Back When Music Felt Dangerous ᵉᵈiᵗeᵈ

What is the best concert you have been to?

Over the past 40 years ¡ have been to many concerts and music festivals… both Christian and secular… also ¡’ve performed in some… but two really stick out…

The first was Lollapalooza 1993 Atlanta…

Alice in Chains… Tool… Primus… Rage Against the Machine… and others…

It was insane…

An outdoor concert… bottles and other debris flying through the air constantly… the air was thick with it… and you were always gettin hit with somethin…

People were getting launched into the air on tarps… like some kind of human slingshot trampoline deal… mosh pits everywhere… honestly… it was probably the most dangerous listening experience of my life…

But man… ¡ got to see Layne Staley… and ¡’ll never forget that… RIP my brother…

And here’s the funny part…

¡ didn’t normally smoke weed back then… because honestly… ¡ just can’t handle it…

But that day… my friends talked me into it…

By the time we got to the concert… ¡ was so unbelievably stoned… ¡ couldn’t even move…

So my friends left me in the car… pinned my ticket to my shirt… and went on without me…

About 30 minutes later… ¡ started sobering up a little… ¡ could hear music thunderin in the distance… so ¡ just followed the sound down the street to the outside venue…

Eventually ¡ found the gates… then somehow found my friends… and from there… it was pure chaos and adrenaline the rest of the day…

At one point ¡ remember thinkin…

¡ survived the parking lot… now ¡ have to try and not die during the concert.

So the second was a really cool thing for me…

Back around 94 or 95… ¡ had a special invite to a private bass clinic put on by Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey…

There were only maybe 25 or 30 of us there… all musicians…

¡ was given two tickets… and you couldn’t buy these things… you had to know somebody…

It was at a secret location… ¡ could tell you… but then ¡’d have to kill you…

But seriously… it was super intimate and awesome… everybody hanging out… talking… asking questions… real relaxed atmosphere… almost like a classroom setting…

And if you’re unfamiliar with Victor and Steve… they are considered among the best bass players in the world… Victor is thought by many to be the very best… Número Uno.

Victor has played with Dave Matthews… Béla Fleck… Stanley Clarke… Chick Corea… Bootsy Collins… Prince… Gov’t Mule… and many more…

Steve was famous for his 6-string fretless bass… and he held a chair at Berklee College of Music⁠… not sure if he still does…

But he also toured and played with… Dizzy Gillespie… Willie Nelson… Jethro Tull… just to name a few…

It was a super badass evening…

They both taught… spoke… answered questions… and played…

My friend Ray Cicola invited me… he’s a phenomenal guitarist and teacher… and his band played a few songs in between everything…

One of em was a really rocked out version of… The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band…

After it was all over… everybody just stood around hanging out and talking…

¡ remember standing there face to face with both Victor and Steve… just talking music…

Victor had a VHS instructional tape with him… and he gave it to me…

Then he stopped… asked for it back… grabbed a Sharpie… and both he and Steve signed it… then handed it back to me…

Years later… ¡ gifted it to a friend who was a huge Victor fan…

But man… what a night…

It’s the only music clinic like that ¡’ve ever been to.

Amazing Grace 👇 💯

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All Rights Reserved.

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We Don’t Call It Camping… Where I’m From

Have you ever been camping?

Are you kidding me…

I’m a Gen X kid.

We didn’t call it camping…
that’s what city folks say…
when they do it once in a while.

We called it…

the weekend.

…and sometimes in the summer—
it was just life.

Growing up in Georgia…

I didn’t have to go anywhere—

to find it.

I lived on the edge of thick… deep woods…
the kind full of things
that could hurt you.

We weren’t scared…

didn’t matter—

we were in there anyway.

Kids… by ourselves…
no parents…
just dirt… trees… and whatever moved in the shadows.

Then there were the weekends…

My friend Chris—
his folks had land on Lake Oconee.

Man… we lived out there.

Tents…
or just sleeping by the fire…

Fishing… boating… skiing… swimming…

Great times.

And when I wasn’t there…

I was with my dad… and my uncle…
heading up into the north Georgia mountains…
along the Tallulah River.

We’d drive about 15 miles down a narrow gravel road…
till we hit the river crossing.

Then we’d drive straight through it.

Clear water…
ice cold… even in summer…

on the other side—
was nothing.

No people.

Just us…
and whatever else was out there.

Bears…
Bigfoots…
timber rattlesnakes…

just the locals.

We’d set camp right on the water…

Fish all day.

Rainbow… brown…
beautiful native brook trout…

Trout for breakfast—
fish… grits… eggs…

Lunch—
fish sandwich… chips…

Supper—
we went all out…

Grilled or fried fish…
vegetable kabobs…
baked potatoes in the fire…
salad…

We ate like kings out there.

I’ve caught so many fish in that river…
I couldn’t even guess the number.

Been going since I was about 7…

I’m 52 now.

Haven’t been in a few years…

Life gets busy…

…but that place is down in me.

Some summers…

the riverbanks would glow red—

tiny garnets everywhere.

We’d sift through them…
looking for the bigger ones…

We’d also look for gold…
found some too.

I remember once…
I had a handful of decent-size wild garnets and gold… glistening in my palm

but that place for me—
is more valuable than anything I can hold.

Then came Florida…

Lived there for 12 years.

Different world—
same soul.

Many freshwater fishing trips inland…
spent much time at many of the different springs…

…but also the coast…

I lived on Anna Maria Island…

Had a sea kayak.

Weekends…
I’d load up my truck…
drive to Bishop Harbor…

Drop in…

Paddle 45 minutes out
to these tiny… remote islands.

Set up camp.

Mornings—
I’d paddle and fish…

Afternoons—
back to camp…
eat… rest… chillax…

Evenings—
back out till dark…

Then nights…

just me…

the fire…
the water…
the sounds…
the wildlife…

Alone…

but not really.

Down there…

we call it…

Salt Life.

Had the sticker on my truck and everything.

So yeah man…

I’ve been what yall call camping
a few times 😁

All jokes aside…

I’m about that life.

It’s in me…

just like music.

been singing this in my head and on guitar all day…

Me and my buddy Jonathan… fishing in Florida

Jon and I were fishing when 3 huge wild boars walked behind us

My friend Jimmy holdin’ my fish… this is my pb 9.3 lbs… caught at Lake Istokpoga FL… Feb 2o14
Supper one evening on the remote island

Romans 1:20

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All rights reserved.

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Outlaw Roots — The Hank Jr. Legacy (Week 15)

Living Proof 🎶 Orange Blossom Special

In case you’re unfamiliar…

Hank Williams Jr. was born the son of the one and only
Hank Williams—

a superstar who died in his prime at 29…
cardiac arrest… most likely brought on
by a mixture of drugs and alcohol.

Hank Jr. was just 3 years old.

From that point on—
his life was already decided for him.

His mother began shaping him
to take his father’s place—

thrown on stage as a kid…
dressed like him…
singin’ his songs…

not as himself—
but as a reflection.

And the older he got—
the more he hated it.

He didn’t want to be his daddy…

he wanted to be himself.

To write his own songs—
sing his own truth—
step out of a shadow
that wasn’t his to carry.

But they told him—

no one wants to hear that.

Still—

he didn’t quit.

And eventually…

he broke free.

Today I have two deep cuts for you—

🎵 Living Proof — Living Proof (1974)
🎵 Orange Blossom Special — Man of Steel (1983)

Hope yall enjoy… have a great weekend too.

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | All rights reserved.

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Best Compliment I Ever Received

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

I’ve had some kind words over the years… but one stands above the rest…

It came through a window…

Back in the late 90s… I was living in a little downstairs apartment outside Atlanta… just me… a guitar… and a lot going on in life…

Most nights I’d sit by that open window and play… sing… pour it all out…

What I didn’t know…

Was that someone was listening…

There was a girl in the neighborhood… and for about a month… she would come by at night… lean up against the outside of my building… just out of sight…

And listen…

She told me later… she’d wait, hoping I’d be there… that my songs helped her get through things she was dealing with…

That she would just stand there… breathing it in… and for a little while…

She could forget her life…

One night… she finally said hello…

And I’ll never forget all the things she said to me…

That my music gave her peace… even if just for a moment…

I’ve never had a better compliment than that…

Not applause… not praise…

Just knowing that something coming out of my heart… reached someone else’s…

And helped them breathe a little easier…

That’s everything to me…

If you want to read the full story, it’s here…

https://loia.blog/2025/12/21/the-window-song/ 👈

Proverbs 25:11 (KJV)
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | All rights reserved

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