Bill and The Road Home

Lately I have been looking back and reminiscing my past–those times “back in the day” when my faith was fresh and I was growing by leaps and bounds. Pictures of people come to my mind, significant others who stirred me, inspired me, and sometimes simply put me at awe.

One such person was Bill Sprouse, Jr—the 500 pound leader of a Jesus rock band called “The Road Home.” I heard them at some Jesus Festivals I had attended in the early 70′s and immediately made them my favorite band. These guys were so anointed. Led by Big Bill, they moved the ground they played on, and everyone around, with a unique blend of country-blues-rock and roll that spoke the truth and fired up my faith.

I never met Bill. I just sat in awe as he tickled those keyboards and at certain intervals grabbed his violin and turned it into a super fiddle. The guy had loads of talent–and anointing.  A smooth, resonating voice. Hair to his shoulders. At my young age of seventeen, I saw him as a giant in the faith, which he literally was!

He died suddenly, at age 26, of a heart attack. He and his Jesus band, “The Road Home” never got a chance to record an album. He wrote and made a practice recording of Psalm 5 with Maranatha Music and died before he could ever hear the finished product. I have posted—on the right column of this blog, in the video section— the  “in the rough” recording he left behind in the studio, just before he passed.

I miss Bill. I hold his memory—and his music—in my heart. I look forward to seeing him someday soon. Meeting him and letting him know how I feel, and the impact he made on my life through his music, is one of my true north ambitions.