In small towns, the real stories don’t happen under stage lights. They unfold at the bingo hall, the burger bar, the quilt raffle, the hardware store aisle, and even at the post office window. They’re ordinary places — but they hold the kind of moments that stick with you.
A Small Town Diary, Vol. 2 continues the path started in the first diary: nine new songs that turn everyday errands and events into little love stories. Some are playful, some tender, and some downright surprising.
You’ll hear brass knuckles at bingo, a clumsy step in a line dancing class, a kiss stolen in the Tunnel of Love at the county fair, and a goodbye at the train station that turns into a beginning. Each song is a diary entry in its own right, built from small-town humor, close country harmonies, and a wink at how life rarely goes as planned.
These aren’t just songs about small towns. They’re about the way love sneaks in when you aren’t looking — while buying groceries, mailing a letter, or waiting for a train that may never take you away.
🎶 Listen to A Small Town Diary, Vol. 2 here: bill-leyden.bandcamp.com/album/a-small-town-diary-vol-2
Bill Leyden & Some Alt-Country Heroes
📖 Track by Track
1. Bingo Night Breakdown
A night meant for daubers and cards turns into chaos when gossip flies and brass knuckles make an appearance. Amid the uproar, sparks of romance sneak through the noise.
2. Line Dancing Lessons
Sometimes two left feet can lead you right where you need to be. A clumsy turn on the floor becomes the start of something warmer, proving love doesn’t care if you miss a step.
3. The Pickup Came Through Again
Trucks break down, tempers flare, but connection happens in the unlikeliest places. Even when the engine stalls, love finds a way to carry you home.
4. The Quilt Raffle
Patchwork fabric stitched by many hands becomes a metaphor for life and love: frayed, imperfect, yet strong enough to bind strangers together in warmth.
5. Nuts and Bolts
Romance in the hardware aisle. What starts with the wrong-size screws and a borrowed hand turns into something fastened tight — proof that love is built from the smallest pieces.
6. The County Fair Kiss
Fireworks, teddy bears, the Tunnel of Love — summer nights don’t get more poetic or more surprising. A kiss at the fair outlasts the rides and games.
7. The Grocery Line Smile
From peaches at the Piggly Wiggly, to a bottle of wine at Kroger, to a note at the A&P checkout, this one is about how romance keeps slipping into the basket when you’re just running errands.
8. Post Office Window
Borrowed pens, numbered tickets, and overheard grumbles — even here, love can find its way, stamped and sealed in the unlikeliest of lines.
9. Train Station Goodbye
The closer. What begins as a farewell beneath lanterns and steam turns into a beginning when she stays behind. A cinematic ending that proves sometimes goodbye is just love in waiting.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed producing it!
Bill
Bill Leyden's Blog 