Nearly 15 years ago a kid from Kersey came face-to-face with the inspiration that caused a fire in his belly and a passion in his heart.

Standing alongside hundreds of other country music fans, a young Johnny Day stood in the Greeley Stampede Arena as a then up-and-coming Brad Paisley took the stage and wowed the crowd with his guitar playing and singing.

“I had never seen anything like it in my life. He was sitting up there ripping it up, singing and playing,” Day said. “I was hell bent on getting me a telecaster like Brad Paisley’s and getting the same amp he had.”