How much do you love your Jeep? Donna Holman loves hers a lot!

“This old Jeep,
She’s been a good old girl.
She’s taken me to places
I’ve never seen before …”                -- Donna Lee Holman

How much do you love your car? Or truck? SUV or minivan? Enough to offer up an homage and celebrate it in song?

That’s what Donna Lee Holman has done.

Holman’s first CD, Cool Water, features 10 of her original compositions, accompanied by her vocal solos and guitar. One of the cuts is called “This Old Jeep,” a tribute to her long-standing relationship with a Jeep® Wrangler she’s owned for years.

"Since I was a child, I have always loved the Jeep Wrangler," she says. "There is just something about getting in a Jeep 4x4 with the ragtop down and having the ability to go anywhere – plus, I think they look cool, too.”

She never forgot her dream of owning a Wrangler, and like a thunderbolt from above, her dream came true more than a decade ago while she was living in Tennessee.

“I stopped in a dealership and bought one – red with a tan top. That Jeep has never left me stranded. I still have it. She's 13 years old with more than 100,000 miles on her, and I still get a sense of joy in riding in it. One day, I said to myself, 'This old Jeep, she's been a good ol' girl’ – and from there, the song began to take form."

Holman’s musical journey has accumulated some mileage, too. Her talent has taken her to, among other destinations, Nashville, where she spent some time honing her songwriting craft. It was there that she co-wrote songs with Mark Gray, who created hit tunes for Alabama, including "The Closer You Get" and "Take Me Down."

After a few years in Nashville, she returned home to Michigan, where she has had the distinction of serving as the opening act for Travis Tritt, Kid Rock, Big and Rich and Rascal Flatts.

Today, she continues to perform and write music. And tool around town in her Jeep Wrangler. All of which give her immense pleasure.

“The one constant thing in my life has been my Jeep,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons I can’t part with it, even though it’s getting older. I have a connection with it.

“One of the things I like about being a Jeep owner is, when you’re having a bad day and you’re driving around in your Jeep, there’s always another person in another Jeep that will wave at you. And that makes you feel good.

“It’s the whole Jeep thing,” adds Holman. “And, I know there are other people who feel the same way I do.”

Source: Chrysler Blog