Rory Feek’s ‘This Life I Live’ Series has found a new home.
The country music singer-songwriter has spent years telling his stories through songs, books, film, and his popular blog “This Life I Live,” which he started in 2014. It was the year when he and his wife and fellow country singer, Joey Feek, decided to take a break from the music industry.
“My wife and I had gradually moved away from how most people do the music industry which is you make records, you go out and tour, you take your music to people, you try to talk radio stations into playing it, and you’re gone all the time,” Rory Feek revealed. “We wanted to find a way to reach an audience to make music without leaving home, so that’s what we did.”
The couple then spent most of their time on their farm in Columbia, Tennessee, preparing for their baby’s birth. Soon after, they welcome their daughter, Indiana, into the world. The gorgeous, joyful little girl with Down Syndrome became the apple of her parents’ eyes.
Through Rory Feek’s blog, millions of fans get a glimpse of the couple’s life with Indiana. It also shows the moment when Joey sadly became ill, her tough battle with cancer, and later her passing in 2016. Four years later, Rory Feek is now sharing the new chapter of his life in a TV version of the blog that airs every Sunday night on the cable network, RFD-TV.
The New Chapter of Rory Feek’s Life Begins
The “When I’m Gone” singer is a devoted single-dad to his daughter, Indiana, who was only two years old when her mother died. The series allows us to witness how Rory is raising his little girl in their small, close-knit farming community. One episode, for instance, showed family, friends, and neighbors coming together. They were hand-in-hand in building a one-room schoolhouse in Rory’s property. It is for Indiana and several other local children.
“It’s been life-changing for her, for me, for the other kids that go there, and for the community,” Feek said. “It’s also been inspiring for other people who follow it online. This is Indy’s kindergarten year, so there’s a lot in store. And it’s not just a schoolhouse, it’s also a little farm school. They’ve got baby chicks, they have a pony, and soon we’ll have sheep and cows. They also have a big garden and greenhouse, so it’s pretty special.”
The idea of building a school was actually inspired by Joey’s dream to homeschool Indiana someday. After her death, Rory Feek started looking for a way to put a one-room schoolhouse on his farm. They were able to do so, thanks to the donations that came in from all over the world after Joey died. And what’s even more touching is that Indiana’s schoolhouse, called the Hardison Mill School, sits just within a viewing distance of where Joey is buried.
Some of the show’s storylines also feature the opening of the family restaurant into a new location, Marcy Jo’s Muletown. It also shows how Rory is learning to be a solo performer after many years of being part of an award-winning musical duo.
There’s also a recent episode that starts with a farmer riding a tractor, as Feek reflects on what he has learned throughout the years.
“For most of my life, the people I looked up to were on the radio or television or singing on stages in front of thousands of people. I spent most of my 20’s and 30’s wanting a life like theirs. Now the people I admire look a little different,” Fleek pondered. “A lot of times, they’re in overalls, or they’re just simple folks living in a small house who have somehow managed to keep an extraordinary value system in the midst of a culture that’s moving so fast.”
He said now that he is 55 years old, he doesn’t want to miss a minute of what truly matters.
“I don’t want to miss any time with my little girl, I don’t want to look back and regret and wish I’d done more of this or that, and I don’t want to look back and say I wish I’d spent less time chasing money and more time trying to help people and make a difference.”
He also admitted that some of those lessons have evolved through time.
“Now that I’ve seen how quickly life can change, it’s been four years, and I still can’t believe my wife’s not here. And of course, now with the Coronavirus, and people obviously very shaken by it, it makes you remember what matters most. And I’m just trying to align myself to that more and more every day.”
Rory Feek on Moving On
The couple, who performed for years together under the moniker Joey + Rory, earned praises for their traditional country sound. Rory and his wife, Joey, have turned a barn on their property into a concert hall and started performing for crowds who traveled to see them.
The Joey + Rory Show also aired on RFD-TV from 2012 to 2014. It is a variety show that highlighted their lives as a well-loved singing and songwriting duo who found a way to do things a little bit differently.
In the years since Joey’s death, the country singer said that he still feels completely taken, romantically speaking. “I still feel like I’m 100 percent married and in a full, regular marriage,” Feek told People about his eternal connection with Joey. “The only difference is that she’s just not around, but it’s a funny thing to feel so complete and not have her here. She was such an amazing gift and filled my life so much that she continues to fill it.”
But this doesn’t mean that he, together with Indiana and other two grown daughters, is not moving forward. In fact, the concept of bringing both live and TV audiences to Columbia, Tennessee, is his way of doing so. In addition to the airing of Rory Feek’s ‘This Life I Live’ TV series, he has also taken a job as a job as Creative Director with RFD-TV. It’s his goal to add several new shows into the network.
During the press release, Feek admitted that being a much larger part of RFD-TV is an incredible opportunity for him. Of course, he’s someone who has seen first-hand how having a show on RFD can change your life, at the same time, be able to inspire others. He said that this new role allows him to help others experience the same thing.
“I don’t know if it’s cathartic or therapeutic, but it actually helps me process what we’re going through,” Rory explained. “When I’m storytelling, it helps me to understand a little better what’s happening in my own life and to try to make sense of the world a little more.”
New episodes of Rory Feek’s ‘This Life I Live’ TV series airs on RFD-TV at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT every Sunday. You can watch previous episodes on YouTube.
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joey and rory, Rory Feek