and now words from Grant...

Hello there, you-SONICFLOOd-website-visitor-you! I am very impressed that you're here and especially if you're reading a chunk of text like this one. Hopefully you'll find this interesting.

A high-school student, who was doing research for a school project, asked me to describe my influences. This is pretty much what I wrote to him:

My thinking and spirituality have been influenced by several books/authors I could mention:

- Donald Miller, especially his books "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What". I have also gone to hear him speak in public a couple of times. Most recently last Monday night (August 22nd, 2005 in Nashville)! He writes and speaks about the mystery and wonder of a loving relationship with Jesus, rather than the "commercial" or "religious" approach to being a Christian. He is also very funny!

- Paul (yes Paul Colman of my former band the Paul Colman Trio or pc3) greatly influenced my thinking on a lot of things too. He has some very wise older guys who have mentored him over the years in certain approaches to relationship and following Jesus. Thankfully, Paul passed some of these on to me.

- M. Scott Peck wrote a book called "The Road Less Traveled" which deeply influenced me some years back, but I still hold to the ideas and I am hoping to re-read it this year.

- Eugene H. Peterson's re-writing of scripture as "The Message" has also opened up the Bible to me in ways for which I am very thankful.

- My wife and I completed a wonderful seminar run by my church called "Ancient Paths" that was excellent and made significant changes in me. It's presented by a guy named Craig Hill. He wasn't at our church though. We had to watch him on video.

- "Men's Fraternity - A Journey Towards Authentic Manhood" was a life-changing early morning meeting/study that really helped me a great deal as well.

- I am also a big fan of Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost For His Highest”. I have to read the updated edition because the original text, first published in 1935, is pretty tough to plough through with it's old style English language. ”My Utmost …” is a collection of daily studies. I always find them right on the ball and very challenging


My favorite passage of the Bible is Proverbs 3: 5 and 6. Look it up!


Early musical influences are many and varied:
- The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney
- Crowded House and Neil Finn
- Early Contemporary Christian music like Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill and The Resurrection Band
- Rock bands like Queen, Toto and Boston
- Hard rock bands like Deep Purple,King's X.

Right now I am loving these newer artists:
- Muse
- The Killers
- Keane
- Missy Higgins
- Butterfly Boucher
- Frou Frou
- Air
- The Cardigans

So there you go folks. Hopefully you know me - one fifth of SONICFLOOd - a little better now. See you at a show some time soon I hope!

Grant Norsworthy
(bassist)