Back around 2oO4, my baby sister met this guy. He was a punk rock skateboarder dude, not my sister’s normal type. His name was Tony. We became good friends. He hung out with guys in bands. On the weekends I would jam with them all. Tony turned me onto this next band, Mike Ness and the boys, aka Social Distortion, or Social D as their fans call them.
I had heard of them. I was familiar with two of their songs and I liked them, but I had no idea the depth of their music, and little did I know they would become my favorite.
Mike Ness is special. He founded the band in 1978 in Fullerton, California, Orange County, just outside of LA. Their early stuff was just raw rebellious punk rock, but they evolved into something unique. They are a mix of punk, country, rock, and blues, almost like a rockabilly type sound, very melodic but gritty. Mike writes great songs, lyrically and musically.
They are still going strong today, just put out a new record. They are true to themselves, the music, the fans. Mike and the boys are all heart. This is what I love about them. I think it’s why I connect like I do.
I have been deeply influenced by them. Tony died in a motorcycle accident a few years after I met him. I’m reminded of him often as I strum and sing their songs.
Here’s two good ones to start you off…
Reach for the Sky — 2oO4, Sex, Love and Rock ’n’ Roll 🎶
What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?
This is my first ever blog… ¡ started it back in November of last year… one reason was to help make it easier for me when ¡ get ready to write my first ever book… about my life…
¡ know fear
It knows me
¡ve been at war with it since the 90s
And newsflash
¡m winning
¡ always knew ¡ would
¡ do not give up
And ¡ do not give in
There’s been many dim lit days… dark nights… where it appeared though it had me.
But fear’s power is one that is borrowed
Borrowed from me
So ¡ve learned not to fuel it
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All ¡ know… is what it did take to make this
All ¡ am… is what it will take… to break this
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On a lighter note
Let’s talk about something a little more relatable
Spiders.
Big effin’ huge ones.
So ¡ve always been scared of them in the past… like fearful…
And I’m an outdoorsman haha
¡m not scared of much
Like snakes for example
Even poisonous ones ¡ will catch and hold carefully…
They don’t bother me at all
But spiders had my number
Until the summer of 2o1O
That’s when ¡ finally dealt with it
¡ was living and working at a Christian men’s drug rehab in Florida
It was a long-term treatment program
The guys lived there for 18 months
¡ was the resident director and lived in the same house with them
Well… the pastor that ran it wanted me to have my own place separate from everyone
So he purchased a used fifth-wheel camper trailer and we set it up out back on the ten-acre property
Hold up…
Let me back up a lil
The property had a lot of spiders
Florida has a lot of spiders lol
We would find them in the men’s residence all the time
Come to find out… they are called Huntsman spiders
And they are enormous and intimidating… most as big as your hand.
Ok… back to the story…
The camper had some type of hole somewhere underneath the frame
And shortly after ¡ moved in
So did all my long-legged, hairy little roommates
They would crawl on me while ¡ was sleeping
¡d wake up and they would be on… the ceiling… the walls… the floor… just all over
¡ went to put my bedroom shoes on once…
And a big one was in there
¡ could feel it on my bare toes
It was frantically moving around trying to get out haha
So like lightning… ¡ pulled my foot out and out it came… then it ran up my leg
These types of things happened often with my new friends
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¡ didn’t think ¡ could stay
Live here like this
In this place… with them. 😬
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We searched and searched trying to find how they were getting in
But we never found it
As the days passed
¡ had more encounters
Daily…
Nightly…
Then it occurred to me
¡ had never once been bitten by one
So ¡ did much praying
Asking God to help me get over this fear
And He did
Little by little
¡ got to where it didn’t bother me
¡ even stopped trying to kill them
¡ got to where ¡ could lay in bed at night and read
Even if one was resting on the wall beside me
Sometimes there might be three or four in plain sight in the room at the same time
And it didn’t faze me anymore
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¡ stayed in that camper for about a year
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Never once got bit
Not one time
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There was nothing to fear… ever.
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only something to face.
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This is a Huntsman Spider I was told… not a Wolf Spider as me and my friends are calling it in this video…
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For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. — 2 Timothy 1:7
Yall should check out my friend Tracie’s blog sometime.
One of the coolest things she does is her Tuesday album reviews. Just recommend an album you enjoy, and she’ll give it a listen and share her thoughts.
And don’t worry about the type of music or genre… or anything else. If it’s an album you love, send it her way. You might even introduce her (and the rest of us) to a hidden gem. 🎶😎
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Tuesdays are for Tunes We have broken out of the genre mold today, Gang. And I am here for it. I hope you will be too. It might not be your type of music, but that is the whole point of Tuesdays are for Tunes. To break out of our normal and maybe check out […]
Write the stuff that makes em think you’re the coolness… and sometimes… tell them that they are the coolness too… because truly they are… and truly do both… and truly care about the stuff that truly matters and truly forget the rest… and truly be repetitive with it. Heart Grammar.
So I’m starting a new band this week for my Sunday music post…
Tenth Avenue North started in the early 2oO0s when a group of students met at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. Lead singer Mike Donehey, drummer Jason Jamison, and their friends needed a name for a local show and couldn’t agree on one. They ended up using the name of the street where some of them lived… 10th Avenue North. The name was supposed to be temporary—but it stuck.
Before signing a record deal, they spent years playing churches, colleges, and small venues while releasing independent projects. Their breakthrough came with their major-label debut album Over and Underneath (2oO8), which included songs like Love Is Here and By Your Side.
They announced a farewell in 2o2O, but later reunited after a multi-year hiatus and returned to recording and touring. From what I’m hearing, they’re still going strong today and back out on the road again.
I first heard them in 2oO8… and I remember thinking, “these guys are pretty dang good.”
Funny story though… I actually bought into a rumor back then. Someone told me this band started in his church in Sarasota, Florida, and that they were named after the street the church was on—10th Ave N. So I ran with that for a while 😄
There’s a little truth mixed in there—they are from Florida, and they are named after a street—but yeah… not Sarasota, and not that church. That’s how stories get twisted over time.
So what happened? How do things like that even start? 😄😁
But anyway… we’ll leave that there.
Let’s get into the music.
I hope y’all enjoy 🎶
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Bathroom Recording Of Worn
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Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart… and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways… acknowledge Him… and He will make straight your paths.
Featuring “Again” from Angels & Devils and “Quarter” from Natural Selection 🎵
Hey yall… this is the final fuel post… I hope you’ve enjoy them… next week something super special… probably my favorite band… but today I have these last two for you…
Two more great ones this week from Matthew West… (not hidden gems… 2 of his more popular ones)
Broken Things 🎶 Hello, My Name Is
Both are among my favorites of his.
I saw this comment on YouTube and thought it was pretty cool…
“Imagine you have two ceramic pots. One is cracked and missing pieces. The other is perfect. Now put a candle inside both and place a lid on them. Which pot do you see more light coming through? The broken one. That’s what God does. Sometimes you have to be broken to let God’s light shine through.”
Hope you enjoy. 🎧
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2 Corinthians 5:17 🎵 Therefore… if anyone is in Christ… he is a new creation. The old has passed away… behold… the new has come.
At the time, I was serving as the resident director at a Christian men’s drug rehab and discipleship training program down in Bradenton, Florida… in the Tampa Bay area…
It was so rewarding… so awesome… to have a hand in helping guys get off drugs… to watch the transformation take place in their lives… to see hope return where there had once been none…
We also did a lot in the community to help people.
Folks would call my office looking for help. Maybe they needed help moving… maybe an elderly person needed some yard work done… and sometimes it was something completely different. I received those kind of calls often, and through them, I made many friendships.
One day I got a call from an older gentleman named Dan.
He lived alone… his health wasn’t the greatest… and he needed some work done around his property. He wanted to know if there was any way we could help him.
Of course, I told him we could.
So I grabbed a few guys, and we headed out to his place.
Dan lived on Anna Maria Island… in Holmes Beach… and his property sat directly on the Gulf side.
As I pulled up and stepped out of the truck, I was in awe.
It was beautiful.
There were three houses on the property.
One was the main house where Dan lived.
Another was a rental house.
And then there was a little two bedroom cottage… over eighty years old… sitting quietly near the water.
It needed a lot of work.
No one had lived in it for more than ten years…
Dan and I became good friends…
I would often stop by to check on him.
Sometimes I’d pick up some food, and we’d sit out on his back deck… have lunch… talk… and stare out at that blue green water.
It was so vibrant in color that it didn’t even look real.
Dan had lived a lot of life.
He was full of true stories… the kind you can’t make up.
I loved listening.
Every visit felt like opening another chapter of a book.
One day he told me he wanted to start renovating the cottage and renting it out again.
He asked me if I’d be interested in helping.
I agreed.
And over the course of the next year… I spent much of my free time out there on the island working on it…
Most days I’d bring a couple of the guys with me.
Little by little… room by room… we started bringing it back to life.
And finally… one day…
We put the last finishing touches on it.
It was ready to be lived in again.
A few days later, Dan called me.
He asked if I could come by.
Said there was something he wanted to talk to me about.
He knew I was looking for a place to live.
And then he told me something I’ll never forget.
He said he’d love for me to be his neighbor. 😁
A few weeks later…
I relocated myself to 3220 Gulf Drive.
And just like that…
I became about that life…
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The Salt Life.
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My buddy Nathan lived there with me for a while…
And we made a lot of good memories…
It was just unreal living there…
I had a hammock stretched between two palm trees in my backyard.
I had an enclosed back patio with an incredible view.
I’d sit out there and play my guitar… and watch the sunsets.
At night… I’d lay in bed and fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing.
I found out the cottage had quite a history…
Back in the 80s and 90s… Dan rented it out to many famous people…
Two of which were the Allman Brothers Band…
And Gunther Gebel Williams… the famous animal trainer from Ringling Bros. Circus.
Gregg Allman… Jaimoe Johanson… and Allen Woody were regulars…
Dan told me many times that he’d have to walk over late at night and tell them to quiet down…
They’d be partying like crazy… drinking… playing music… and making way too much noise. 😂
I always got a kick out of those stories.
But Gunther’s story was just unbelievable…
When he stayed at the cottage… he always brought his friends with him.
And umm…
His friends were tigers. 🐅 🐅
One of them was pregnant…
And she gave birth right there…
In the very place I called home.
So eventually… Gunther ended up finding another place down the street that was better suited for him and his friends…
Probably bigger. 😂
Late one night… Dan received a phone call from an older couple who were on vacation and staying at the cottage.
They told him they thought someone was at the front door trying to break in.
So he went outside to see what was going on…
And to his disbelief…
There was a huge tiger standing at the front door wanting in.
About that time, Gunther came running down the street yelling for his furry friend.
He grabbed him and took him back home.
Later, Gunther told Dan that tigers instinctively want to return to the place where they were born.
So for a while… this became a regular problem.
They’d get loose… wander off… and end up right back at the beach house.
It got to the point that Dan finally told Gunther it had to stop because it was bad for business. 😂
Apparently around that time… there were quite a few reported tiger sightings on the island…
I lived on the island from 2o12 to 2o14…
Then I got married… moved away to a different part of Florida… and never saw Dan again.
Today… all the homes that were on the property have been torn down… and new ones built in their place.
I’m not even sure if Dan is still living.
I’ve been trying to find out here recently…
No luck yet…
I used to have a lot of pictures and videos from my time there.
They were all on my old phone…
Which eventually ended up at the bottom of the sea. 😁
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Today… I have nothing to look at from those days…
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Just the memories.
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it was a time in my life…
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That I’ll never forget.
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I did find this video from 2o11… a year before I moved to the island 👇 this was the beachfront of the cottage
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…The new homesThe new homes
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The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places… indeed… I have a beautiful inheritance. — Psalm 16:6
Heart of Loia `'.,°~ 