A creative and productive life didn't come easy for Bart Bryars, but once he got there he knew the value of it.Jen Bryars

Asking Bart Bryars if he’s a late bloomer gets a big laugh.

“Everyone in my family, everyone that knows me closely like that, will tell you I don’t have a lick of common sense,” says Bryars. “I don’t. A lot of the trouble and just making things worse and worse back in those days was just a young Bart with no common sense.”

Bryars is making a homecoming of sorts to share a new memoir of what happened “back in those days.” A kid from a big Catholic Mobile family, he joined the Coast Guard in the early ‘80s and did a little drug dealing on the side. That went poorly and, facing prison time after a bust, he made things worse by faking his death and going on the lam. That too was no great success and he spent most of his 20s behind bars, making slow progress toward adulthood.

“Now I’m an old Bart with no common sense,” Bryars says, “but at least I have experience. It’s tough.”

At 61, Bryars has recently: published “The Rabbit in Me,” a memoir of his time in prison; released a new album with The Feels, a Nashville rock/funk/soul band; and released a solo EP of more country-oriented material. He’s got a whirl of other projects, including a children’s book written by his late mother and illustrated by himself during his days of incarceration.

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