Seven years ago, we had no idea that a random trip to a Piggly Wiggly parking lot in small-town Mississippi would eventually become a country song.

At the time, Kayla and I were living in Vancleave, Mississippi. We’re originally from Moody, Alabama area, but life had taken us down to the Gulf Coast for a few years while I worked as an inspector at the Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula. Then another big change came along: I accepted a job on Lake Erie in Northeast Ohio.

We were getting ready to pack up our family and move nearly 1,000 miles north when Kayla came across a Facebook post from someone selling Bichon Frise/Poodle mix puppies.

They were $100 a pup.

And apparently, we needed one.

We arranged to meet the woman in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot in Leakesville, Mississippi. We pulled in, handed over a hundred-dollar bill, and came home with this little white, black and brown puppy.

We named him Trooper.

A few weeks later, Trooper made the move to Ohio with us.

At the time, it was just another moment in our family's story. We certainly weren't standing in that parking lot thinking, we're going to write a song about this someday.

But that's the funny thing about life.

Sometimes the little moments become the big ones.

A $100 Dog Worth So Much More

Trooper has been there through the move from Mississippi to Ohio, raising kids, changing jobs, building a life in a completely new place, starting Huffman Acoustic, playing hundreds of shows, and all the ups and downs that come with being a family.

He cost us $100.

But, that "$100 dog" became a much bigger part of our hearts than we ever could have imagined.

That's where the song came from.

"$100 Dog" isn't really a song about buying a dog.

It's a song about how something that seems small and ordinary can become part of the fabric of your family.

It's about muddy paws, memories, growing older, moving away, raising kids and realizing that the things we treasure most usually aren't the things that cost the most.

And yes, we even put that Piggly Wiggly parking lot in the song.

We had to.

From Our Family to Yours

When we started sharing pieces of "$100 Dog," something happened that we didn't necessarily expect.

People started telling us about their dogs.

We heard stories about puppies people had just brought home, dogs that had been beside them for years, and beloved family pets they still miss every day.

That's when we realized this wasn't just Trooper's song anymore.

Everybody has a “Trooper.”

Maybe yours cost $100.

Maybe yours came from a shelter.

Maybe somebody handed you a puppy in a Walmart parking lot.

Maybe yours just showed up one day and never left.

However they found you, somehow they became family.

That's what "$100 Dog" is about.

This Friday, August 21, 2026, we finally get to share the whole song with you.

We hope you'll listen to it, share it with another dog-loving family, and maybe give that four-legged member of your family an extra scratch behind the ears while you're listening.

Because sometimes the cheapest thing you ever bring home...

ends up being absolutely priceless.

"$100 Dog" — Huffman Acoustic
Available Friday, August 21, 2026

Music That Feels Like Family.

- J+K