Crossroad Magazine.
Posts Tagged music
Music on Demand
Mar 22
- The six men of Diamond Rio – Brian Prout, Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Dana Williams, and Gene Johnson
Beautiful Mess chronicles the story of a group of six very different individuals who later became the country music sensation known as Diamond Rio. Highlighting the varied backgrounds of these men, their journey together as a group becomes even more inspiring as the reader discovers the obstacles they overcame to get to that point, right up until they changed their name and introduced their first single through Arista Records in February of 1991. That song, Meet in the Middle jumped to the Billboard number one song in the country, and vaulted the group into the hearts of millions of fans before even the members of Diamond Rio were ready for that level of attention.
As they triumphed with additional hits stretching out over two decades, such as One More Day and Beautiful Mess, they would grow to appreciate the decisions they made early on as a group that charted the course for their later success. They focused on their commitment to each other, the kind of music and lifestyle they would represent and their desire to reach out to others. As their list of accomplishments and awards grew, so did the list of those who benefitted from their success, notably through their partnership with Big Brothers, Big Sisters organizations across the country.
I enjoyed this book because it depicted Diamond Rio as one large, extended family. If one member suffered a hardship or tragedy, the others likewise shared in their pain.
Whether or not you are a fan of country music, if you are a fan of loyalty, overcoming hardships, parents who recognize and feed the talent they see in their children, and believing that God can be trusted to lead down unexpected and thrilling paths, you must read this amazing story.
From what I understand, the latest Twitter craze works like this – people “tweet” throughout the day, summarizing whatever they are doing at that moment in 140 characters or less. It’s like texting to a friend x 20 million people; basically removing all guesswork out of the stalking business, and giving us all a license to do so.
On the surface, perhaps it serves it’s purpose. But whatever happened to getting to know someone a little deeper, going beneath the surface?
Everything is so immediately accessible these days that sometimes I wonder if we’ve taken the magic out of everyday life.
When I was a teen, we wrote notes on plain notebook paper, folding them in creative shapes to add to their mystique. The key, of course, was to get the assistance of the entire class to deliver the note, leaving them to wonder for the rest of the day what it could have said.
We found out someone was “in a relationship” by seeing them hold hands for the first time at the mall on Friday nights, where we all went to just to be with our friends. Not once did we have the fear of getting shot, or witnessing a fight, unless it was at the video arcade.
If we found a song we liked, we called the radio station repeatedly to request that song, until we could save up enough money to buy the album. And then, sometimes we would get together just to listen to music.
Summers were left for us to fill with tender moments; baseball games and bike rides, giggling sleepovers and borrowing each others clothes, pool parties and sunburns, walks to the store for cherry icees, and and maybe even a few secret hugs or kisses under the moonlight.
We talked for hours on the phone about the events of the day and the possibilities of tomorrow, changing our plans as quickly as we did our outfits. But in extreme situations, when a heartbreak had slipped through and taken one of our friends, nothing worked better than a face to face encounter and a comforting hug.
Today we would call this a “status update,” but give me a sweet memory and a hug from a friend any day.
Some moments just can’t be summarized in 140 characters or less. Thank goodness. . .
