Goofy, Gifted and Gallant

The last time I saw Rocky Covington, we were both swilling free drinks at a swanky showbiz party in Beverly Hills. Today I met him in a far more temperate environment: The Carolina Grill in Rockingham, North Carolina. It was there Shannon Smith and I ended our whirlwind tour of a town once known for Nascar and now renowned as the hometown of that lanky dude with the hefty twang on American Idol. While brother Bucky is polishing up his vocal repertoire in Hollywood, Rocky’s back banging out dents in the family’s Richmond County body shop. But don’t feel too sorry for him. Every time he pokes his ponytail outside, pre-pubescent girls grow faint, traffic snarls and grown men abandon their families to give him a hearty, off-center high-five. Most think he’s Bucky and no amount of protest will change their minds. Those willing to accept reality pump his hand nonetheless and tell him how much they’re hoping his identical twin makes it at least another week. Magnanimous to the core, Rocky aw-shucks and grins through it all, knowing that while American Idol won’t change the world, it’s already spun his globe off its axis.

A singer himself, Rocky also tried out for American Idol and admittedly choked during the first round of open auditions. Bucky, of course, did not and made it all the way to Hollywood, where he continues to impress people with his endearing drawl and surprising staying power. Meanwhile Rockingham is embracing the Covington boys the way they used to jump all over race weekend. In my short trek across town I saw ads for Bucky Burgers, Bucky Bucks and enough hand-drawn signs to deplete the resources of every office supply store for fifty square miles. All of which makes even a short trip to the grocery store a brain-scrambling sojourn for the brother left behind. All I can say is it’s a good thing Rocky’s such a nice guy. From halitosis-laden old ladies to touchy-feely first graders, he stopped, chatted, joked with and hugged more strangers than most people talk to their entire lives. It’s for this (and a few other inherenty Southern) reasons that I feel a special kinship with the Covington boys. Here’s hoping we get a chance to down a few more Hollywood highballs in the near future...