The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #67166 Message #1121829
Posted By: Tinker
23-Feb-04 - 11:18 AM
Thread Name: Rick Fielding's influence
Subject: RE: Rick Fielding's influence
Okay, I came to mudcat as a 40 something campfire guitar player, and although my skill level has slowly improved some,it's clearly due to Rick that I've now got callouses on my pinkie... And it's all because of threads like this What the F is going on at Mudcat
There's another story that deserves telling here. A few months after 9/11 I found myself doing a workshop on Everyday Spirituality here in Northern New Jersey. I knew that my previous outlines needed to reflect and pay heed to a new reality, but I wasn't very comfortable and even the clergy I had talked to were still struggling. I finally pulled two songs off of Rick's CD's and worked them into the presentation. ( Handful of Songs and Sing with the Angels) He and Jerry Rasmusssen graciously gave me permission to hand out lyric sheets and with very little discussion, we simply sang together.
Afterward, several people came up to me with tear shining eyes to say thank you, and one woman looked down at her song sheet and said, "Does Rick Fielding do a lot of Christian music?"
I began to laugh( all I could do was picture an appalled expression on Rick's face)but without thinking I replied " Rick's my favorite Agnostic Theologian, he often opens a window or sets you down on a new road, but he'd never presume to tell you where you should be going." His new CD does the same thing.