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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Larry
Norman Benefit
Contributing to Larry Norman's Cause is Pure Joy at Wilmington, Ohio Benefit. By Alan Harvey (aka Large Al from the Blud Bros) It's all about generosity. If we profess to be like Jesus, then we need to remember that He gives us everything we need. In God's economy, there are no balance sheets, only debts willingly paid by those who don't owe them. Larry Norman has given to the Christian music community for decades. He is a primary pioneer of using culturally relevant forms of music to glorify God and to reach people for Jesus. Standing in that gap was not easy. Starting out, he endured scorn from the mainstream music world and derision from the much of the church. Today, those of us who have the freedom to enjoy Christian rock, blues, rap, metal, funk, techno, etc., owe a huge debt to Larry Norman's music and ministry. Weve been given an entire new culture where we can celebrate the truth using any style of music we choose. On November 15th, 2003 at Joe's Java House, in Wilmington, Ohio, some of us enjoyed the privilege of making a small repayment on that large debt. Larry Norman grew up in San Francisco in a black neighborhood in the 1950's.Norman had heard the wonderful music of the black church in person and he became incensed when that style of music (renamed rock n roll) started being used to promote rebellion against God. He decided that he would do what he could to take back the music for God's purposes. He wrote songs like "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?," "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," "The Outlaw," and "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?" Eventually, be managed to put together a record deal with Capitol, and Jesus Music (the precursor of Christian Contemporary Music, or if you prefer, CCM) was born. Following in Norman's footsteps, and often with his help, were artists like Love Song, Randy Stonehill, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Keith Green. Folks from the mainstream music world such as Barry McGuire, Leon Patillo, Dion DiMucci and Bob Dylan gave their lives and music to the service of God. Some of the older gospel music artists like The Imperials upgraded their style to match the modern music world. This is a wonderful gift to modern day Christianity; real people worshiping God in a real way. Many people who are Christians now might otherwise have blindly stumbled their way through life, on a path towards a Godless eternity. So many people baby boomers wanted nothing to do with the staid, stuffy, culturally dated religion and "religious music" of their parents. CCM matured, a lot has changed. There are people in the Christian music world who have no idea who Larry Norman even is, much less how God used him and folks like him to create a whole new genre of music. Worse, the industry that he helped to spawn has pretty much abandoned him, relegating his music to history while investing in what's current and trying to create CCM clones of last year's pop idols. Yet some are still out there, flying under the radar, doing our best to glorify God with styles of music that have cultural relevance, carrying on in the Jesus Music spirit, challenging people who don't know Christ and encouraging those who do. The dozen artists that made up the musical roster for this Wilmington, Ohio benefit, the folks at Joe's Java House, and everyone who helped make this event work, are all cut from this same cloth. When our brother Larry Norman's need became known, we started looking for a way to answer that need. Norman is diagnosed with a serious heart condition and a rare blood disorder. As is often the case, Larry's medical insurance has fallen way short of paying for the care necessary to keep him alive. He has spent much of the last 2 years in a severely weakened condition. It is medically unsafe for him to travel, he can't even do simple things like drive his children to school. Further specific details about Larry's medical situation are available on his website at (http://www.larrynorman.com) When my group the Blud Bros played at Joe's Java House in May, I mentioned to the proprietor (Allen Willoughby) that I was looking for a place to hold a benefit to help raise money for Larry's Medical Trust. He told me that another artist named Tim Siler had come to him already with the same idea, and that he would be happy to do anything he could to make it happen. Allen Willoughby played bass for the Willoughby-Wilson band, a notable Jesus Music group, and he is a man with a serious servant's heart. He first heard about Jesus through the music of Larry Norman, and he felt this would be an opportunity to participate in a historic event. Allen and I, Large Al and Larger Al, put the word out to see if any of our friends would be willing to play. The response was overwhelming. We had way more artists volunteer than we could sensibly schedule, and offers of help from folks all over the map. Every performer donated both their time and traveling expenses. The venue not only supplied the place and sound equipment, but donated all the proceeds from their food and beverage sales to Larry's medical fund. People printed up flyers and drove all over posting them. A real-time digital recording of the entire event was A real-time digital recording of the entire event by Ken Korpi, along with Jeff Tewksbury so a CD could be produced. Tim Siler helped us track down and haul in the necessary equipment to make that recording possible. Randy Whitlock of Climbatree Media did a 2-3 camera video shoot of the entire event with an eye on producing a DVD to be sold along with the CD to hopefully generate more money for Norman's Medical needs. Area radio stations did promotional spots and Amy Baumann from K-Love came to participate in the event. Finally, Dale Canter from Firestorm Recordings and New Day Distribution volunteered to reproduce the finished DVDs and CDs. It was amazing how Gods people flocked to the call for help. Kristin Blix from Larry's
label Solid Rock Records was a great support. Larry Norman was strong enough
to send a couple of emails with ideas, directions and encouragement. With
all the pieces in place, and thanks to the prayers of many, the benefit
launched into reality at noon on Saturday November 15th. The first artist
was Tabitha Bissett, a wonderful young lady with a voice and a heart much
older than she is and music that is as modern as tomorrow's newspaper.
She was followed by Rock Salt from Evansville, Indiana who seriously rocked
the place early on with their tight, strong, powerful sound. Next was Tim
Siler, who did several Norman songs and then a song inspired by a dinner
conversation with Larry Norman's father Joe about the longest word in Webster's
7th Collegiate Dictionary. McCabe followed, a wonderful husband-wife
team who are superb artists on many levels. Terry and Diane shared some
excellently performed tunes of Norman's and some original songs including
"Norman," a wonderful tribute to the recipient of the days proceeds. Diane
also made available prints of the portrait she painted of and for Larry
Norman, which hangs in the Norman home. Ken Tucker, who performed as Norman's
lead guitarist most notably at Larry's 2001 Cornerstone appearance, drove
in from Oden, Indiana and blessed us with both his music and some wonderful
anecdotes. His personal insights brought a sweet taste of who Larry Norman
is to everyone. After McCabe's encore performance, we were blessed to enjoy
the music of Mike Reese. This is some of the most insightful, sharp-witted
and wonderfully performed musical commentary on what it really takes to
be a Christian ever written. All the while, people came and enjoyed the
music and the fellowship and made contributions in many different ways
to the cause.
Throughout the event, people
were praying, people were fellowshipping, people were finding unique ways
to raise money for the cause. One table had merchandise from many artists
with all proceeds going to Larry Norman’s medical fund. Some people just
wrote checks. Some people paid far more for food than it cost. The jug
for contributions passed around many times. The Spirit of God, expressed
in generosity and love that works, was manifested continuously. As an impromptu
worship team to finish out the evening with an afterglow of praise music
was put together, it was announced we had cleared more than $1,600. To
date, the total is just a few dollars short of $1,900. We are also in the
planning stages of a second benefit to be held at the Warehouse in Aurora,
Illinois sometime this spring. Glenn Kaiser, John Thompson's The Wayside
and a re-formed White Cross have already indicated a willingness to play.
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