JEFF TURNER

For southern gospel artists, the road is a way of life. But that doesn’t make it any easier when things fall apart back home. For Scotty Inman, two things fell apart at the same time.

Inman had actually enjoyed a long stretch at home before his troubles began. After a Christmas tour, he didn’t leave again until late January giving him nearly six weeks with his family.

“I was home for over a month and a half after Christmas,” he said. “I did a Christmas tour December 20th, and I left January 28th. I was home forever, fixing stuff and getting stuff ready and helping, you know, honeydew lists before I leave.”

Then came day two of a 10-day trip.

“The same day, my daughter breaks her leg and our dog runs away, and there’s a neighbourhood search,” Inman said. “They find the dog the next day. A cop in town finds it.”

Being hundreds of kilometres away while your family is dealing with a broken leg and a missing dog is the kind of helpless feeling that’s hard to put into words. Inman offered to drop everything and come home.

“I told Casey, I was like, you need me to come home. I’ll cancel the rest of the dates and come home,” he said.

His wife, Casey, had other ideas.

“She said, oh, no, no, no, no. She said, you need to stay out there. You have a broken leg to pay for.”

With a practical reminder like that, Inman stayed on the road — but he didn’t let the moment pass without finding some humour in it. While other gospel tours carry grand, faith-filled names, Inman gave his something a little more grounded in reality.

“I told her about it on the tour. It was the broken leg tour,” he said. “You know, people call theirs something real, you know, spiritual. I was like, but you folks, you’re on the broken leg tour.”

Thankfully, the story has a happy ending on both fronts. The dog made it home safely, and young Embry’s leg is on the mend.