The day Kenny Chesney came to Johnson leads to a new recording

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jul 16, 20200

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Amanda C. Druffel

JOHNSON - In the late spring of 1995, a Druffel farmhouse near Johnson received a knock at the door.

A production company was in the area location-scouting for a music video.

The visitors said they liked the look of the house and porch, and wondered if they may film a young singer on it, from Tennessee, by the name of Kenny Chesney.

The Druffels agreed and the video was shot for the song "Me and You."

It would be years before the artist's name would register across the country.

Included in the video were the late John Druffel and his wife Alma Druffel – walking up a Colton sidewalk hand in hand. Other local people were also in it.

One who was not was Amanda C. Druffel, then four years old.

Later

This spring, 25 years later, Druffel, working as a cosmetologist in Nashville (on eyelashes), the hobbyist singer was asked by a producer friend – married to Druffel's friend from Pullman – if she wanted to work on something in his home studio.

Druffel said yes. She wanted to record "Me and You."

"It happened because of quarantine, actually," she said.

The producers arranged for the licensing to the song – written by Skip Ewing and Ray Herndon – called a "mechanical license."

They recorded it June 11.

"I've always had this little pipe dream of recording this song," said Druffel.

She did it in tribute to her grandparents. John would have turned 100 on June 16; Alma, now of Olympia, turned 96 on June 21. Jack Flack lives on a farm outside Pullman and the late Susie Flack died two years ago.

Amanda, who previously lived in Los Angeles, came back to Whitman County for a year in 2018-19, in part to visit her grandfather Jack. She moved to Nashville last September.

Her and producers Ted Skolits and Evan Sieling recorded "Me and You," the two of them playing all of the instruments and Druffel singing.

Before

Amanda went to Logos School in Moscow growing up and Pullman High School.

"I sang at church, I sang at school, I sang at home," Druffel said.

One Easter, at her aunt's house in Kennewick, her and some cousins were watching CMT at random and suddenly one of them saw their grandparents on T.V.

"I think we all kind of forgot about it," Druffel said, referring to the video and that young man on the porch, who they have home video of playing basketball with Amanda's cousins Jake and Bernie Druffel.

Amanda has no set plans for further recording.

Her version of "Me and You" may be found on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Youtube Music, Google Play and more.