Justin Lee Hodges

Justin Lee Hodges

(Image from Live Love Change Homepage)

I believe that I've mentioned my nephew Justin Hodges a couple of times on this blog. He's the one who recovered a tape of gospel music recorded by the outlaw country musician David Lynn Jones around 2000 and made some CDs to ensure its preservation. I have one of those very few CDs, though I think that Jones himself may also have been given one by now. Anyway, Justin used to be in a band called Gazer that played Christian rock. That got disbanded a couple of years ago, and I hadn't heard anything since, but an email from family back in the Ozarks tells me that he's started another Christian rock band, Live Love Change, along with a fellow named Brenton Little, and they've just released a CD: Awakening.

There's a video of a couple of songs, the main one titled "Amazing." Brenton doesn't appear in the video, but I assume he's playing. Justin appears, doing the vocals, but I don't see the bass guitar that he played in his previous band. Justin's wife also appears, looking lovely and in some mysterious way illustrating the lyrics, which concern redemption. I don't listen much to rock music, and very little to Christian rock. I prefer country music and older gospel songs, but this music is pretty good, also the video. Justin sings well enough and is photogenic. He reminds me a bit of the young Johnny Cash in looks, especially in that image above, though their voices are very different, as the video makes clear. The similar appearance is understandable, for Justin is part Cherokee from both father and mother, and Cash was reputed to be part Cherokee.

Anyway, for those readers with interest, visit the music website and look around, or go to Justin's individual website to see what else he can do, and a Google search for "Justin Lee Hodges" turns up more sites and music, but his music site has a song titled "Time to Live" and personal testimony eight minutes long titled "JLH Testimony" explaining his brushes with death and the faith that ultimately grew from those experiences.

I left the Ozarks so long ago that I hardly know my brothers' kids, and I got to know Justin better in these few minutes watching his videos than in my several hometown visits over the years.