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Reg Stokes has been a guitarist for over 35 years. It all started with the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.
“I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show when I was a small kid and that’s when I knew I had to play guitar.”
Like many other folks at the time, the idea of making music that would really influence a whole generation was something that motivated the heart.
“So, I talked my parents into getting me a guitar the following Christmas…I practiced until my fingers bled, and in about a year or so started playing with some friends for birthday parties around the little town of Hemingway, S.C. where I grew up. We played Beatle songs, along with R&B, (called Beach Music in that area). I eventually discovered the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynard , and sort of dove into the southern rock scene. That led to playing in clubs, bars and anywhere they were paying. But, in 1975 something happened to me that changed my life AND my music…I met Jesus Christ through a ministry in Florence, S.C. called ‘Reach Out.’ There was a coffee house there called ‘The Door’. People prayed at the Bible study there and you could tell that their faith was real. It was like they were talking to their best friend or something. I was blessed to be invited to a Friday night study session, and a few weeks later I committed my life to Christ. There was this incredible change in me that I could not explain in human words, but there was also a major paradigm shift in my music. Someone handed me a Phil Keaggy album, and that was it.”
Since then Reg’s influences have not only included Phil Keaggy, but other Christian and secular guitarists such as Larry Carlton, Pat Metheny, Earl Klugh, George Benson, Dan Huff, the guitar expressions of the group Boston, as well as many folks who nobody has ever heard of, but have “just been a tremendous influence in my playing.” Performing with Christian bands in the 70’s to early 80’s (such as Rick Eldridge, Seeds, Ransom) Reg eventually got into doing session work in several studios (wherever he was living at the time).
After having gone through a lot of stuff in the 80’s and early 90’s, he recommitted his life to the Lord in 1998.
“I had fallen away from my walk with the Lord, and it really took its toll on my life…But, God is faithful and I was never happy or content during those years. Since recommitting my life to Christ I’ve started playing again, and have met some awesome brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom wrote songs on this CD. My purpose for doing a project such as this is to share with folks what my passion and heart is…I just want folks to come to know the Lord in a real and personal way, and to encourage folks to know that God cares. No matter who you are, where you’ve been or what you’ve done…Christ suffered, bled and died so you could have a relationship with the God of the universe…and that the non-presence of Jesus Christ in your life can have eternal consequences…that pretty much says it all…”
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