(guitar strums)

- [Host] Country singer,song writer, Rory Feek,

loves life on the farm.

In this idyllic setting, he'sraising his four-year-old

daughter, writing, performingagain, and preparing

a one-room schoolhouse forhis little girl and others.

In his latest book, Once Upona Farm, Rory reflects on life

without his beloved wifeand singing partner, Joey,

who died of cervical cancer in 2016.

- Once Upon a Farm, Lessonsin Growing in Love, Life,

and Hope on a New Frontier.

The new frontier iswhere you're going now,

where you are now?

- Yeah, the new frontier for me is,

sort of life going on without Joey.

- Yeah, you're a song writer,

but you haven't been writing songs.

- [Rory] True.

- Why?

- Well, I just haven't reallyhad any desire to write songs

in a number of years.

I've been writing books, andI've been writing a blog,

and that's actually filledme, you know, creatively,

I feel like even writingthese stories in a blog

or chapters in a book, itfeels like songwriting.

- [Host] You afraid of it?

- No, I've just been doinga bunch of other things.

(laughs)

So I haven't had time, and I actually,

I just haven't had any real interest

in writing songs these days.

I might down the road.

- [Host] We talked in thegarage that the Feek's had

turned into a recording studioand concert hall years ago.

When Joey got sick, Rorystopped singing and performing

for a couple of years.

In the fall of 2017,he decided it was time

to get back on the stage.

You've come back to singing alone,

and with your daughter, Heidi.

Is that a strange experience for you now?

- It is, it's a littlestrange, but it's also familiar

at the same time.

I didn't have to go farto start singing again,

just walk across thedriveway and it's right here.

This was the last placethat we sang together

in the fall of 2015,

and so the fall of 2017,

I decided to get back on stage again.

It was surreal in one way,because I'm just used to being

on the stage with Joey.

But in another way, it was very familiar.

It was almost like we steppedoff the stage yesterday,

and now I'm stepping back in.

Your fingers knew what toplay, even after two years.

Your mind knew the lyrics of the songs,

and it just felt really comfortable.

So I've just continued doing it.

So we do one weekend a month here.

Next weekend there'll be300 people here on Friday

and Saturday nights, and we'llbe on stage tellin' stories

and singing songs.

- [Host] Before meetingJoey, Rory was a divorced,

single dad, raising Heidiand her sister, Hopie.

Parenting alone for thesecond time, he says he hopes

to do a better job.

- I feel like I didn'ttrain them that well.

I had a lot of my own lifethat I was living out in front

of them, making a lot ofmistakes in front of them,

and they watched them.

And so, I was 33 really beforeI started turning my life

over to Christ, and reallytrying to be a different man.

- [Host] After 12 yearsof marriage, Rory and Joey

had their only child, Indiana.

I wanted to ask you about her name.

Where did the name Indiana come from?

- Indiana is from my wife,she was born and raised

in Alexandria, Indiana,home of Bill Gaither.

When we had the baby, wewanted to name her Indiana,

and we call her Indy most of the time.

- And she is a Down's Syndrome child?

- Yes, she is.

She doesn't know she is, but she is.

She just has really pretty eyes.

- Now you're doing this without your wife.

A dad all on your own.

That's pretty challenging stuff.

- It is challenging, but Iwas a dad on my own before.

One of the things that

was particularly tough was when

we found out that allthe chemo and surgeries

and the radiation wasn't working,

and it looked like thingswere not gonna go well,

and we had come back home and we decided

to discontinue treatment.

We were in the back, behindthe house, on the back deck,

and Joey was really upset,but she wasn't upset because

it looked like she wasn'tgonna be here when the baby's

growing up and be herewith me, she was upset

because I was going tobe a single father again.

That was tough, but I toldher, I said, I'm perfect.

I already know how to do it.

I was a single dad for 12 years.

You know, I'd like to thinkI'm a better father now

than I was then, trying to be.

It is a challenge, butit just feels like life.

You know what I mean?

It's lonelier because Iwish that we could share

in every beautiful, amazingmoment with the baby.

But it's okay.

- [Host] As he travels thisnew frontier in his life,

Rory rests in the fact thathe will never really be alone.

- [Rory] My belief in God isjust as strong or stronger

through what's happenedand also the belief

that I don't know what tomorrowholds, but I still believe

He's still giving us a great story.

- [Host] When Joey died, fans sent Rory

their condolences throughcards, letters, and money.

He decided to use it tobuild a one-room schoolhouse

on his farm for Indy and other children.

- And so we took that $100thousand, we got a bunch

of people in the community together.

We had an old-fashioned barnraising, only it wasn't a barn,

it was a schoolhouse.

So that's pretty amazing.

Now the plan is, Indy'sgonna go to school.

It's gonna be a pre-school the first year,

so there'll be a dozenlittle ones in there.

- [Host] Special needs kids?

No, or just any--

- Yeah, just any kids.

Some might have specialneeds, some might not.

But it's not a special needs school.

And then hopefully nextyear, when Indy's school age,

it'll be multi-age, soit'll be much more like

a one-room schoolhousefrom a hundred years ago.

- [Host] Rory says theproject isn't only about

his family, it's about bringingthe community together.

- I can also be part of my blessing,

I want to be other people's blessings.

- Yeah, a shared life, right?

- Yeah, yeah, life is way better shared.

It is.