Elvis, Elton John, Donna Summer, Van Halen, Glen Campbell. “I wore out those records,” he said. “Didn’t matter if it was disco or outlaw country — I just liked how honest it all was.”
That honesty followed him onto the road. As a young front man he spent years touring the club circuit, covering everything from Motown to hard rock. “I learned pretty quick that a good song’s a good song,” he said. “If it moves somebody, it’s worth singing.” But the more miles he logged, the clearer it became that country music was home. “Country was where the stories lived,” he said. “That’s where I felt like myself.”
The Nashville Chapter
Eventually, Carl and his wife Tonya packed up and headed for Nashville — a leap of faith that’s now spanned more than twenty years. There they raised their daughter Carlie, built a life, and learned the balance between chasing dreams and paying the light bill. “I love this town,” Carl said. “It’ll chew you up some days, but it’ll also hand you your purpose if you hang in long enough.”
To keep that purpose alive, he built more than songs — he built a business. His remodeling company kept food on the table while giving him something creative to do with his hands. “Music and construction aren’t that different,” he laughed. “You start with a blank space, build something solid, and hope it stands when you’re done.”
A Second Chance and a Promise
In 2020, the hammer nearly went silent. Carl came face-to-face with COVID-19 and almost didn’t make it. “I remember lying there thinking, if I get another shot at this, I’m gonna do more than just survive,” he said quietly. When he recovered, he made himself a promise — and to God — that he’d use whatever time he had left to give back through music.
That promise became Play It Forward, a campaign that’s seen Carl give away more than eighty guitars to veterans, kids, and folks who just needed a break. “Somebody gave me a guitar when I couldn’t afford one,” he said. “It changed my life. So I figured the best way to honor that is to do the same for somebody else.”
He doesn’t just hand over the instrument and walk away. He tells each person the same thing: “You don’t owe me anything — just play it forward when it’s your turn.” And they do. Stories have rolled back to him about soldiers teaching their kids to play, teenagers starting bands, strangers forming friendships over those six strings.
The Ripple Effect
Carl’s latest single, “Pebble,” captures that spirit perfectly — the idea that small acts can send ripples farther than we ever see. “It came out of something my grandma used to say,” he told me. “‘Throw a pebble in the pond and watch what happens.’ We might never see where the ripples end, but they’re out there.”
Listening to Pebble feels like standing in sunlight after a storm — steady, hopeful, and built on truth. It’s not about chart positions or algorithms. It’s about connection. And that’s what Carl keeps coming back to, whether he’s in a Nashville studio, a church parking lot, or a fairground somewhere between.
“I’ve done a lot of living,” he said. “Music’s the language I use to talk about it. If a song of mine helps somebody get through their day or chase their dream, then I’ve done my job.”
Faith, Family, and Forward Motion
Faith runs through his story like a bassline — never preachy, just present. He credits Tonya and Carlie for keeping him grounded, and his faith for keeping him grateful. “Every day’s a gift,” he said. “You can waste it worrying, or you can spend it doing something good.”
That philosophy seeps into every chord he plays. Whether he’s opening for a national act, leading worship near home, or handing a veteran a new guitar, Carl carries the same message: kindness is a muscle — the more you use it, the stronger it gets.
‘Let’s Get It’
Carl’s motto for 2025 is simple: “Let’s get it.” It’s on his shirts, his socials, and the tip of his tongue whenever someone asks how he’s doing. “It means don’t wait around for perfect,” he said with a grin. “If you’ve got breath in your lungs, you’ve got a reason to move.”
That kind of drive is rare these days — equal parts blue-collar toughness and country-boy charm. Watching him talk about the future, I could see that little kid from the attic still in there, beating on those pink drums, dreaming of making some noise in the world.
Before we wrapped up, I asked him what success looks like now. He thought for a moment, then said, “Success is when somebody else believes they can do it too. When your story makes them try.”
That’s the heart of Play It Forward: not fame, not fortune, but faith — in people, in music, in the idea that one good act can echo louder than any guitar solo.
Carl Wayne Meekins isn’t just making music. He’s building bridges, one song, one story, and one guitar at a time.
And if you ask him what’s next, he’ll flash that grin, lean back in his chair, and say exactly what he’s been saying since he got a second chance at life:
“Let’s get it.”
Mornings With Doc 
Leave a comment