Billy Finch’s Weblog

Life Pointe Chuch at the Flagship Cinemas movie theater in Homestead Florida

Pastor Travis Johnson   Kelly Johnson

Phil Johnson 

Today the message was so strong, messing it up by saying a lot of words just couldn’t do it justice.

Humility…

Well after billions of dollars of research NASA has finally determined the soil on Mars is good enough to grow asparagus . No really, true story…

So I had to wonder if those whacky producers of the Lost in Space TV show (which was definately on of my favorites growng up) were so off base. Remember when Dr. Smith turned into a stalk of celery and the crew was helped to escape by TYBO the alien carrot, then turned evil?

Hmm… life immitates art.

Billy

Hey, next time you ride around Homestead here’s a great game to play with your kids, “count the shopping carts”. Apparently there are those among us who think the bagboy is going to come over to their house and pick it up when they go out to collect them in the parking lot.

Speaking of stealing shoping carts I read this on Travis Johnson’s blog this morning, it’s pretty inspiring. I say we really support this guy he’s got it going on.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/south/story/582034.html

Billy

It’s true… I said it, there’s no denying it and I stand guilty as charged. Said it many times in fact.

What I said was “I hate Homestead”, but think I’m turning over a new leaf here. There’s really a lot of promise to Homestead and Florida City. I hope the community will do well and prosper (especially since we’re property owners in a house we’re upside down and can’t sell) and if we were in a time of prosperity I’d probably had a different point of view.

Well the other day Gail and I were watching the Good Morning Today America Early Show on Saturday and they showed a bunch of people wearing shirts that say “I (heart) NY” and had an epiphany… of sorts. Well more like I stole an epiphany. What Homestead is lacking is a PR campaign like “I (heart) Homestead”. Yeah we need bumper stickers, T-shirts, hats, temporary tattoos, etc…

Whatta ya say fellow Homesteadians? Let’s give this place an extreme makeover!! Let’s turn this viral!

Billy

“If, before going to bed every night, you will tear a page from the calendar, and remark, “there goes another day of my life, never to return,” you will become time conscious.”
~ A. B. Zu Tavern

Today has been a bittersweet day of sorts, our friends Mark and Tere are cutting out this week to San Antonio so there will be a massive void we’ll no way be able to fill. Further our Life Group buddy Paul is leaving tomorrow for PA and we’ve had a great time getting to know him as well and will certainly miss him. It seems like the Life Group is breaking up, we’re a little scattered at the moment but we’ll get it together. Was supposed to have the group meet last night because of the awsome Quince party for Andy and Gricelda’s daughter Christa. Got to say little A.J. looks pretty fly in a tux. We hung out at Charles and Bea’s house and just chewed the fat and our daughter and their daughter have hit it off pretty well and like spending time with each other. It was nice just to hang out and talk about stuff with other adults.

Church was very good today, Paul Hollifield preached and did a most excellent job I thought. The messages have been extremely up lifting and encouraging. Last week on Father’s day Travis said we all need to go through suffering. This week he told he might go to jail, and Paul said we’re all gonna die. Please join us next week when there will be an inspiring message on “accidental death and dismemberment” as part of the “Got Funk?” series (just kidding, can’t remember what it’ll be). The band sounded really good today, the vocalist are really coming into their own and Michael did his usual awsome job on the drums. Jesse was dancing and having a ball, I got to play bass with out Phil being there and it was very enjoyable.

Seems I’m the first one in today on the blog so haven’t heard if Travis is clanging the tin cup on the bars for being a radical anarchist pastor. Can’t wait to see how things went at the baptism today.

Billy

You know a music store has a smell to it, like wood, glue, and varnish, the chrome blinds you when you walk in the door. As a youngun’ we had a favorite music store called “Virginia Music” and it was owned by a guy named Bill Darr, he also had a partner named Lester that worked with him and you could pretty much count on the fact that one or the other was there anytime the store was opened. Those guys were as much an influence as anybody because they never ran me out when I’d go to visit. They always had the coolest instruments, especially the wall of guitars, it seemed like the wall went on forever in those days. It really was just a small shop but it’s all about impression I suppose. If they were working on an instrument when you walked in they’d take time to tell you a little about it or what they were doing to it. Those were fun memories.

Thinking further on this “top 10 list” and how difficult it is to narrow down to 10, there are also some players I had forgotten about. Folks like Rick Nielsen, Rick Derringer, Lindsey Buckingham, or the Rossington and Collins double threat with Lynard Skynard, and a guy named Randy Waller. Don’t know if Randy ever made it big, but man what a player. When I was in 7th grade Byrd Middle school he was in the 9th and the school had a stunt talent show. Randy’s band played and they did the full version of “Freebird” flawlessly. They won. Randy’s dad was in a popular Bluegrass, Country Western band called the Virginia Gentleman and Lester from the music store would play stand up bass with them also. So I’d hang out at the music store and Randy (remember just a teenager) would give lessons and work the counter some. Hence the influence. I also especially remember Randy because in the 9th grade he had a full beard and looked like Hank Williams Jr. In fact when I see Hank on TV I immediately think of Randy.

The reason I chose this top 10 was because through the years they have had a style that I’ve admired, a body of work that’s lasted, or there was just a song or lick that sticks in your head. There’s only a few that when you hear notes you can name the song or player right away, I thinks it’s because they’ve developed their sound and technique to a point they actually are “standing inside the note” so to speak. A prime example of this is Santana’s “Black magic woman”. You can turn on the radio and know it right away anywhere in the song, it’s as individual as his fingerprint or signature. That analogy by the way I stole from him in an interview I saw a while back, but it fits.

There are some that aren’t on my list. Not because they aren’t great, but because they come from another planet like Eddie Van Halen, or Jimi Hendricks. I remember going over to my friend Curtis Lynn’s house to hang out and he said “you need to hear this”. It was the first Van Halen album and I had never heard anything like it before or since. I said what other albums do they have out and he said “that’s it, first one”. I’ve since talked to other people who reacted the same way.

So here’s my top 10 pick for the “Most Influential Guitar Hero’s of all time”:

10. Ritchie Blackmore –of Deep Purple “Smoke on the water” “Highway star”

  9. Chet Atkins -A guitar player’s guitar player, he’s definitely both an innovator and influence  

  8. Ace Frehly – Yep ol’ Ace makes my top 10, just check out an old version of “Black Diamond” and you’ll know why

  7. Tom Scholz –of Boston, pick a song any song, it’s just good music.

  6. Ted Nugent –Uncle Ted, The Motor City Madman, score a copy of “Double Live Gonzo” to figure why him, everybody had a copy of that one

 5. John Entwistle-OK so he’s like a lead a bass player, often immitated but never duplicated

  4. Eric Clapton -again pick any song it’s just perfection

  3. Stevie Ray Vaughn-I remeber really feeling bad he died, so much more music to have been made

  2. David Gilmour -I’m a huge Pink Floyd fan, he bends a note and has a signature sound that pierces right thorugh you.

  1. Pete Townsend-”What?” you say, but he and that bass player guy above had a musical chemistry, Just listen to the riff trade on “My Generation”, or ”Amazing Journey” between them. The music continued to get better and better as time went on. I’ve seen them in concert a couple of times and there’s no other band that could touch The WHO live.  In those days when you had a garage band, you played “House of the Rising Sun”, ”Gloria”, “You Really Got Me”, and ”Can’t Eplain”, that was the standard set.

Billy

Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan,

Jimmy Paige, Brian May, George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen

Pete Townshend, Ace Frehley, Stephen Stills, Steve Howe, Joe Perry

Alex Lifeson, The Edge, Carlos Santana, Buckethead, Chet Atkins

Roy Buchanan, George Benson, Dickey Betts, Joe Walsh, BB King

Billy Gibbons, Derek Trucks, Dave Davies, Robin Trower, Slash

Duane Eddy, Roy Clark, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Ted Nugent,

Buddy Guy, Peter Frampton, Ronny Wood, Les Paul, Stevie Winwood,

Robbie Krieger, Tom Scholz, Chuck Berry, Frank Marino, Mick Taylor,

Duane Allman, George Thorogood, John Entwistle, Muddy Waters,

Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker, Pat Metheny, Steve Morse, Matt Guitar Murphy,

Ritchie Sambora

Having grown up in Richmond Va I have always since seeing the Partridge Family, and The Monkees on TV had a total love affair with guitars. In 1970 I was 8 years old and I can remember being totally hooked. My sister and i would use a broom as a guitar and play with the guys on TV. My first album was “The Partridge Family Album” (whenever that came out) and as I got older started to collect music. Albums, 8-tracks, cassettes, you name the classic rock album I likely had in some form, and if I didn’t have it my buddies Curtis Lynn, David Callas, or the twins Scott and Gary Thomas probably did. In about 1972 my step brother Tom Cooper moved out of the house and left me some albums hoping I would develop some better taste for music, a few of them were Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, Strawberry Alarm Clock, CCR –Cosmos Factory, Jimi –Electric Ladyland, Rod Stewart –Maggie Mae, Jethro Tull -Songs from the Wood, and a real peculiar one that really stood out Pink Floyd Meddle. There was a whole stack and as I got older they were like gold.

Living where we did we saw a lot, and I mean A LOT of concerts. Richmond is right off I-95 and between Washington DC, Hampton Roads, and Roanoke-Salem so anybody that tours comes somewhere close to Richmond. So many, probably most of the list above I’ve seen in concert. I left that lifestyle behind when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, but the music was still in there rattling around. It wasn’t till I scored a copy of D C Talk “Jesus Freak” that I saw there was a whole Christian Rock movement going strong and the music was alive to me again.

Recently I went to our membership luncheon for Life Point Church at the Flagship Movie Theaters on Campbell Road right off the Turnpike in Homestead Florida, and happen to have the privilege of sitting with J.T. and Anne Johnson. The conversation turned to music and J.T. asked me who had influenced me the most. I’ve never really thought about it to the point where I would sit down and write it out, but the question was still pretty compelling. The list above is just “guitar players” that came to mind and some of my favorite players. In the 2^nd installment of this blog I’ll try to boil it down to “My Top 10 Most Influential Guitar Players”.

This by the way has proven to be more challenging than I thought. The other night Phillip Johnson (of J.T. and Anne fame) and I stood outside by his truck and talked about this list and he kept naming players I hadn’t considered. That was fun to talk about our music heroes, I don’t have many friends I can sit and talk with about that stuff anymore it doesn’t seem like. In fact I’m challenging Phil and The Major to a duel and throw out theirs also. Also by the way I threw Buckethead in there because I like his schtick and he’s an insanely good player.

Part 2 coming soon…

Billy

Church was awsome yestreday, music was great and Travis had a message about how we need to suffer for Father’s Day. (well not really, read all about it on the pastors blog) 

Can sum up the weekend in one word:

TIGERWOODSCOMINGOFF2MONTHSFROMKNEESURGERYTOLEADTHEU.S.OPENAND

FORCEAPLAYOFFWITHANOLDGUY(LIKEMYAGE)ROCCOMEDIATE,IT’SABSOLUTEY

INCREDIBLEGOLFEVENIFYOUCANCARELESSABOUTGOLF!!!!

Billy