Jimmy Wayne Talks True ‘Paper Angels’ Story That Inspired New Movie
Jimmy Wayne has been absent from the country charts for the past four years, but the singer/songwriter has been anything but idle. Now a New York Times best-selling author, Wayne has been busy with book signings and interviews in support of his new autobiography, Walk to Beautiful and his previous book, Paper Angels, which has been made into a movie airing Sunday night (November 16th) on UP TV.
Lee Greenwood, Buddy Jewel, NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip, Salvation Army Angel Tree founder Shirley White and Chick-fil-A Senior Vice President Bubba Cathy were among those who came out to support the country singer at a special Paper Angels premiere held a Nashville’s David Lipscomb University.
“It was absolutely amazing seeing all of those supporters there,” Wayne tells Rolling Stone Country. “It reminded me that that walk to beautiful was well worth the journey.”
Before the screening Wayne shared the story behind the writing of the song “Paper Angels,” which inspired the namesake book. “I was standing at Green Hills Mall looking at the Angel Tree on the bottom floor and thought, ‘Why are all those people walking past it?'” Wayne said. “I wanted to do something other than talk about it.”
So he enlisted songwriter Don Sampson to co-write a song that would shine a light on the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, which provides toys for needy children. It was a grand gesture of paying it forward, as Wayne used to be one of the kids on the Angel Tree. “When I was 14 years old my social worker signed me up for the Angel Tree Program and I got my first guitar. That’s where it all started,” says Wayne, who grew up in poverty in North Carolina. “I would not be here, wouldn’t have the success and have the home I live in, have the car I drive, the clothes I wear. None of this would have happened had it not been for a guitar. And where did I get the guitar? So I’m in debt and making sure that I do my part in raising awareness for a program that helped me out when I had nothing.”
Wayne overcame his turbulent childhood an eventually moved to Nashville, landed a record deal and went on to record such hits as “Stay Gone,” “I Love You This Much” and “Do You Believe Me Now,” which topped the country charts.
“Paper Angels” was the fourth single released from Wayne’s debut album and almost didn’t even make the record. “It was kicked off the project,” Wayne says. “I went to Scott Borchetta, who was at DreamWorks at the time and I said, ‘Scott, this song means so much to me and I know that you guys don’t know what an Angel Tree is, and I don’t expect you to. I just know that a lot of people do though. And a lot of people need to hear this.'”
Borchetta advised him to write a bridge for the song. He did and re-recorded it, making “Paper Angels” a standout on the album and a perennial favorite each holiday season at country radio.
In 2011, Wayne co-wrote the Paper Angels book with Travis Thrasher. That might have been the end of the story until Wayne went on Linked In and pitched the idea for a movie to producer Maura Dunbar. “I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this book called Paper Angels and it’s a free agent right now. Would you like to read it and maybe film a movie about it?'” Wayne recalls. “It was a long shot, but she contacted me back shortly after and said, ‘I want to do this.'”
The movie follows an abused wife, portrayed by Josie Bissett (Melrose Place, The Secret Life of the American Teenager), who moves to another town with her two children to get a fresh start and then finds her life becoming increasingly entangled with another family facing challenges. Though the book and movie are a work of fiction, Wayne says there are kernels of truth. “It was inspired by lots of pieces of my life,” he says. “Vic is a real bully and it’s funny because I went home recently to give Vic a copy of Paper Angels and his neighbor came out and said, ‘He just got out of prison for murder.’ So I handed him the book and said, ‘Give it to him when you see him’ and I left.
“There are a couple of other characters in there that are real,” Wayne continues. “Doug’s Bicycle Shop was named after Brad Paisley’s dad, Doug. That was inspired by Doug buying me a bicycle on the road for my birthday. Uncle Jessie is a real character. He’s my uncle. And Oscar in the book is a real man. So a lot of characters are real, but we didn’t necessarily use real stories.”