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Nashville Side Streets


MUSICIAN, ENTERTAINER I see a lot of information given today as to what needs to be done in one’s life to become an entertainer. If you think about the word entertainer, it really has nothing to do with voice, musicianship and above all, the music business. It has to do with knowing yourself well enough to be REAL on stage and have enough of life stuffed in your hip pocket to bring yourself down to the level of the audience. I have worked on many stages backing up artists, but in my 40 plus years in this business of music, I have only seen a handful of actual entertainers. Most of the REAL artists on stage are really just an extension of their true selves off the stage. When you talk to them, they are sincerely considerate of other’s feelings and the emotion in their music trails close to the emotion in their own lives. If you listen in life, there are people to learn from, and their stories will not only make you a better performer, but a better and more well- rounded human being and that makes you a better entertainer. Sometimes you may even receive inspiration to write a new song.
	I have been working as a front man now for many years and for the most part, I genuinely love people. Living in the south, Nashville, TN, has truly given me a more solid path in my life and it has also made me a better music artist because of what they call “southern hospitality”. Ronnie Dean©2016

Emotional Detachment

All branches of the armed forces teach emotional detachment. There is a reason for this of course, and this is so all members of all branches of the service can be disciplined into following orders. During wartime, it is necessary for reasons of accomplishing tasks set before them, which boils down to defending freedom with the outcome of taking lives in the process. From birth we have our first true emotion, called crying. Then as life goes on we have more emotions come to surface such as love and hate and many other emotions between those two words. I believe that one of the biggest emotions we face as adults is pain, not pain from an injury, but pain inflicted by one human being upon another.

When you think about it—If we were to re-attach emotions that some part of life always seems to take away, then I believe we could resolve many emotional problems that lie, as I stated earlier, between the words love and hate. After all is said and done, most people just want to be loved and not hated. When you rob a person of something they are born with, it starts a chain of events through their life, which they either try to correct or fall into. This usually leads to disaster in one form or another.
I have chosen emotion in my life and I’m grateful for the gift of music to give it back.

Ronnie Dean©2016

You Are Now a STAR *

When I first started out in the music business, I believed that someone was going to walk through a door where I was performing and make me a star *. As I grew older, I started to face the reality that a minute percentage of the musicians and artists who have that dream, actually accomplish their goal.

So what is left? The answer is realizing that being a star is secondary to expressing your soul and releasing from your spirit an energy, which is given to a very small percentage of the public.

If you hone your craft, then you will draw the public to your front door. I will then guarantee you; the music industry will be standing right behind them trying to figure out how to make a buck off of your talent.
Dreams are everyday realities of the heart that a person tries to pursue and there is no one way to strategize success. Success to some is not the same as it is to others, and somewhere down the path of music you will have to make a decision as to what, in your particular situation, gives you lifelong satisfaction.

I have walked many music genres and I have followed many paths, some were headed for destruction where I would have laid down my music for good because I was letting someone else control who I was.
So I say to you: Define your own path with straight-ahead thinking and take advantage of the sustaining energy of your youth.

Drugs and Music

When I was young and on the road playing music, I did my share of partying and recreational drugs. After a while, I seemed to be stuck and not progressing musically as I would have liked.

So one day I woke up listening to the radio and realized, after studying the sounds coming from every station, that I was not where I needed to be musically to compete.

I started to think out of the realm of working in clubs and try harder to find a musical path that would suit me. I decided to do it straight and use my faith as a foundation.

All of a sudden, within a very short period of time, I was playing with better writers, musicians, players, etc. and my original music was coming to light. It was like I was being held back until I decided to give my natural talent a chance to extend itself without the use of drugs, which at the time, I thought, was making my music better.

This was my story, not yours. But if you are stagnant in your music and need a change, try playing straight for a year. Listen to the recordings before and after and come to your own conclusion.

Ronnie Dean ©2016

Loneliness—A Fate Worse Than Death

There is no one person on the face of this earth who is exactly the same as another. One person might wear their feelings and emotions on their shoulder which might make them a good artist or musician in the artistic world. Another person might build roads or highways with the gift they’ve been given.

You might ask—what do they have in common? They are both sharing a space on this earth.

Now I say sharing as many of us were taught when we were very young and as we grow older, tend to forget. I believe the most important thing to share is yourself. Whether you build roads or paint pictures, if you give of yourself with words, emotion, or touch, I believe you have conquered the true meaning of life. “Self” is commonplace today and taught by many to override any true emotions that might come to light, to help another human being with maybe the simplest of tasks. “Self” in its entirety, causes loneliness, stress, depression, anxiety, and the list goes on and on. Why can’t we seem to learn from our mistakes and take the time each day to touch someone’s life? Maybe just at that moment that person might be contemplating suicide because they don’t think anyone cares. This is all too commonplace in today’s world of cell phones, iPads, computers, and the like. All of these implements are causing us to draw more into ourselves and that causes more and more loneliness in every walk of life. “Love” is the key to curing all of these ills and it comes from a place within you as a person, to give of yourself to another. So stop loneliness within yourself and others and as the old saying goes, “reach out and touch someone”. If you look, loneliness is around every corner of life

4 SPEEDS and Life

I was sitting on my couch watching TV the other day. I was watching one of my favorite car racing shows and I started thinking about hot rods.

When I was young in my teens, my Dad kept me busy with a lot of things including building hot rods. I always liked the 4 speed manual transmission and back then, a big engine and a 4 speed were the things to have.

I began to think about how, in our lives, we start out as young men & women in first gear, going as fast as we can to grow up. Then we shift to second as life

throws a lot of curves our way but we still don’t slow down to smell the roses. A few more years pass and the shift to third comes upon us, maybe to settle in a little more, but we still have that throttle mashed down to reach our goals.

Then one day you wake up and realize you have been putting off that final shift to fourth gear because the world doesn’t think fourth gear people have much to say that’s important.

In reality, once I finally shifted into fourth gear, I found it was the gear that was going to take me home. Now some of you will understand this statement and some won’t. It doesn’t mean the car will go any faster or slower or break down. It just means you don’t have to prove anything to anybody anymore.

Notice that, through this journey, reverse gear was never used.

I am truly a gearhead at heart. I still love hot rods and 4 speeds but I realize now that shifting into fourth gear needs to happen to reach one’s destination or, as you would call it, the finish line.

P.S. My Mom is 93 years old and I believe she has shifted into “overdrive”!

RD ©2015

PREJUDGMENT--or PREJUDICE

I was watching a movie the other night that frequently used the word ”prejudice”. I started to think about how the meaning of that word seems to be in every facet of our lives and is not confined to skin color only.

I don’t believe any human being on this earth is born with prejudice. The Webster Dictionary describes the meaning as this: pre-conceived judgment or opinion; an adverse opinion formed without just grounds or without “sufficient knowledge”. It goes on but these words seem to nail it down pretty well.

The one other word that stands close to this word is pride. When you put the two together and practice them, as you would say—religiously—then you have a recipe for the downfall of nations and the human race.

Let’s just say we took both words out of our vocabulary and could no longer develop as a society or nation with the meaning they possess. I believe that most all problems amongst countries and ourselves would disappear.

It’s sad how a couple of words define who we are as human beings and make us think thoughts outside the realm of heartfelt emotion. Now you see--heartfelt emotion drives a lot of great things that we seem to enjoy, for instance music, peace, living as a family, and “love as a whole”.

There is no denying that there are parts of the human race who will always “prejudge” other parts of the human race, but I personally am going to try to make it a point in my life to really start thinking about the outcome of those words and try my best to give everyone in my path a deeper look into the spirit that, as I stated earlier, was not prejudged in its infancy.

RD ©2015

Common Man....

It’s funny that this country and other countries as well, seem to settle for less than the best when it comes to our so called leaders. It seems that in the beginning of it all, we were a different nation of independent thinkers with a resolve in mind for equality and peace. Now we are satisfied with what I believe is a compromise of, “better than we had before”. Why can’t someone step up to the plate that has honesty in their hip pocket first, instead of making irrational judgments that add up to a façade of cover up? I run a couple of businesses and if I were to borrow as much money as this country has borrowed to keep myself afloat, I would be bankrupt. Think in a straight line instead of making decisions based upon what you think is going to make you popular. They are called hard decisions in life and sometimes you have to meet the opposition head on and carry

a form of honesty with you so that when all is said and done, you have not tried to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. I am a simple man with fairly simple needs and if I had to condense my life, I could and would. John Conlee, a country music writer and artist, wrote some lines in one of his tunes that fit this scenario perfectly and I wish that more Americans, if nothing else, would adopt the principle of these words. His words…”I am a common man, I drive a common van, my dog ain’t got no pedigree”. That pretty much says it all in regards to where this country should be standing and in regards to our leaders putting themselves above us and not realizing that “we as people, are this country” and what almost everyone wants from our leaders is a rule of judgment made with a firm but honest hand……

RD ©2015

Ravens Roost

I was on one of my music tours in Alaska. We were staying in Petersburg, Alaska at a hotel called The Beachcomber. We had a few days off so the owner of the Inn suggested that if we liked to hike, there was a trail straight up the mountain in front of the hotel that led to a cabin, approximately 5 miles up called, Ravens Roost. It was November and the weather there was still pretty moderate. My drummer Jerry, myself and Paul, the Beachcombers chef, took him up on his suggestion and headed up the pretty well-marked trail. Now we were greenhorns to the Alaska terrain with light clothing; Jerry and I were wearing tennis shoes. Before we left, the owner gave me a 357 Magnum and told us there still might be bears out of hibernation--he said to be careful. Sure enough, about 3 miles into the hike, we saw fresh bear tracks… About another mile and it started to snow lightly, which we were not expecting. So we sat down and, after a discussion, decided to keep heading towards the cabin. It started to snow harder and, about another mile into the hike, there was a foot of snow on the ground. Then the path that was so well-marked, disappeared except for some small stakes along one side about every ½ mile. I gave the gun to Jerry who could see better in that weather than I and we kept going. We finally sited the cabin in the distance and by then,

it was snowing hard and there was about 18” of snow on the ground. We went inside where there was a small fireplace, blankets, matches fire wood, etc. left there, we believe by the forest service. On a picture on the wall it said the cabin had been flown in by helicopter in pieces. Chef Paul had brought some soup and fruit along, so we started a fire, took a small pan we found there and melted some snow and ate what he had brought. We talked about how we would get out the next day if it kept snowing. Finally we fell asleep for a short time to wake up to daylight and a cold cabin.

We opened the door and the snow had stopped at about two feet and the sky was a beautiful majestic blue. The surrounding trees were filled with ravens all calling at each other. It was vividly beautiful but we were worried about getting down the mountain while the sky was clear, so we started back down. The trail we had trekked coming up was not completely gone because the snow hadn’t filled our tracks completely up. We were met by a search party, put together by the club owner from the Beachcomber, and they said they thought about us and were worried that we may have had some problems because of the freak storm that came about that night. It was an adventure I will never forget because of the beauty of what we saw and heard when we got up that morning to the majesty of Mother Nature’s hand. I have thought many times since about us 3 city boys taking that chance and beating the odds —but it really was one of life’s adventures.

P.S. A part that I forgot was, in the middle of the night, the fire got low and it got cold so I got up to re-stoke it and I could not get it going fast enough to suit me so I took charcoal fire starter and sprayed on the coals which sent a flame shooting out of the stove about two feet. Now my drummer was asleep on the bench in front of the stove and he had very long hair which started to singe and I’ve never seen anyone move so fast in my whole life. I am so grateful, to this day, that I didn’t do anything worse than singe it but after a few choice words that he spoke to me, we all laughed and went back to bed. The look on his face was priceless and to this day I haven’t ever used fire starter like that again……………

RD ©2015

The Payoff

There are many rewards for all the work involved in presenting our live show, “Nashville Side Streets”, to the world at large. I am continually challenged with all manner of new info about broadcasting, editing, and digital ways to do everything from switching cameras and special effects to getting the word out about the show.

One of the reasons for doing the show, of course, is to help people achieve their dreams by giving them an opportunity for the world to get to know them. And one of the greatest rewards for me is meeting all the folks who have come to visit our studio to perform or to watch and support their artist friend or family member.

We’ve had guests from near and far and it is most exciting to hear their stories. I feel humbled and honored that they all want to come to our studio. I feel especially privileged by those who have traveled a great distance just to be on our show!

We’ve had a number of international guests, expanding my world. Anywhere around the globe, each town--or even a small neighborhood--has its own culture. Each country from where we’ve had guests—Spain, Russia, UK, Wales, Sweden, Chile, Venezuela—was once just a shape on a map to me. Now there is a face, a name and a voice.

I feel warm inside when I hear our visitors express how comfortable they are in our studio, that they can feel the music embedded in the walls when they first walk in. The house that contains our studio was originally my home, where I played my banjo to the walls and the trees in the back yard as I attempted to achieve my own dream once upon a time. My dreams have since changed, and another reward I have now is to continue playing without any goal, just digging the sweet sounds of all the music that comes from the studio.

This speaks of our own culture at Nashville Side Streets where you can relax, kick off your shoes and feel at home, which is the whole idea our creator/host/producer Ronnie Dean had behind broadcasting from the living room.
Much time has been spent, after the show was over and the cameras were off, just talking and getting to know each other late into the night. And then there are the hugs from so many of our guests! This tells me we must be doing something right! I think this may be the biggest reward for me. No matter how near or far our guests have come, we have gained many new friends. I am again reminded of our slogan, coined by Ronnie, “In this house you’re never alone because music makes this house its home.”

Nancy Hanson©2015
Nashville Side Streets Co-Producer

Gentle Spirits

It seems that the gentle spirits in this world should rule because they have feelings for all living things and they are willing to overlook a lot of hurt and pain in their own lives to give back love so that others don’t suffer the same hurt and pain.

This is not like the commanders-in-chief in all the world, that stand to one side and destroy human life and beyond to gain access to land and inhabit greed.
It has been my experience in this life to stand next to both human types and I have made the choice to stand with gentle spirits and love until the end of my time.

It has also been my experience to understand loneliness which is truly only a lack of love. I have also known hate and anger and I will stand on the side of love on any given day. The choices you make are yours but those choices affect every waking moment of your life as well as other lives that you touch.

No human knows another unless we communicate and it seems, even with the lines of communication we have today, we still fail miserably on a worldwide basis, to simply talk to each other.

So my conclusion is that this is my life to live and I choose to be friendly and tell my stories freely to those who will listen and tell me theirs in return.

“You want to stop all wars?” Communicate with--“GENTLE SPIRITS”

Touching People

When you think for a minute about what really makes life worth living, I think, personally, it is other people and their lives.

I really enjoy playing, singing and writing music because I am able to express myself, but the most enriching experiences I’ve had are talking to other people and hearing about their lives.

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, we don’t do much one-on–one conversation. That conversation has taught me to get my mind off myself and get acquainted with why, I believe, we are here in the first place: to be a family.

Some of us are weak and some are strong and, if you think about that, we would balance ourselves out with more conversation.

You might even find we have fewer wars.

So when a new day begins, find out about someone else and how they live, and give them your full undivided attention to see if maybe your life can be touched as well.

HIS CHURCH

I am a believer and I have been troubled lately by some things that I have seen in regards to all religions. If you are going to use the Bible as a guideline, then there should be more unity within religion of all kinds, to better advance—as you would call it—“the church”.

The church, as it was lived through the teachings of Christ, was simply his followers, to unite as one for the family—which we were designed to be. If the spirit of God lives within us, then we have an obligation to

the Father and Son, to bring as many as we can to the right hand of God before the end of time.

There is power in numbers as any historian of war will tell you. Our religious communities have failed to unite, through the only living truth, the Bible.

I get tired of hearing differences of opinion, sometimes drastic, as to what was actually trying to be conveyed through that book, by the hand of God, to the scholars who wrote it.

No one seems to understand the importance of “unity”

as a church community of people, gathered for the purpose of presenting as much peace and love as we can muster up, before Christ comes again.

As I stated earlier, the Bible is a tool of wisdom for all, to help us until all time as we know it, ceases.

Please try to come together with compassion and love for each other, for the betterment of “His Church”.

THE BUSINESS

I have been in the music business for 40+ years. I have heard and seen God’s hand and work as far as getting people together to play and sing. I recently ran across a group of three called “Asteria Lux” who, together as a group, are extraordinary. They are two girls, 17 and 18, gifted beyond their years, and a famous songwriter out of Nashville, TN.

I have seen many parents who discouraged their children from playing because of all the pitfalls of the “music business”.

The bottom line is this: When magic occurs there is no mistaking that God had his hand in it, and this unlikely group of people is blessed beyond normal.

I recently heard that one member of the group is leaving to pursue another career. I find this very sad because of the magic that they have together as a group.

I understand the uncertainty of the business, but having been in the business as long as I have, I also know that regret is a terrible one of life’s experiences. I’ve seen groups break up for a lot of reasons, and I don’t know the whole story, but I do know this: No matter what the reason, another power brought these three together.

They have one of the most unique sounds I have heard in years and I felt compelled to write a story about the great loss to our music community.

To every parent who has a musically gifted child—Please understand that they don’t conform to this world’s way of thinking unless they are forced and at that moment, no one knows what they have taken away from that child and the world.

A JOURNEY CUT SHORT

My life has been a roller coaster of events due to the profession I’m in. It’s called “the music business”. I have seen some of the best God-given talent on this earth quit music in so many ways and for so many reasons.

I remember a gifted young man whose name was Miles Terry. He was a bass player and vocalist. He had the kind of natural talent that most people in the business have to work hard to achieve. He was born to play and sing, and his Mom knew it so well. I hired him to play a power trio and we were together for about two years. Miles, as with many gifted people, had a problem with addiction.

After knowing him for a while, I got the impression that he had something really gnawing at him inside. I tried a couple of times to talk about it, but I could feel his anger so I finally stopped asking. We, as a band, broke up and Miles went his own way.

I left the Seattle area where I was living and moved to Nashville to further my music career. A few years passed and I went back to Seattle. I looked up the drummer that had made up our trio at that time. He told me a terrible story of how Miles was shooting heroin and he had overdosed and died.

It put a huge pit in my stomach and I couldn’t get it out of my mind for a long time. I saw in him a vibrant spirit with so much to offer other people and the music world. He laughed from his heart.

Sometimes you can only do so much to help, and then you have to let people make their own decisions. To this day, twenty-five years later, I still think about him quite a bit. His spirit was so strong but his journey here was so short. He has a permanent place in my heart and I consider him a good friend.

I think sometimes what’s in a man’s heart needs to be spoken and this tragedy has been bothering me lately so I wrote this story and I hope that, somehow for someone, it will help ease their journey in this life.

Ronnie Dean © 2014

The cream will always rise to the top.

One Box

The music business has made music artists, songwriters and the public believe that there is one box to be in. And if you’re not in that box—you don’t count.

I see countless numbers of people, young and old, who have ability way beyond what the “box” could even survive.

This seems to be the problem because the industry has the public believing there is only one way to write a song--“formula writing”, one way to present it, and a 3 to 3½ minute time limit to hear it.

Take the time to engulf the Internet and look for unheard-of artists and musicians and listen to their music.

It is a refreshing change, and all you wannabe writers and artists:

Don’t give up and don’t conform your spirit into thinking there is only “one box” to be in. The Internet, public performance, and true God-given talent will level your playing ground.

Always remember: The cream will always rise to the top. It’s called “style”.

TWO FACES OF OTHER CULTURES

A couple of nights ago, we had a guest from Spain on our show, “Nashville Side Streets” and he brought his girlfriend from Russia with him.

After the show was over, my wife Nancy and I got to talking to these folks about the places where they live.

We exchanged simple ideas and got to know each other better, even though there was a language barrier of sorts.

Neither my wife nor I have ever been to these two countries but I learned a lot about their cultures and way of life—and then it hit me: What is wrong with this picture?

These two people represented their habitats well and wanted the same thing our Declaration of Independence proclaims: the pursuit of happiness.

We are being led to believe that no one has anything in common with someone of a different origin—which is absurd. It is the so-called “leaders” of these countries who have brainwashed us into believing that, if we got to know each other, we would hate each other.

The issues, as I see it, are real estate, money, greed and ego.

Remember: The pursuit of happiness is what most common people from every culture want. First and foremost they want to be treated with respect and love, and to live in harmony with the rest of the world. It is the governments and the media who are trying to make us believe differently.

Laugh Love and Talk

I got on an elevator today along with two other people who obviously did not know each other. They both had cell phones and were staring at them until they got to their floor, and walked out staring at them.

I went to my designated floor, got out and went into an office where three men were sitting, staring into their phones, one of whom had a wife and child next to him and said very little to either one.

We seem to be unaware of the lack of social contact we are producing with cell phones, laptops, and the like. The only words I can think of are “socially inept”. It is causing inwardness and lack of self-confidence.

What good is education if, when you get through, you can’t even communicate on an intelligent level with another human being without the use of gadgets.

The use of language is becoming extinct, at least between people, and the most fulfilling emotional experiences that life has to offer come from the sharing of life’s personal journeys.

It’s an easy fix. Talk to one another, person to person. Laugh, love, live and come out of yourself so that life will give you back its true meaning. It will give you back emotional awareness of your surroundings and help you become YOU.

Stand Up Stand Down

My father, if he believed it was the right thing to do, stood up and told people what he thought. Now he was only an eighth grade educated man, so sometimes the words didn’t match the inner emotions that he felt.
I have seen, in the last 30 years of my life, people becoming more complacent in regard to affairs that aren’t in their own back yard. They are, as you would say—“standing down”.
Think about the guts it took, during the 9-11 incident, to gather together and stop that plane from crashing into our nations capitol--fully knowing they would most likely never come out of it alive. They banded together and stood up against the opposing force to make right a wrong and paid the ultimate price but saved many lives in the process.
So take heed from these heroes. Stand up and band together for your beliefs and freedom because we are losing many of those to the minority when, in essence, we are still the majority and we have the power in our hands to stop the insanity that we all know is taking place in many parts of our country.
Please open your doors and hearts again to one of the principles our forefathers of this country stood for: strength in numbers. “Stand up” for what is right and “CHANGE WILL HAPPEN”!

Ronnie Dean © 2014

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

Anyone who knows me knows I try to stay as healthy as I can. Now that requires a lot of discipline because I love pies, chocolate, and many foods which, as I grow older, my body does not tolerate anymore.
I learned, when I was in my twenties, how to take care of myself and I gain more knowledge, in that direction, as time goes on.
I was thinking about how much knowledge and wisdom go

hand in hand: “one feeds the other”. There are so many people out there who are more knowledgeable in all facets of life than I am. So it seems learning everything I can from them, and passing on what I know to others, is a requirement in my life.
Living in the south has taught me to be myself more and give more, which is knowledge and wisdom all in one.
So listen to your peers as they pass on life-changing knowledge and wisdom to you that they have acquired. And remember: lack of knowledge may put you in harm’s way of many of life’s pitfalls—including early death.

Ronnie Dean © 2014

BLINDERS

When I was in my teens and twenties, I went through life with blinders on. I saw only my own world and didn’t see the rest of the people around me, who make up this planet.
Out of my twenties, my life started to gradually change. One night a friend asked if I would like to go see this new band at the club around the corner and I agreed. My friend and I went into the club, sat down, and he went to use the rest room. The band hadn’t started and I was sitting by myself looking around at the surrounding tables full of people talking when a gradual silence

came over the room. I could still see everyone but the sound of their voices was gone. I saw, for the first time, other people, their faces and their lives. As I was sitting in that moment, the sound of their voices—as if with a volume control—slowly returned.
I had no fear concerning this event in my journey of life and, for the first time, I was at peace with myself and my existence. I believe God was letting me know it was time for me to stop being so selfish and inward, and to realize there were many lives to be touched, and that I truly had something I could give back to them: “me”
The volume control was turned down
So I was serene enough to look around.

Ronnie Dean © 2014

I MARRIED A HUGE LADY

By the title of this, you would guess that I married a lady 6 foot 7, but actually I married a lady 4 foot 7. I am 5 foot 11.

It seems that a lot of people want to talk to this lady to ask her questions about everything from how tall she is to--how tall she is.

Over the years, since she was a young girl, many have done their best to make her feel less than perfect or not comfortable in her own skin.

I have noted, since we have been together, that when we go places people always take a second glance.

Before we got married, we got to know each other and, of course, I noticed her size but never paid much attention because my object was to get to know the person that makes her, as the title says—“a HUGE lady”.

I have noted in my life that everyone has faults and I have also noted that most beauty, as the old saying goes, “is skin deep”.

So the next time you meet someone—big, tall, short, or any other way—remember: If you make verbal note of that to the individual, then you really missed what life is all about--and that is touching people’s spirits.

I know that it may be hard, at first, to change because we live in a society of first appearance judgments, but try approaching those people with friendly conversation or true friendship, period. You will then see and find the blossoming rose that lies beneath your first glance.

Ronnie Dean (p) 2014

LIFE”S BIGGEST FEAR

There are so many things in this life I have feared. But as the years passed, I realized that most all of those things never took place. When you start getting older, one of the monkeys on your back is dying, which leaves no one behind.

Starting at the age of 30, I studied the Bible for a number of years. The knowledge in that book changed my life in a lot of ways--it took many of the fears about life and death that were in me and made them disappear.

I realized from studying, there was a plan, set up by God, to free us from negative thoughts and worries that seem to plague us all.

So without preaching, I will tell you: If you want some real freedom and peace, take in the knowledge of learning some truly inspired words from a great author and a great book, “The Bible”.

Ronnie Dean

THE UNEXPECTED GIFT….. LIFE

It seems that the gifts of our short life can be measured in many ways, but there truly is only “one given gift” called “THE TRUTH”. When you find and excel in THE TRUTH, then as the old saying goes, “THE TRUTH shall set you free”.
When one human being who, through their own mis-guidance, adopts a half-truth without going down the full path, and never seems to reach full maturity in life’s journey, then for that person, the journey then seems to be unfulfilled and unfinished.

I have personally experienced this in my journey and I have seen this in many older people as well as younger and regret seems to be hindsight.
Each person has to make his or her own decision in this matter and when you try to help someone, on their path, always keep in mind that their fear of like thinkers, in regards to the TRUTH, may stem from a fear of leaving their own reality.
Some people think that they have conquered the truth but it seems to me to be a lifetime project.
So if you see it, or better yet, “FEEL IT”, grab it while you can because, “you may never have the chance again”.

RD (p) 2014

SNAPSHOT

When I was a little boy of four or five years, we lived on about two acres with a backyard full of vegetable garden, chickens, a small cement pond with a bridge going over it, with many apple and cherry trees, and a dog named Rex. It was a little boy’s paradise.

I remember one morning getting up and standing by the heater vent coming out of the wall, getting dressed and running outside to climb the apple tree to get a fresh crisp apple and gleaming with joy looking out over my paradise.

God took a snapshot of that place and as the years passed, saved it in my memory to bring me back to that particular time. Such freedom and beauty had been placed here for our comfort and joy. Life presents many pitfalls of money and what it can buy. It is supposed to give peace—but there is no love or peace involved as with the simplicity of God’s hand.

I have remembered many snapshots that God has given me over the years and realized much about the inner workings of life.

I have much to be thankful for, and first and foremost is the true friendship I have with God.

Ronnie Dean (p) 2014

RESPECT

I have recently had another bout of no respect from my family, or siblings as you would call them. I don’t understand why, other than that we walk opposite paths in life. If money makes you happy, then I guess they missed the boat because they both have money.

I love people and I love to entertain and talk to people about life and spiritual matters and that has to do with friendship. And if your own family, siblings, makes you stumble—then I must let go. Life is too short for that much strife. People who are unhappy seem to enjoy trying to make others unhappy. And, personally, I won’t stand for it.

So as time allows, I will pull away completely from the power trip and the overall manipulation. I will stand with God, my wife, and friends till time indefinite. Because you see, myself, my wife and friends, as with many of you, are “JUST PASSING THROUGH”.

It is comforting to know that amongst God, wife and friendship there is kinship as there would be in “REAL FAMILY”. It only makes sense because, as God stated, we are all supposed to be one big happy family as we all make up “HIS CHURCH”.

Ronnie Dean (p)2014

The Season of Pleasure

A friend of mine wrote some lines in a tune stating, “There was a season of pleasure I knew would end.”

I was working playing music in club circuits and I was barely scraping by. I was about ready to have a child and I was scared to death that, when my child was born, I wouldn’t have the means to support him and the family I already had.

I was working in Kent, Washington the night my child was born and I was on pins and needles waiting for a call from the hospital. I got that call at about 12:15am saying I had a brand new son. There was a relief that came over me when I heard that he and mom were just fine.

I went to the hospital after the show and saw him for the first time in a bassinet in the delivery room. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of love that I instantly had for him and I knew somehow, he was a gift from God.

I went home that night and opened a Bible and started to read. I named my son Isaiah. I told him many years later that my path in life was changed drastically when he was born. I started to study the Bible, stopped doing drugs, stopped smoking cigarettes, and stopped living that “season of pleasure”.

He was a gift, and I believe it was God letting me know, it was time to start walking with Him instead of away from Him. It was truly a gift of ultimate love I had received, and that “new season” had just begun.

Ronnie Dean

THE WRECK

I was about 25 years old. My keyboard player and I, along with our two girlfriends, had gone down to see the wax museum in Coos Bay, Oregon. We had been up about 30 hours when we started to go back to Roseburg, Oregon to play music that night. Phil was driving back, as I drove there and I was going to sack out in the back seat with my girlfriend.

I had been sleeping a short while when I woke up and looked over the seat to find us in mid-air with Phil nodded out against the steering wheel. The car had left the road and we were headed over a cliff. I saw a broken off tree, and the front of the car hit it, sending us end over end. I grabbed my girlfriend as we started to tumble…

They said afterwards that we went end over end about twelve or thirteen times. None of us were wearing seat belts at the time and the car was a 1968 Datsun. We landed on the roof of the car with people scrambling down the hill to help us. There was a doctor who stopped and came down with the crowd of people. When they reached us, they pried us out with tire irons, etc.

Phil, the driver, had no bruises or cuts. His girlfriend, in the front passenger seat, had a bruise on her forehead. I wound up with my back on the gearshift knob, which caused a bruise. My girlfriend was uninjured.

To the amazement of everyone there, we all walked back up the hill to the ambulance that was just arriving. Phil and I still played music that night.

I am telling this story so that you will never drive tired, take life for granted, and you will never think that you are invincible like we all did at that age.

I have thought about that accident many times since and realized that God and His angels were watching over us on that day. Our journey was not over and we all had much more to do here. But it took me quite a few years, after that accident, to figure out how truly blessed we had been!

Ronnie Dean

When Dad Met the Beatles

I went to school as usual the day the Beatles first came to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was twelve. I had been with my father many times at the theatre and I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! Dad was going to let me visit him while the Beatles were there!!!

I was dressed in my best as I ran to a phone booth after school on the way to the subway into Manhattan. I called my father at work, as we had arranged, to get the details.

He asked me, was I sure I really wanted to come to the studio to see the Beatles?

“Oh YES!!,” I answered.

He explained to me that I would only be able to get a distant glimpse of them from the window of the studio control room above the stage floor, if I leaned way over.

“OK, I don’t care. Anything would be really cool!!”

He spoke slowly and deliberately, “Are you sure? You know I could lose my job for this….”

My bubbly giddiness evaporated. I was silent. Tears welled up and I began to quietly cry.

My sadness was not because I wasn’t going to be able to see my heartthrobs. I was crying because I was happy to find out that my father was willing to do this for me at great risk to himself and our family. That was the day I found out how much my father really loved me, and it brought out the tears.

* * * * * *

That evening, Dad came home and showed us the paper and 2 photos. The second photo was a shot of the 4 Beatles posed onstage. Dad had been standing nearby and part of Dad’s nose and forehead were visible in the edge of the frame, so the photographer gave him a copy.

Of course Security was mighty tight around the Beatles, and there have been many stories about fans trying outrageous tricks to get around this. My father had worked for CBS for years. He knew all the local cops, studio guards and personnel, photographers and entertainers on a first name basis. My Dad was one in a million---- he could just walk right up to each Beatle and ask him to sign the paper!

Nancy Hanson

The Pen In the latter seventies, I went to work as a guard for the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. I needed the money badly at the time and I decided to give it a try because I couldn’t seem to find work. I was playing music but not making enough to pay my bills. It was an education in a lot of ways of which a few of these lessons I will mention. I was still pretty young and the staff at the pen was trying to teach us how to stay alive. We weren’t, of course, supposed to get friendly or trust any of the inmates.
I saw talent—everything from artists to musicians—that was extraordinary. It was like they were never given the encouragement or direction, until they did something horrible, to let the gifts from God actually come out so they could see themselves for the first time. Don’t get me wrong here because I also saw, in the two years I worked there, pure evil. But I walked out of those walls knowing that what you become has a lot to do with your start in life. Love, positive encouragement along the way from your family and peers and last but not least, the *choices* that you personally make-- will affect your life dramatically. Those choices not only affect you but so many others around you also. I don’t believe that anyone starts their life with any sort of bad in them. It is the circumstances that follow birth that designate cause and effect as to what that child will end up being as an adult. Ronnie Dean

THE JOURNEY My new son had been born just a few months prior to the most incredible journey I have ever taken or ever will take. It was early on in my music career and I was still playing the club scene. I had been out on the road about three weeks when I finally arrived home at 3am one morning. My son was having problems with colic and was still nursing so he was in and out of our bed. We decided it would be better if I got my stepdaughter Karie up and let her sleep in our bed while I would take hers, as I was desperately tired and needed a good night’s sleep.

I had just gotten to sleep when I woke up and at the foot of my bed was Jesus. He said, “You and I must take a journey”. He told me to take his hand. As we ascended from the room, I turned to see my body still lying on the bed.

We arrived on a mountain with a ledge all the way around. If you can imagine many TV sets without frames around them, then you can picture in your head what I saw. There were hundreds of images all the way around the ledge. Christ told me that each one was an image of me doing something different. He said that all the different things that I was going to see were gifts that had been given to me by the Father. As I saw each one, I was to tell Jesus if I had ever considered doing it. I saw myself doing everything from being a woodworker to driving a racecar.

We walked all the way around to the other side of the mountain. The very last image was me sitting in front of a large crowd singing and playing my music. He said, “And what about that?” I told him that singing and playing my own music was what I always wanted to do. He put his hand on my shoulder and said he already knew that, but I had to.

I woke up more peaceful than I have ever been since.

You see, I was at a crossroad in my life at the time and I was trying to figure out what to do next. Jesus helped me make that decision. It was truly an honor and a gift I could never repay.

As I was about ready to depart from God’s mountain, he said to tell everyone I could that the Father has given them all many gifts to pick from and to never settle for being unhappy because of their job.

I wrote a song about my journey called “Don’t Die for Your Living”.

Ronnie Dean

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