My Uncle’s Guitar

Psalm 40:3…

I started out with music at a very young age…

I loved to sing as a little child…

I was in chorus all through grade school…
into high school…

learned how to sight read sheet music for vocals early on…

I started playing the guitar when I was 14…
as a way to let go of deep loss…

it was a life saver…

later.. I picked up the bass…

shortly after that.. the piano…

might as well throw the harmonica in the mix…

I decided music was the way for me…

As a solo artist I played nightclubs and bars…
concerts and music festivals…

I was part of a group of worldwide musicians known as ThePond…

we did online performances and in-person music festivals…

Then later…

I stopped all the secular stuff…
went full-on Christian music…

I was a worship leader in church…
also at different men’s ministries…

I had a traveling music ministry…

where I would go minister at hospitals and nursing homes and drug rehabs…
mental health facilities…

I was also in a Christian band… KingsGuard.

I stayed so busy with it…

I got overwhelmed…

I started losing the fire…
the desire to play…

About 3 years ago…

I decided I was done with it…

I got rid of my guitars…
gave them away…

I can’t fake it…

I was burned out…

About 6 months ago…

I started feeling a spark inside…
that fire again…

I realized that it’s who I am…

it’s part of me…

always will be…

Guess I just had to do life without it.

Live for a while.

Last night…

I started searching Amazon for my next guitar…

narrowed it down to two choices…

was planning on buying one of them…

This morning.. my uncle called me…

he’s a great musician and singer…

he’s sick…
many health problems…

two weeks ago.. they found out he has a rare cancer…

He has two guitars…

he’s giving me one…

The other is his baby…

he wants me to hold it for him…

if his health gets better…
he will get it back…

If not…
he wants me to have it…

So here I am…

that old fire starting to flicker again…

guitars coming back into my life…

not in a cardboard box from Amazon…

but out of the hands of my uncle…

a man who’s carried songs through his own pain…

It feels like God is putting a guitar back in my hands through him…

a reminder that this calling never really left…

and this time…

I don’t have to run it down…

I just have to receive it…

and honor it.

found this hidden gem of me playing back stage.. with my fellow musicians from ThePond… this was PONDFEST 2o08… at Chimney Rock.. North Carolina… Lake Lure area… same place the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed… the people in the video are from all over the world… we are just messing around here.. practicing… learning new songs.. I had been drinking vodka all day… ugg I don’t drink like that anymore 😁👇 that’s me on the left

Message Received Loud N’ Clear… played today for the first time In a fat minute.

🎸 Psalm 40:3
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God…”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Ban Them All…

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

Words are overrated…
so misused…

I say ban them all…

just to piss off
folks that talk out their necks…

the ones
that love to play with them—

trying to impress…
without ever feeling
a thing…

anyone caught using them
must clean truck stop restrooms
while eating tacos…
for an entire day…

I think I’ve said too much…
I haven’t said enough… 🤌

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Hidden Gems from the B-Side — Life Side (Week 16)

Matthew Sweet 🎶 Evangeline 🎶 Not When I Need It…

🎸 Matthew Sweet — Hidden Gems
Two deep cuts worth the spotlight.. “Evangeline” and  “Not When I Need It.”
“Evangeline” comes from Girlfriend (1991), Sweet’s breakout power-pop classic. It wasn’t a single, but it became a fan favorite for its hooks and guitar fire—and it was inspired by the comic-book character Evangeline, blending sci-fi imagery with aching pop romance.

A few years later, 100% Fun (1995) kept the melodic magic rolling. “Not When I Need It” is one of those perfect deep cuts—bright, punchy, and emotionally honest. Together, these tracks show Sweet’s sweet spot: killer hooks with real heart.

Discovering Matthew Sweet in the early ’90s was a blast for me—cranking his CDs, guitar in hand, playing along in my room. Hope you enjoy this little trip back 🎸

Also, I love the guitar riffs in “Evangeline”… many of his songs have it like that.

👇 bonus Paste Studio tracks

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | All rights reserved

`’.,°~

Sierra Hull – Mad World (Tears For Fears) | DelFest (2022)

…….👥👥→🧓😔→🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🌅→🚧❌→💧🥃→😶‍🌫️→🙈🧠→🌊😔→🚫🌅→😂😞→💭⚰️→😶‍🌫️💬→↻↻↻→🌀🌍→🧒⏳→🎂🙂→🪑👂→🏫😰→👤❌→👋👩‍🏫→🫥→😂😞→💭⚰️→😶‍🌫️💬→↻↻↻→🌀🌍

Sierra is incredible… stick around for her solo…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All Rights Reserved.

`’.,°~

Hidden Gems from the B-Side — Faith Side (Week 15)

Barlowgirl 🎶 Enough 🎶 Grey

“Enough” and “Grey,” both from Another Journal Entry (2005), show two different sides of BarlowGirl’s heart. “Enough” is actually a cover of the worship song made well-known by Chris Tomlin, and BarlowGirl’s version leans into rich harmonies and a more rock-leaning sound while keeping the focus on God being all we truly need. “Grey” is an original that wrestles with living in the in-between — not fully cold, not fully on fire — calling out compromise and the pull toward lukewarm faith. Together, they capture both worshipful surrender and honest self-examination in the same breath…

Hope you enjoy the music and hope you have a blessed Sunday…

Bonus track 👇 BDW feat. Barlowgirl

Psalm 73:26 (KJV)

“My flesh and my heart faileth… but God is the strength of my heart… and my portion for ever…”

`’.,°~

OutlawRoots—TheHankJr. Legacy—KidRock Edition(Week7)

Redneck Paradise 🎶 The F Word…

Country music royalty and rock rebel — Hank Jr. and Kid Rock have one of those unlikely but genuinely tight friendships that fans love. They first connected years ago when Kid Rock showed up to one of Hank Jr.’s shows already knowing all his songs, and that mutual respect sparked something real. Over time they became close — so close that Hank Jr. has called Kid Rock like family and even jokingly referred to him as his “rebel son.”

The two have also teamed up musically, most notably on the gritty, fun duet “Redneck Paradise” on Kid Rock’s Rebel Soul album, where their big voices and bigger personalities make for classic Southern rock-country energy.

Outside the studio, they share a love of hunting, fishing, and just hanging out — proving that their friendship goes beyond music into real life brotherhood…

Here’s two songs for you…

🎶 “Redneck Paradise” – Kid Rock (feat. Hank Williams Jr.)
Album: Rebel Soul
Album Released: 2012

🎵 “The ‘F’ Word” – Hank Williams Jr.
Album: The Almeria Club Recordings
Album Released: January 8, 2002

The F Word song does not use the F Word… it’s actually Anti-F Word… so enjoy 😁

Getty Images Credit: Michael Loccisano

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson — All Rights Reserved

`’.,°~

Hidden Gems from the B-Side—Life Side (Week 15)

Matthew Sweet 🎶 We’re the Same 🎶 I Almost Forgot…

As I was putting this piece together, I got raptured back to 1995 — on the edge of my bed by the window… that little apartment in Riverdale, GA… guitar in hand… as was always the case… learning these next two songs. The story behind this album’s title is heavier than the sound.

Matthew Sweet’s 100% Fun — the 1995 album that includes both “We’re the Same” and “I Almost Forgot” — gets its title from a surprisingly heavy rock history footnote. Sweet lifted the phrase “100% fun” from Kurt Cobain’s 1994 suicide note, where Cobain wrote: *“The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I’m having 100% fun.”*

That ironic origin gives the album title a bittersweet edge — a record full of bright hooks and jangly guitars, but named after a line born out of real emotional struggle. 100% Fun stands as one of Sweet’s most loved power-pop records — catchy, melodic, and quietly reflective beneath the shine.

So yeah — without further ado… here’s the music.

🎵 “We’re the Same” — 100% Fun (1995)


🎵 “I Almost Forgot” — 100% Fun (1995)

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson

`’.,°~

Hidden Gems from the B-Side — Faith Side (Week 14)

BarlowGirl 🎶 I Need You To Love Me 🎶 No One Like You…

BarlowGirl got their start playing together in the late 1990s as their father’s backup band — their dad, Vince Barlow, was a children’s worship musician, and the sisters performed with him at events across the U.S., eventually writing their own material during that time.

They became known not just for their music, but for their public commitment to sexual purity, modesty, and waiting on God for a future spouse — a stance that shaped their message and deeply connected with a lot of fans walking similar faith paths.

They were active in the Christian music scene from around 1999 until they retired in 2012, closing out more than a decade of ministry through music.

Over the course of their career, the band sold over a million albums and passed a million digital downloads, making them one of the more impactful female-led groups in 2000s CCM.

I have two songs for you today..

🎵 I Need You to Love Me — Another Journal Entry (2005)

🎵 No One Like You — Another Journal Entry (2005) David Crowder Band cover

Hope you enjoy and have a blessed Sunday

Isaiah 58:14 (KJV)

“Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD… I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth…  feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father… for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it…”

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Outlaw Roots — The Hank Jr. Legacy (Week 6)

Montana Cafe 🎶 Whiskey On Ice…

One thing I noticed growing up as a Hank fan — and still notice today — is that he’s known by a handful of songs that went full mainstream.. and people grabbed onto them… ones like… All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.. Family Tradition.. A Country Boy Can Survive… and a few others.

He kind of got labeled by those songs — like that’s all he’s about.
But man… nothing could be further from the truth.

Once you dig in.. you find so much more —
beautiful love songs…
raw.. well-written.. poetic ones… many are deep… magnificent… also his voice is amazing on so many… in a way you don’t really hear on his more popular ones…
real depth that never got the same spotlight.

Today’s picks…

🎶 “Montana Café”
• Title track of the album Montana Cafe
• Released: 1986

🎶 “Whiskey on Ice”
• from the album High Notes
• Released: 1982

Hope you enjoy this little dive into the deeper cuts…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Hidden Gems from the B-Side — Life Side (Week 14)

Matthew Sweet — “Girlfriend” 🎵 “Sick of Myself” 🎶

Athens, Georgia is home to the University of Georgia… Go Dawgs! 🐾 — and it’s also one of the great music cities in America, birthing many iconic bands like R.E.M., The B-52’s, and Widespread Panic, just to name a few.. And this next guy… Matthew Sweet.

Matthew Sweet is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who became a key figure in ’90s alternative rock and power pop. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he moved to Athens, Georgia to plug into that legendary scene before breaking through with Girlfriend (1991) — hooky, heartfelt guitar pop — and following it with 100% Fun (1995), featuring the self-aware anthem “Sick of Myself.” Classic melodies, honest emotion, zero filler.

🎵 “Girlfriend” — from the album Girlfriend (1991)

🎶 “Sick of Myself” — from the album 100% Fun (1995)

Hope yall enjoy this little trip back into some seriously good ’90s sound. 🎸

Bonus live acoustic version 👇

In a world that’s ugly and a lie.. it’s hard to even want to try…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~