In the late 1980's, Eddie Van Halen was asked how he became such an innovator on guitar.  He replied, "Man, that's crazy.  You can drop a guitar and it makes a cool noise.  Just have fun with it.  Bang it, hit it, whatever." As a high schooler learning to play, something in me resonated with those words.  So, I began to experiment, hitting my guitar, cupping my hands in different ways to get different sounds, and basically putting unsightly dings in once nice looking guitars. As the ...

I remember the first time I was in a chemotherapy room.  I was 22 years old and Cyndi, my wife of 6 months, was beginning treatment for Hodgkin's’ Disease.  We were young, confused, and finding it hard to breathe as fear tightened its hold. The room was clean and strangely bright, as if trying to warm our mood.  We made our way to a reclining chair and the nurses began getting to know Cyndi and explaining the process. Unable to find an anchor for my emotions, I detached and began to t...

The oppressive heat of California’s San Joaquin Valley made everyone feel like muffins in an oven and the air conditioning didn’t quite make it all the way to the far back of the family station wagon. There, in the rumble seat facing the opposite direction, sat a dark haired little girl, entranced by the car radio. It was always the same, one of two choices: Dodgers baseball or Focus On the Family. Rayna like both, but something about Focus On the Family drew her in. It was 1980’s, an...