I call him a Friend!

Since the end of summer, life has been made more difficult for my family because my health has bestowed upon them, a financial burden one wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy.

Attempting to raise money for a group of Veterans in New Jersey wanting to build a Veterans' home and infirmary at the decommissioned Ft. Monmouth, we suffered a freakish cancellation brought on by an unanticipated 100 mph wind storm. This prompted Governor Christy to declare a state of emergency as all power was out (lasted nearly two weeks), and 80% road closures from downed trees and power lines. We were forced to move the date to the following weekend even though power still wasn't restored and only 60% of the streets had been cleared. This was no bargain as that weekend brought with it 100 PLUS temperatures and humidity rivaling that of a sweaty summer's day in New Orleans.

Before we could even complete the program's set-up, I collapsed and was taken to the hospital suffering from severe dehydration which elevated my blood sugar levels to 487. I spent 4-days in ICU and was diagnosed with ketoacidosis (kidney failure), and because of the cardio meds I was on, was lucky to survive. Needless to say the project was shut down a second time, and eventually we gave up all attempts to pursue our fundraising endeavors.

Just as I have been getting back to normal, this past month I was hit by a car while in a crosswalk walking my wife home from work. Yes it was dark; yes, I had on a yellow jacket; and yes, I had a green light and was in the safe-boundaries of the crosswalk…but the driver evidently didn't see me as he made his turn and knocked me about 25 feet breaking my tailbone, left hand, right shoulder, and causing two pelvic ring fractures in my left groin. Being from the medical field, nobody had to tell me I am lucky that I survived the hit and am not yet "land mulch".

The dual incidents have given me time to reflect on just how short life can be and if we are fortunate enough to get this far in life (68 years), there is certainly no guarantee that it won't all end tomorrow. This past week I have been given the green light by the doctors to begin integrating back into life's cycle, so I thought a good subject to write about would be "LIFE" and why it is so important to make every day count.

Whatever your beliefs might be regarding God…whether you believe or don't believe, I am sure we can all agree that life is a challenge. It is full of ups and downs, pleasure and sorrow, achievements and disappointments. With the divisiveness we see today on the political front and in fact in almost every decision we face, I believe 99% of us will agree that "Life is a Challenge". It is how each of us deals with those challenges that set us apart, and I believe, part of God's plan to see how we play with the cards we are dealt.

There's probably no better description about life that has been put to music, than Elton Johns' Circle of Life…

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars

There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round.

…and this brings me around to a friend who is a shining star on dealing with life and giving of himself to help others…my friend, Rockie Lynne.

For the readers of my columns who have not had the privilege of meeting Rockie or haven't heard his music, here is a life from which we can all learn.

Life began for Rockie at around twelve (seventh grade) in Statesville…a small town between Somewhere and Nowhere, thirty miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina, easier to find looking at the intersection of I-40 and I-77 on a map of North Carolina. At least according to him that was when life began as he invested all his lawn mowing money into his first JC Penny Guitar.

Statesville is your usual southern hometown where kids usually peak in high school and many never seem to leave the city limits. It is a kind of town where the Southern Baptist church looks at everything most teen aged boys do as a sin, and where the music other than pure Gospel, is almost blasphemy. But Rockie wasn't that much into the local Gospel music genre, and at a church yard sale he bought an old record player. If the proceeds hadn't benefited the church, Rockie's mother probably would have never allowed that to happen. With it came a couple of old well-worn albums of Kiss and Jimmy Hendrix, which he eventually wore out listening to late at night hidden in his closet teaching himself to play the guitar.

He joined his high school jazz ensemble, and then began playing in a number of local bands which changed names more often than their clothes. He eventually caught the attention of a much older band and finally was asked to fill-in after one member quit. In those days, local bands were about as creative as dirt and Rockie was more interested in putting his own thoughts to music. He wasn't the talkative type and with music he wouldn't have to deal with his shyness but still tell folks what was on his mind. It was a formula not many have proven to master, but believe it or not, he was able to eke out a living doing it.

As soon as he graduated from high school he decided to join the Army as he was smart enough to know he needed discipline and direction and was lucky enough to have a drill instructor become his life's first mentor, and who taught him about being tough and fair. The DI told him that if could survive the military he would be able to survive life. Truer words have not be spoken at least in Rockie's life.

While Lynne was stationed at Fort Bragg, he met mentor number two, Jimmy Herring, a renown guitarist in his own right and lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead. He is a graduate of G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles) who, following the Army, worked in a nearby music store. Herring's work ethic and companionship made an indelible impression on Lynne, the student, and is widely responsible for the many hours Rockie puts into his trade…practice make for perfection.

When his three year enlistment with the 82nd was up, Rockie loaded up his 1984 Toyota pick-up truck and headed to Hollywood, enrolled at G.I.T. on the G.I. Bill following in Jimmy Herring's footprints. He rented a small apartment in Hollywood, but just didn't fit-in with the "Hollywood Crowd".

Playing a guitar well and getting through life are often at odds with each other, particularly from a young man who had just arrived in "the big Metropolis" from Statesville (Hicksville by some accounts), USA, where the music world revolves around "booze, sex, rock and roll", jazz, and in some cases, torturous hard rock and rap. Small town America has its advantages though, in that people soon figured it out that Rockie was "for real" and that country music really was a true form of art…it had to be, because Rockie really did at one time, live on a dirt farm road and could put that life down in real-time music!

While his peers appreciated his freshness and knew he had the talent to make-it in the real world, LA just wasn't his brand of tea.

NOTE: I recently heard Rockie sign the great Dave Loggins ballad, "Please Come To Boston", and while many have tried to sing it with sincerity, Rockie has actually lived it! If you were to change "The Man from Tennessee" to the "Man from Statesville", you'd probably just about nail it!

Please come to Boston for the springtime (Try Afghanistan, Iraq, and overseas)
I'm stayin' here with some friends and they've got lotsa room
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a café here I hope to be workin' soon
Please come to Boston
She said "No, would you come home to me"

And she said, "Hey ramblin' boy now won't cha settle down
Boston ain't your kinda town
There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me
I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

Please come to Denver with the snowfall (Try Minneapolis and dozens of other cities)
We'll move up into the mountains so far that we can't be found
And throw "I love you" echoes down the canyon
And then lie awake at night till they come back around
Please come to Denver
She said "no, Boy, would you come home to me"

And she said, "Hey ramblin' boy why don't cha settle down
Denver ain't your kinda town
There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me
'Cause I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

Now this drifter's world goes 'round and 'round
And I doubt that it's ever gonna stop
But of all the dreams I've lost or found
And all that I ain't got
I still need to lean to
Somebody I can sing to

Please come to LA to live forever (been there…done that)
California life alone is just too hard to build
I live in a house that looks out over the ocean
And there's some stars that fell from the sky
Livin' up on the hill
Please come to LA
She just said "no, Boy, won't you come home to me"
And she said, "hey ramblin' boy why don't cha settle down
LA can't be your kinda town
There ain't no gold and there ain't nobody like me
No, no, I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

"I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee"

After a few stops, Rockie ended up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where the aficionados of country music reign supreme. A popular local entertainer, Mike Shane, showed him the way, and Rockie joined Mikes's tour for a couple of years in the early 90's. He became a student of Mike Shane and watched everything he did to capture an audience. Rockie never thought of himself as a singer, but when Shane has him to do the harmony part on “Set ’Em Up, Joe,” an old Vern Gosdin song, he did it with all the perfection of an accomplished pro, and Rockie's career began to shine, not immediately, but like others who grew to fame because they had talent. Rockie had to work his way up from seedy joints to legitimate platforms… and he did it the hard way…mainly from playing his OWN MUSIC, not mimicking the music of others.

Today Rockie logs 200-300 dates a year on stage, and has accomplished his goal of building a solid regional base of fans, while selling more than 40,000 copies of his independent CDs. He tells his fans, “Though I never did this with the purpose of getting a major label record deal, I knew I had gone as far as I could go without one. It is a blessing to do what you love. I’ve always been happy, but I’m not satisfied yet. I would like to sing my songs for as many people as I can".

That big record deal finally came through in 2006 when, after a three-song audition in its New York office, Nashville-based label Universal Records South, placed him on their roster and release a critically acclaimed CD, spawning three chart singles including Lynne’s breakthrough hit, “Lipstick,” which spent an impressive 10 consecutive weeks in the No. 1 position atop Billboard’s Country Singles Sales chart. Another song from that CD, “Red, White & Blue,” is now played at most memorial service in Iraq for fallen U.S. servicemen or women, something Lynne takes considerable pride in given his lifelong dedication to military causes. Today he is solidly entrenched in the Nashville songwriting community.

Today he's on a mission for his Tribute To The Troops® which had its beginnings in Minnesota in 2004, inspired by a video featuring his treasured song, "Home"… The video features pictures of our fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for our freedoms early on in the War on Terror. With inspiration from the video, a small group of patriotic Minnesotans joined together to visit three families in the Twin Cities area who had lost a loved one during the War On Terror. With the prior permission of each family, over 60 people on 45 motorcycles paraded to each family's home to conveying their thanks to family members and to let them know that their loss, and the sacrifice made by their loved one, will never be forgotten. The dedication and support of many volunteers and participants over the years has enabled this organization to grow and now extends beyond Minnesota into Oregon and Illinois, North Carolina and growing. You can click here for what you can contribute Contact Us.

“My music is a snapshot that captures who I am and where I’ve been to get to where I am now,” Lynne says. “I have always written very autobiographically. My songs are musical expressions of some part of my life. There’s a piece of my own truth somewhere in everything I write. I bring a sense of experience that an eighteen year old or a twenty-five year old doesn’t have.”

Once the Universal South album was released, Lynne’s career began accelerating quickly. In addition to “Good Morning America,” Lynne has made countless media appearances, including performances on Fox News, CMT, GAC and more than a dozen appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, all while continuing to build his loyal fan base through relentless touring.

Among Lynne’s greatest strengths is his ability to wow crowds with his live performances. “I spent at least 10 years entertaining people who don’t necessarily want to be entertained,” he says of the time spent paying his dues. “What I bring to the table is that when they put butts in seats in front of me, I’m going to entertain them and it’s going to be legitimate.”

To my friend Rockie…may God always be by your side helping to create those little victories which allow you to carry your message for the troops to those across the country who seem to have forgotten how lucky we all are to live in the greatest country on earth while others carry the load.

Since the end of summer, life has been made more difficult for my family because my health has bestowed upon them, a financial burden one wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy.

The dual incidents have given me time to reflect on just how short life can be and if we are fortunate enough to get this far in life (68 years), there is certainly no guarantee that it won't all end tomorrow. This past week I have been given the green light by the doctors to begin integrating back into life's cycle, so I though a good subject to write about would be "LIFE" and why it is so important to make every day count.