MESA, Ariz. -- Randy Wells' baseball career is just taking off, and someday the 27-year-old Cubs pitcher may write a song about the experience.
Wells, who will start the Cubs' Cactus League opener Thursday against Oakland, spends his free time writing songs and playing acoustic guitar. Well, he's trying to write.
"It's really hard to put music to words," the young pitcher said.
He's self-taught as far as the guitar goes, playing seriously for about a year. He's had a guitar for three, four years.
"But I never really made myself sit down and try to learn how," he said.
You probably won't hear his favorite artists on country music radio stations. Wells' play list includes Stoney LaRue, Cross Canadian Ragweed, the Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen and the Robert Earl Keen band. Their style of music is hard to describe -- it's a combination of country, rock and blues with honest lyrics and a swagger. Somehow, Wells connected.
"Those guys, it's just different," he said of the genre. "Everybody tries to put a label on them -- is it Texas country? Is it Red Dirt country? To me, it's good music, good people, good friends. I have fun with those guys and they like coming up [to see games]."
Check out the YouTube video of LaRue singing "I've Got That Old Feeling," and you'll get a sample. It can be a combination of country, rock and the blues, but the one unifying element is that the lyrics are honest.
I've got that old feeling
you're leaving.
I'm so tired of goodbyes
I can't wait on your love forever.
Will you change your mind?
Wells scribbles down lyrics when they hit him.
"You try to think of something that would make a good song," he said. "I took a vacation in January up to Steamboat for a country music festival. I tried writing a song about the whole experience and the mountains and good times and good friends and stuff like that.
"Then you try to think of a hook and try to think of a good chorus and something that'll grab people. Sometimes the chorus is the easiest thing to get, and then you have to think of words to fill in and write a song.
"It's tough. When you don't have any music to go along with it, it's really tough. Usually I just put words down or just write an idea. I've never written a full song. I'll write a bunch of choruses and send them to those guys and let them pick and choose. They haven't chosen one yet."
He's watched LaRue and his band brainstorm, saying the sessions are not "PG." Some adult beverages are usually consumed at the sessions.
"They sit on the back of the bus and jam out and play guitar and different chords and riffs and make stuff up and laugh, and then something pops and it's like, wow, that's good," Wells said.
He said inspiration can come from different sources other than liquid refreshments.
"[LaRue and Cody Canada] were just messing around and drinking wine and playing old Merle Haggard songs and started freestyling," Wells said. "All of a sudden, one of the words that jumped out hit Cody and they started writing it down just like that. All of a sudden, they wrote a song. It's pretty cool.
"Those guys are creative. We can play baseball, but that's their thing. It's really hard for somebody like me to venture into it. I don't do it as a serious thing at all. A lot of time, you're sitting in a hotel room and you're bored."
There is a lot of downtime for ballplayers on the road. Wells brings his guitar and works on his chords.
"It keeps you out of trouble and from spending money and doing dumb stuff," he said.
Pitcher Rich Harden, who was with the Cubs the last 1 1/2 seasons and is now with Texas, showed Wells his creative side with the guitar.
"He was really good at taking chords and scales and making up his own stuff," Wells said. "I enjoy that more than playing other people's songs.
"The hardest thing is remembering a chord. [The musicians] are so good. They can sit here and talk and say, 'Oh, that's a good song. It's G, C, D, E, E-minor and F-scale,' and they'll play it."
Wells may be able to grip a baseball but he's having a tough time making the transition from one chord to another.
"I'm just starting out," he said. "I enjoy writing down thoughts and memories. We get to do so much cool stuff. It's nice to write down and remember it. It's like taking pictures."
Last year, Wells convinced LaRue to sing the national anthem before a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. He often wears T-shirts from the band's concerts to help promote them.
"They're not really mainstream yet, and I don't know if they're going to be," Wells said. "They enjoy what they do in Texas and Oklahoma and they have a big following. They're superstars down there. Everybody wants to write the song that defines them, but those guys have fun and I can respect that more than doing it as a business."
This spring, Wells' focus is on baseball. Last season, he was called up from Triple-A Iowa in May and never looked back, finishing 12-10 with a 3.05 ERA in 27 starts. They were the most wins by a Cubs rookie since Kerry Wood won 13 in 1998.
"This last year of my life has been pretty special and pretty [amazing]," said Wells, somewhat awestruck that he can call the musicians his friends. "It's just cool to relate to those guys."
In November, Wells hosted a fundraiser in his hometown of Belleville, Ill., to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and he's hoping to do something this year in Chicago as well. He's trying to line up one of the bands to perform.
Maybe by then, he'll have a song done.
"I love music, I'm always listening to music," he said. "I love going on the road with my friends and watching them play and getting in touch with their lives and how they go about their business.
"It's kind of like being in baseball. You're away from home a lot. You've got a lot of time alone. Their creative juices flow. For us, we're most comfortable here on the field."
He's getting ready for the big stage.
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