Yeah so kinda late to the party here
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:54 pm
Hello, and thanks very much to all of you who have created, maintained, and authored this amazing site....what an incredible history of Petra.
I fell in love with Petra in 1982, at age 11, which of course makes my favorite albums More Power To Ya and Not Of This World, but I wore out everything through Unseen Power. Only saw them live once, maybe 1988 or so. Bob Hartman was instrumental in my own decision to pick up the guitar at age 15, which has resulted in not-half-bad semi-pro career playing in various touring and church bands for 30+ years and counting. I’m forever in Bob’s debt for that. God continues to use Petra in my life in a mighty way, revealing new things about Him and about myself. In different seasons of life those old lyrics just “hit different,” as my kids would say.
That’s been happening recently, which has of course triggered one of my every-few-years Petra kicks, and my discovery of the Zone only 100 years late. I lost touch with the band after Unseen Power, and it’s been fascinating to lurk here for the last few weeks and fill in the gaps.
A few hopefully brief ramblings about my immense appreciation for Petra:
I think MPTY, NOTW, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power are beautiful records for entirely different reasons. I was prepared to hate God Fixation but I don't. I’m in awe of Bob Hartman’s musical genius, far beyond the guitar. I think John Slick is a wildly underrated musician and was so pleased to see his posts here (that was him, right?) He and I were briefly co-workers in a gigantic company, which was cool to find out after the fact. I never met him.
I’m inspired by Louie Weaver’s example of humility, by the servant leadership of John Schlitt and Bob Hartman, and by the musicianship of all three. And I (personally, ymmv) can’t get enough of the vocal instrument of Greg X. Volz.
tl;dr I love the band, they're a God-given inspiration both musically and spiritually, and massive thanks again to all for this amazing resource!! Good to be here, better (very) late than never.
I fell in love with Petra in 1982, at age 11, which of course makes my favorite albums More Power To Ya and Not Of This World, but I wore out everything through Unseen Power. Only saw them live once, maybe 1988 or so. Bob Hartman was instrumental in my own decision to pick up the guitar at age 15, which has resulted in not-half-bad semi-pro career playing in various touring and church bands for 30+ years and counting. I’m forever in Bob’s debt for that. God continues to use Petra in my life in a mighty way, revealing new things about Him and about myself. In different seasons of life those old lyrics just “hit different,” as my kids would say.
That’s been happening recently, which has of course triggered one of my every-few-years Petra kicks, and my discovery of the Zone only 100 years late. I lost touch with the band after Unseen Power, and it’s been fascinating to lurk here for the last few weeks and fill in the gaps.
A few hopefully brief ramblings about my immense appreciation for Petra:
I think MPTY, NOTW, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power are beautiful records for entirely different reasons. I was prepared to hate God Fixation but I don't. I’m in awe of Bob Hartman’s musical genius, far beyond the guitar. I think John Slick is a wildly underrated musician and was so pleased to see his posts here (that was him, right?) He and I were briefly co-workers in a gigantic company, which was cool to find out after the fact. I never met him.
I’m inspired by Louie Weaver’s example of humility, by the servant leadership of John Schlitt and Bob Hartman, and by the musicianship of all three. And I (personally, ymmv) can’t get enough of the vocal instrument of Greg X. Volz.
tl;dr I love the band, they're a God-given inspiration both musically and spiritually, and massive thanks again to all for this amazing resource!! Good to be here, better (very) late than never.