Jesse's Story

Checking Texarkana off his bucket list and the quirky hometown of ragtime music legend Scott Joplin.

Why Greyhound

Taking the bus out to this small Texan town, looking out the window, I could feel myself exhale as I left the city fading behind me. For me, that's a big part of the experience, of traveling. Not just seeing the place, but feeling the journey.

Full Transcript

I've been playing piano since I was five years old. I mean, I've been playing music pretty much my whole life. When I started I didn't like it. I battled against lessons. I didn't have the discipline. I was losing interest. And then one day, my mom's friend brings me some Scott Joplin sheet music and it changes everything. That's why I'm still playing piano today.

I'm taking a trip from Austin, Texas to Texarkana today. I want to see where Scott Joplin grew up. I want to see the town that inspired him to play piano and that fostered his love of music. Hopefully when I get there I can find some inspiration to write some music of my own.

I love going on road trips. Austin is fading behind me. All the big buildings are fading behind the horizon. The landscape is really just exhaling into farmland and into prairie. I'm doing the same thing right along with it. Heading out to a small town in Texas that I've never been to before.

This experience is definitely going to be unforgettable for me. Texarkana has a great energy still. It kinda still had that old town feel. It had a piano that Scott Joplin actually practiced on. Being next to that piano, it was a really special experience.

This has been a really inspiring trip for me. I'm already coming up with new songs. I've been jotting down new material. I can't wait to share the way this place has inspired me with other people.