As I mentioned in my last post, I’m really excited about my upcoming book, Stroked By God, that tells the story of my rise as a musician, the “fall” I had when I suffered a stroke, and the long road back to musical ability, and listening more for God’s plan for me, and not my plans for myself. As my writing talents are better with songs than books, I’m really thankful that my friend Paul Deepan is helping me write this project, which we hope to publish early next year.
Below is a “teaser” for Stroked By God, which we plan to put on the back cover. Stay tuned!
John Bumgardner had lived the “Nashville” dream. Hailing from a small town in the hills of North Carolina, John arrived in Music City able to play the guitar, banjo, keyboards and trumpet. He’d paid his dues in countless gigs from Jacksonville to Cincinnati, and was ready for the next step. But unlike most of the countless singer-songwriters who come to Nashville to shape their paths to glory, John was one of the few to make his living solely from music. He became a utility band member and road manager for Paulette Carlson (a founding member of Highway 101), played across the globe in stadiums filled with tens of thousands of fans, and had an office on world-famous Music Row. Then, at the age of 37, a devastating stroke left John a mere shell of his former self, and, worst of all, with no ability or even memory of how to play music, let alone recall a conversation he’d had merely an hour before.
Many folks might have given up when faced with such a fall, but not John. Armed with a deep conviction that, somehow, he would recover his musical gift with God’s help, John struggled for years to make that vision a reality. Stroked By God is the gentle, unassuming story of one man’s fall from the spotlight, but not from grace, and the poignant, funny memoir of a man who lost everything except his faith, and who then got back everything that mattered.
John’s near miraculous return to musical performance is reflected in the album, My Heaven is Blue, was released in late 2015. Stroked By God is an inspiring read for anyone dented by life’s tumbles, and for anyone who understands the pain, and shame, and indignity of suffering a stroke.
