At first sight

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”
-Carol Lynn Pearson

If one were to search for treasure in Santa Rosa County, you can’t come much closer to finding it than at the Farmer’s Opry in Chumuckla.
Derek Alan Barnes may have been born with eyes that failed to form fully, but his character and his talent have developed to a level most would envy.

Barnes, 42, was born on December 14, 1965. He says the doctors aren’t sure why his eyes never finished developing.
“I was blind at birth. They are not exactly sure [what caused the blindness], my eyes are there, but they just didn’t quite develop to the point where normal eyes are supposed to develop. My eyeballs are just a little bit smaller for some reason. I have never been able to see,” he says.
Barnes is, and always has been, profoundly blind, but he is also a superbly talented musician, a father to two active toddlers, and the loving husband to the love of his life, Pam, who is also blind.

He says he began playing the piano at the age of 5 and he has played the keyboard with the Sawmill Band at the Chumuckla Opry since January of 2005. 

Barnes talks about the start of his career with the band.

“Music has always just been such a big part of my life, you know. My wife and I had visited there [the Opry] in the past and we enjoyed it. So, I was so interested in playing with them and I just thought I would never get a chance, but then Sandy [Wyatt, leader of the Sawmill Band] called me up one day in the summer of ‘04 and said there were some changes coming up in the Opry and the Sawmill Band and he asked me if I would be interested in playing keyboard for him.

“I said ‘Heck yeah, you better believe it.’

“He told me, ‘unfortunately I can’t tell you when or how or whatever, but basically I will just let you know when they [changes] start to come down’ and we communicated on and off throughout the summer.

“The week between Christmas and New Year of ’04, he called me and said the keyboard player had decided to hang it up, and he said, ‘so if you want to be in, you are in, but we have a problem...’

“I said ‘what’s that?’

“And he said ‘we have to rehearse.’

“I said ‘when?’

“And he said ‘tonight.’

Barnes says he learned in excess of 50 to 60 songs in that first week and a half of practicing with the band.

“The first day that I played there [with the sawmill band] was, I believe, about January 6 or 7 of ’05.

“I was really nervous because I was still shaky on some of the material; a lot of it I had heard on the radio and all, but I was still uncertain about some things and I made a few mistakes along the way, but Sandy was so gracious,” he says.

Barnes thinks highly of the leader of the Sawmill Band and credits Wyatt with helping to keep him humble.

“One of the things that I really admire about Sandy is that he is so humble.

“I have always tried to be a humble person, I have played the piano since I was five and now I am 42, but I have always tried to be humble.
“Sandy really helped to bring that out in me.”

“For the entire first year, he [Wyatt] drove me home from the Chumuckla Farmer’s Opry to my house, and at the time I lived in Harold, every weekend.  I would take public transportation to work, but he always took me home and he never allowed me to pay him anything, he would never take a dime,” he says.

Barnes is grateful for the opportunity offered to him by Wyatt.

“We had just had our son and he was about 6 months old. It is rough to find out that you are going to have a baby and you don’t have a job. It does something to you mentally.

“I had seen people and made phone calls, and this, that, and the other, trying to find work.

“Then Sandy came along at just the time I needed him the most and helped me out so tremendously,” he says.

Five years ago, Barnes says he married the love of his life, Pam. She is also blind.

They have two children, son Darin is three and daughter Amber is 23 months old. Pam is a full time stay at home mother and Barnes says she does an excellent job.

“This May the third, we will be married 5 wonderful years. Pam, my beautiful wife, is the absolute love of my life and she is a wonderful mother.
“She will look through hundreds of websites just to find a unique toy or something educational for the kids. It is always something really unique and she gets so excited over finding these things,” he says.

Barnes and his wife have a beautifully kept home and bright, well-mannered children, a remarkable feat for any parent of two toddlers; even more amazing for parents who are profoundly blind.

“It is challenging. What is really helpful is that my son helps us if we drop something on the floor. He can see, so he will pick it up and say ‘here daddy, here mommy.’

“You have to really pay attention to them. Amber is still at the stage where sometimes she will put something in her mouth.

“My wife and I wake up in the morning and we work together to get the kids bathed and dressed and fed. It is tough trying to get everything done, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Barnes is proud of his children.

“Amber and Darin both sing, they don’t really carry a tune, so to speak, but they sure as heck try to. Both of them can sing their ABC’s and Darin can already point out the letters of the alphabet,” he says.

Barnes says he enjoys working at the Farmer’s Opry and really enjoys all the people he meets, customers at the Opry as well as other artists playing there.

“It [the Opry] is just such a wonderful place to work. I just absolutely love it. The experiences that I have had are priceless; all the people that I have met. Charlie McCoy, world renowned famous harmonica player, I have worked with him and accompanied him. And Bill Anderson, Doug Stone, Jean Watson, people like that. Its just wonderful experiences,” he says.

On May 3 the Sawmill Band will open for headline artist Randy Travis, among others, at the WXBM Country Fest at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola. Country Fest will start at 10 a.m. and will run until 6:30 p.m.

Afterwards Barnes and the Sawmill Band will be back at the Farmer’s Opry performing.

“I hope to do something special with my wife for our anniversary [on the same day as Country Fest] before then, because that day is going to be really busy,” says Barnes.

Barnes is an amazingly talented musician and is such an outstanding example of a successful and positive life. His perseverance and faith are inspiring and his humble nature is endearing.

“I am so blessed. Everyday when I wake up, I get up and I pray to God to help me be a better man today than I was yesterday,” he says.