REAL-LIFE ESCAPE 'Surry County Jail Break' song becomes hit on local N.C. radio

The song was based partly on a poem written by one of the fugitives.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- It had all the makings of a country song: Six inmates break out of jail using a fingernail clipper and a rope made of jumpsuits.
Songwriter Russ Ashburn used the real-life escape -- and a poem written by one of the inmates -- as the inspiration for "Surry County Jail Break," a local hit.
"We played it one time, and the calls had been lighting up," said Tim Frye, a disc jockey at WPAQ-AM in Mount Airy. "It's kind of like local folk music because it's about events that actually happened."
The song's lyrics include, "We're out on the streets again, but we ain't out on bail/ Headed down the road, my friend, toward the western sky/ We ain't got no Bonnie Parker, just way too many Clydes."
Ashburn based the song partly on a poem written by Matthew Shinault, known as "Scooter," who was awaiting trial on misdemeanor vehicle charges when he escaped in May. He then stole a truck and used a notebook found underneath the seat to write the poem, police said.
"My friend Nelson Gambill, it was his truck," Ashburn said. "He showed me the poem, and I said, 'Gosh we have to make a song.'"
Sheriff Connie Watson points out that all six escapees are back in custody. The inmates had gouged a hole in the ceiling with a fingernail clipper, crawled to the roof and tied their jumpsuits together to make it down.
"You can sing a song and do what you wish, but he who laughs last, laughs best," Watson said.
Deputies say Shinault, 39, isn't happy about the song and wants royalties.
Ashburn says he's mystified about why Shinault would mind.
"I don't understand that at all," Ashburn said. "I thought he would be happy about it. I mean, what else has he got to do for the next four years?"