Lets hear some stories from all the Real Tree Huggers out there! I know that arrows are flying and critters are frying......

Steve Conover 11 hours ago · 2 likes · 4 comments

She's More Than A Dog

She's my best friend!

I recently wrote a new song after going through the loss of several of our beloved cats and several Facebook friends who lost their dogs.

Living and working in the hunting and fishing industry brings me into contact with thousands of people who have amazing dogs. These dogs are much more than companions and add significant value to each of these human lives!

I have three dogs at Hardcore Huntin' Music headquarters and they each provide me with their own brand of education, joy, peace and of course LOVE! Anyone with a dog knows that no human is capable of loving you quite like a dog does...its incredibly humbling! The dogs pictured above is our rescue dog "Midnight". She is a Border Collie/Aussie/Lab mix and is one of the smartest animals I have ever known. Much of the song below is inspired by "Middy" as well as our other dogs "Smoke E" & "Bella Joy".

I hope that others will comment on this post with stories of their dogs! We have them for a very short time but i know they leave a lasting legacy of great memories for all of us. I'd love to get your feedback and hopefully inspire you to share stories of your dog with us!

Honoring Our Heros

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

What a great time it is to spend a little time with family and friends!

I had the opportunity on Thursday to go to Bridgeport, WV with Curtis Fleming and the Fly Rod Chronicles crew to surprise a young police officer named Dustin Hotsinpiller with a fishing trip of a lifetime.

Dustin's brother Derek was a US Marshal and was killed in the line of duty earlier this year. Dustin and Derek were avid fly fishermen and spent many days together chasing the illusive trout in many of our nations streams and rivers.

They had a yearly trip planned when Derek's life was ended so tragically. Curtis Fleming and Bo Preiskorn of the Brazos River Ranch decided to take Dustin on a fishing trip of a lifetime to the mountains of northern New Mexico this July 27th to honor his brother's life!

We arrived at the police station in Bridgeport, WV around 11 AM and met Dustin's Mom, family and friends. The police chief called Dustin and told him that they had a break in a case he was working on and Dustin came in right away!

When Dustin walked in the look on his face was priceless! Curtis told Dustin about the trip, gave him a new fly rod and then his fellow officers gave him the money needed to fly there and get his licenses etc.

Curtis told Dustin that we would be filming a Fly Rod Chronicles show while we are there in honor of his brother as a tribute to the life they both lead and the sacrifice he and his family made.

Then it was time for me to sing a song I wrote for this occasion called "May Your Cast Be True.....I was sure I wasn't going to be able to get through it with crying...my wife gave me a ZERO % chance!....but with Gods help I did. It was such an honor to be able to do that for such a great family and community.

I thank God for giving me this opportunity and am completely humbled by those brave servants who lay down their lives everyday to keep us safe and allow us to live in such a great country!

I know I will be thinking of them this weekend as we celebrate another year of living in the best country on Earth!

A Few Brave Souls!

I started writing a book today about what the world calls children with disabilities and why I think they are really here! There is some fishing....some humor...and some Jesus. Check out the first few pages and let me know what you think?

Chapter 1- Cody

I’ve been wanting to write this book for some time now, and I’ve decided to just sit down and hammer it out! You see, I know this topic will bring a ton of emotions to the surface for many readers. This is a good thing and I am prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly.

I first started thinking about this “Brave Souls” idea about 7 years ago when I met my wife Tammy and got to spend time with her brother Chris’ boy Cody. Cody has been diagnosed as Autistic and is in the higher functioning part of the spectrum. This was my first experience with Autism and I really didn’t have any prejudices or preconceived notions about Autism and this turned out to be a good thing.

Since then I have had many great experiences with Cody and other children with disabilities and I can honestly tell you that these experiences have been some of the greatest and most memorable.

Fishing with Cody was quite the adventure! Cody heard me talking about fishing on the Shenandoah River with my teenage son Justin and asked me if I would take him sometime. I instantly said “Heck Yeah!” to which I got a look from my wife and an “are you sure you wanna do that” look from his parents. Evidentially they thought I was getting myself in a little over my head and…well…they were probably right to some extent but neither I nor Cody really cared!

The day came and I drove to pick him up and he was sure enough ready to go! His Dad said he had been up for hours and talking about it for days. Those of you with Autism experience are smiling right now because you know exactly what he must have been like. We loaded up my truck with fishing gear, suntan lotion, food, drink and anything else we thought we might need for a 3 or 4 hour excursion just a few miles down the road.

When we arrived at the river the excitement of the day and the Autistic version of a fishing excursion hit me in the head like a sledge hammer! You see…I was thinking about where we would park and set up to fish in a way that would be productive for catching fish. I soon learned that was the farthest thing from Cody’s mind!

We pulled into Watermelon Park in Berryville, Virginia and drove down to a spot that the lady at the bait store said would hold a lot of smallmouth bass. She told me that they have fishing tournaments nearly every weekend and after the weigh in they release all the fish right there. I was really fired up about the possibility of catching some really nice fish. I unloaded the gear and got Cody’s rod ready to go and had it all baited up with a big fat night crawler when I looked up and there he was… Knee deep in the river chasing bream around trying to catch them with his hands!

My first reaction was to get mad. All that splashing around in the water was surely running off any decent sized fish that we were going to catch. When I yelled “Cody” he turned around and I saw the biggest smile I have ever seen on a kids face. He said “Uncle Steve…are these the fish we’re gonna catch?” It was in that moment that I realized that my day was going to go in a completely different direction than I had planned. I just laughed and said “Yes they are! Come on over here and get your rod and let’s start fishing for them”. We spent a little time learning how to cast which ended up being what Cody now considers fishing. That’s exactly what Cody did….cast and reel it in….cast and reel it in! I tried to explain that the fish wouldn’t have time to bite the hook if he didn’t let it sit there a while and he would say “OK Uncle Steve”. I spent the next few hours baiting hooks and watching Cody “fish”. He would turn to me every now and then a say “Uncle Steve…we’re fishing aren’t we” and I would say “yes we are Cody….yes we are!”

Needless to say we didn’t actually catch any fish that day. We got a bunch of sun, went through a tub of night crawlers and got hung up a few times on the rocks. The last half hour or so we were actually doing what most people would call swimming! I learned a great lesson in life that day about taking the oars out of the water and just floating down life’s stream. A ten year old Autistic boy taught me how to trust God and receive a blessing that I will never forget.

There were two choices I could have made that day. The one I made or I could have chosen to “fish” my way and suffered the consequences. I could have possibly caught some fish but Cody would have been miserable and I’m pretty sure he would never want to go “fishing” again. I am so grateful to Cody for teaching me how to “fish” that day and now I make it a point to get up every day and go “fishing”! I can’t help but think of all the times Jesus encourages us to come to him, and life, as a child. I never really understood what that meant until that day I went “fishing” with Cody. For the first time I truly understood and felt exactly what Jesus was talking about in those particular red words in the Bible. I also now understand why he warned us about causing these “little ones” or “the least” among us to sin.

I am so glad that I made the choice I made that day! I got to experience the pure joy of a child doing what children are supposed to do. I basked in the peace that flowed from that joy and I am now able to write about it in a way that could possibly help someone else. And the love…what love I got to see in Cody’s smile and the words I heard all the way home. Cody also taught me how God co-creates our entire world if we only allow it to occur. Cody didn’t know he was co-creating with God and may not ever know about this book but he could be the inspiration that causes a chain of events to unfold that are unknown to anyone now. That’s the great part about coming to life as a child…. if we are living life as we are intended we won’t know either…until it happens…and then we say WOW!

Pirates & Outlaws!

I recently wrote a song which was inspired by my new relationship with Fly Rod Chronicles TV show, Brazos River Ranch and all of my experiences growing up just having to be in,on and around water all the time!

Please check out the video below and understand that it was recorded on a laptop! The studio version will be out soon and available for purchase through FlyRodChronicles.TV,iTunes, Amazon and others.

Please leave a comment about your experiences growing up and share with all of us!

Hog Days Of Summer!

What a great weekend it was! My birthday on Saturday....Fathers Day on Sunday...and great fishing with my friend James Montgomery of The Fly Rod Chronicles TV show.

We've been having nice cool nights lately and it looks like the bass in James' 10 acre pond are really liking it! We were using blood red worms on a Carolina rig and they just hammered it. I caught this little 5 pound hog late in the morning just as it was getting a little hot.....Happy Birthday to me!

Thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday on Facebook and LinkedIn! The hunting and fishing community are such great people and I am so blessed to be able to not only make a living doing what I love but to also be able to call so many of you my FRIENDS!

Spring Has Sprung!

I got up early this morning and was serenaded by several Goblers coming off of a ridge down into an apple orchard here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia....wasn't hunting but it was still exciting to hear them! I was actually checking out the water level on the Shenandoah River where my favorte honey hole is......good news.....I'll be hammering them this evening!

This is what is so great about being a member of the Hardcore Huntin' & Fishin' Nation! Every season seemlessly rolls into the next as if God planned it this way? There is always something to hunt, fish or bowfish and of course....EAT!

This goes out to all of you who "Commanding The Outdoors" with me!

Your Hardcore Huntin' Story Contest!!!

Tell me your best Hardcore Huntin' Story in the comment section below and you may be one of 5 people who will win a FREE Hardcore Huntin' Hits CD!

Tell us a story from last year that you think is proof that your are a certified member of the Hardcore Huntin' Nation!

FREE Hunting Music Player!

So here it is! A music player with all of my songs on it that you can listen to absolutely free! If you really like any of them just click the iTunes link on the right side of the page and download it!

Real Tree Hugger Volome 2

I received many replies,comments and emails regarding the first blog about the Tree Hugger Song! Thats a good thing...but I think there may be some confusion out there about the song's purpose so here goes Volume 2....

The Real Tree Hugger Song is NOT meant to be a tool to condemn or Judge another human being. I wrote the song in response to those who were and are JUDGING ME for hunting and fishing for the food I eat!

I also point out in the song that we hunters and fishermen spend countless hours and millions of dollars every year actually PRESERVING habitat and the species that we are harvesting and consuming.

We don't need to condemn anyone! God gave us these creatures for FOOD acording to the Bible and until anyone can give me "Orders From Headquarters" otherwise....I'll keep following the orders I have right now!

Lastly.....This one is for the Anti-Hunters...Please don't tell me I should go to the store and purchase a bunch of man made stuff being sold as food! You can keep the Diabetis,Heart Disease & Cancer....Thanks Anyway!



So now we have the subject of the hate filled emails to me and other hunters and outdoorsman. I take my faith seriously so I don't return the emails with the same tone. However...I am a song writer so I did pull a slight "Taylor Swift" and write a song in response to their annual ritual!

Pick It or Kill It!

Great blog title huh?

Its a great topic for many different reasons! You cant turn on the TV or read any news without hearing lots of scary things about the price of food, the scarcity of food in other countries, genetically modified food and the declining health of the American people!

First...if you break out the ole Bible and do a little reading you'll find that God highly recommends the "Pick It or Kill It" meal plan. Yes...there are some plants, animals,seeds, nuts and veggies stuff that are better than others but the main theme is eat stuff the way God made it!

Second....if you have a freezer full of actual FOOD that you harvested yourself you are not subject to the whims of the "Big Food" lobby and their friends at multiple Federal Government Agencies.....be self sufficient!

Third....Sugar,fake sugar and processed foods will KILL you and are more addictive than Cocaine! This is a fact and is the cause of most of our major illness such as Heart Disease, Diabetes(Type 2) and most cancers....that's right...we are killing ourselves!

Why am I blogging about this?

Because I strongly believe that "The Life" of a Hardcore Huntin' and Fishin' Bum is about being close to God in His creation. This life is NOT about being a slave physically and emotionally because of decisions we make about the food we eat and the sugar we ingest through many kinds of drinks.

In short...Live the best life you can live! That's what we're all about around here. I want you to live "The Life" and live it as long as you can...Lord willing and the creek don't rise!

I know many of you Already live this way and GOD BLESS YOU! Please share your experience here by leaving a comment....no judging going on here just a challenge for all of us to LIVE the LIFE of a Hardcore Huntin' & Fishin' Bum!

The Fish Are On The Beds!

Its one of my favorite times of the year! The Bass are on the beds and the fishing action is picking up...Even on Saturday when it was only 33 degrees we caught over 25 Bass and a few nice Crappie...or Specks as they call them in Louisiana!

The cool thing is that I know there are people getting fired up to fish all across North America for many different species of fish!

Here's what I want to know.....What are you getting fired up to fish for?

Here at the Hardcore Huntin' and Fishin' Nation "We Command The Outdoors" and that means we hunt and fish for EVERYTHING! How about you?

Your Day To Blog!!!!!

Its Sunday and a great day to hear from all of you! Take a look and listen to the songs below and tell me which one is your favorite and WHY? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post!




Leave a comment below! You can support HuntingMusic.com and the Blind Faith Blog by clicking on any of the Google Ads on this page.

The Life Of A Fishin' Bum!

The Life Of A Fishin' Bum?

That's what we were last night right here in Berryville, VA!

I got to hang out with a couple of great guys who some of you may recognize?

On the top left is James (J-Mo) Montgomery, Fly Rod Chronicles camera man, production Guru, guitar player extraordinaire and Certified Fishin' Bum!

On the right we have Curtis Fleming, 2010 Outdoor Show Host Of The Year & Producer of the Award Winning Fly Rod Chronicles TV show on the Sportsman's Channel.

We started the evening by catching some largemouth bass and crappie in a ten acre spring fed pond on Long Pond Farm.....we could have shot a great show with all the action we had! As the Sun was setting we grabbed our guitars and gathered around a good fire and started playing around with the "Fishing Bum" song idea thinking about The Brazos River Ranch in New Mexico as well as the Elk River right here in West by God Virginia. The setting was perfect and being in the company of two Certified Fishin' Bums helped me hammer out the song in fairly short order...What a night!

Curtis shot a little video on his iPhone of me singing a little bit of the song so we could send a MMS to Bo Prieskorn at Brazos River Ranch to get him fired up! Check out the video below!

Huntin' Hottie?

Really?



Did you know that the fastest growing segment of the hunting industry is the ladies?



Is this a good thing?

Absolutely!



For the last 40 years our society has been telling women that they should be to thin....wear the latest fashion.....and many other things that really don't play any role in building a Spiritual life!



As a matter of fact most "Pop Culture" has a VERY negative affect on your Spiritual life and the result is.....well.......in a word....Charlie Sheen! LOL



Hunting and Fishing are proving to be positive influences on our Spiritual life and is why I believe they are joining us in HUGE numbers every year...They are tired of the POP CULTURE LIES!



This is why I decided to write and record Hardcore Huntin' Hotties! The song is a tribute to them and how much this hunter & fisherman enjoys having them take part in our great TRADITION!



I would love to hear some feedback from some of these awesome ladies that are fairly new to hunting and fishing to hear how it has affected their lives in a positive way?

The Life Of A Duck Dog!

On July 30th 2010 my friend Zealy and his family went through something all animal lovers dread....there hunting dog and companion Sprig had wandered to close to a road and was struck by a vehicle...and left on the side of the road to die.

Fortunately for Sprig he was found by his family and rushed to a vet and the story begins from there. Why am I blogging about Sprig? Because "The Life" we live as hunters and outsoorsman often include a loyal animal like Sprig they are just as important to that life as our friends and family....heck....they are FAMILY!

I want to ask my friends who can afford to let loose of a few dollars to click on the word Sprig and read his story and then click on the donate button and do what you can. Zealy and his family did a great job saving Sprig and we can surely give them a little help in retiring what I know is a HUGE vet bill!

I have posted "The Life" below to give you a little inspiration...Thanks in advance!

I'm A Real Tree Hugger!

Really? The PETA people are killing me! Do they really have nothing better to do than threaten me? A guy that contributes more to conserving all the animals and fish, they claim to love, than they EVER WILL!

Its really insane if you think about it...Noah stepped off the Ark after the great flood and God says "All these animals...birds....fish...reptiles...all of it is FOOD for you"! So the creator says that's what they're for and these people are screaming and shouting that its wrong....Hmmmnnnn..seems to me that someone here has a BIG problem!



So now we have the subject of the hate filled emails to me and other hunters and outdoorsman. I take my faith seriously so I don't return the emails with the same tone. However...I am a song writer so I did pull a slight "Taylor Swift" and write a song in response to their annual ritual!

Its Between The Man And Me!

As I sit here looking out the window at a steady rain it reminds me of the many mornings I have sat in the rain and hunted or fished! It also reminds me of all the people who tell me I am crazy to do such a thing!

I wrote the song "Between The Man And Me" to answer these people and hopefully do it in a way that is encouraging to all of us? You see...without these rainy days in God's creation I would be missing something that is really important to me! When I am alone or with good friends in God's creation the "Real World" just disappears from my mind and a Peace takes me over that is truly unexplainable. The sounds of nature are truly harmonious and you just can't help but thinking about stuff that really matters....Eternity....Family....Country...and things you can do to make this life better!

For me...this NEVER happens when sitting in traffic or the many other "Real Life" situations that I find myself in on a daily basis. As I age and hopefully gain some wisdom I am getting much better at the "Real Life" situations but I still long for the moments I spend with God...and my friends in his creation.

How many of you share these moments?

Even ME?

It's Sunday morning and I wake up at the crack of dawn to pray and listen.....just to be able to do this is such a gift!

You see...just a few years ago I thought that I was not ever going to be able to do such a thing! I would say that "I need to get right with God" in order to have any kind of fellowship with him. I believed that LIE for many years until that fateful night on the Ouachita River when Jase Robertson showed me otherwise...proved to me otherwise....and LOVED me anyway!

When I learned that that....in FACT...Jesus came NOT for the righteous but for the BROKEN ones it pricked my heart and the guilt and anxiety fell of me like scales of a fish! I wrote a song about this experience that I am recording for an upcoming CD and I have posted an acoustic version on my YouTube channel at the top of the page....I hope that if you're in the "I have to get right with God" mode that it gives you hope! Please cut me some slack on my lame guitar playing :)

Thank You!

This is the point in the story where I have to take a moment to thank every one of you for being who you are and playing your part in getting this train rolling down the track! Many of you have played a HUGE part and you know who you are. You have helped spread the word about my music without being asked and have ALWAYS helped when asked! You have no idea how much you mean to me and this mission. Most of you are reading this and thinking "I haven't" done anything?" but YOU HAVE! Just reading this Blog helps me do what I do...if you click a Google Ad below you actually make money for this Blog and help me create more music!

That's RIGHT! Just by clicking a Google Ad on this Blog makes money for this Blog which helps me record more music.....which helps me reach more people.....remember...we catch em' and GOD cleans em'!

Over the past 3 years or so we have built a social media following of over 25,000 people who love the the very same things we do...hunting....fishing.....the great outdoors....and our Creator! This is the rocket engine that will eventually get our train SCREAMING down the track that we have just started rolling down. I don't know about you....but this is a very exciting thing!

I will be placing a schedule of appearances on this Blog, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn,Camospace etc. very soon! I look forward to meeting all of you live and in person as well as your guests. I can tell you now that I will be in Las Vegas,NM the end of July doing my part to help 2 wounded warriors do a little fly fishing and hopefully LEARNING something from them...like in my song "Healing Waters". This trip is possible thanks to Curtis Fleming of Fly Rod Chronicles, Bo at Brazos River Ranch and ProjectHealingWaters.org! We will be driving there so I will be scheduling performances at Celebrate Recovery meetings on the way there and on the way home!

Once again...THANK YOU for making this possible and thank you for clicking a link about hunting or fishing in the Google Ads below...I LOVE Y'ALL!

New Direction Part 4

So know the journey has begun! The road to whatever God has in store for me is lying in front of me but it is just a barely visable footpath. This is where things get a little crazy.....



Is there room for a love story in the hunting music journey?



It is the year 2000 and I am spending alot of time online doing this new internet thing and trying to expand my fan base and see what this whole online thing is all about. It was kinda like the wild west back then and still found myself wanting to talk to people on the phone very soon after meeting them online. One of these people was a beautiful girl from Florida.....I know....here comes trouble!



It was a whirl wind and seemed like something also sent from God! We where married in quick order and after a short time in West Monroe,LA we moved to Jacksonville,FL and started a new life....no hunting music....but still got to hunt!



In 2003 that love story ended...sadly...and I realized that I was doing alot more talking "at" God and should have been doing WAY more listening. As hard as that experience was...in hind sight which is always 20/20...it was just another stepping stone is amazing path. The Bible says that the refiners fire is how God purifies us and by now my butt must look like a well raosted marshmellow!



So I move back to southern Maryland and to my family with the purpose of getting my life to be really simple and quiet. I was determined to HEAR God and be satisfied with that! You see...I had just spent the first 40 years of my life going mach 3 with my hair on fire and I was done with that....finally....I was broken.



2004 was a very good year! I did get life to slow down...I did listen to God....and I did find Peace, Love and Joy in that place. I was not even worried about what was next or where life's road might lead me...I was just "tator" as they say...and then it happened....there she was...a tall.....beautiful and it turns out LOYAL woman that was sent to me or was i sent to her? I know what you're thinking....how do you know? Well...I did what the Apostle Paul said and tested the thought and I was at peace with it...I also wasn't the least bit scared! And I was RIGHT!



Tammy and I were married in Spetember of 2005 and that journey has been amazing! Music has played a very important part in our relationship as well as our Faith together!That story could be a blog all by itself but for now we will continue on with the "New Direction" story.....



Its January 2007 and I get a call from Willie Robertson of Buck Commander & Duck Commander. He says its time for some new music and asks if i could come up with somethingnew and like always.....FAST! Like always....God delivers the new music and in short order the DuckFever 2 Hardcore is on the market and being well received but this time I am getting requests to actuall play "Live" at different show as well as churches for wild game nights and such. I also am receiving alot of requests for songs about fishing and all kinds of other hunting songs...this could be good!



Its now late 2010 and the DuckFever 2 CD has sold very well and things are getting very interesting. I am starting to meet some very cool people in the music and outdoor TV world. I am also starting to write and record some Southern Gospel music after being inspired by people like Jason Crabb, Guy Penrod and Sonja Isaacs to do so! You see....the journey that God started 10 years prior is staring to become clearer and clearer...God wants me to reach out to a certain group of people and it turns out that I am just the man for the job?



Its December 31st 2010...I am in West Monroe, La visiting friends and church family! Its New Years Eve and its Friday night and I am sitting at the church building in a Celebrate Recovery service seeing what this was all about? My friends Mac & Mary Owen are leaders in this group nationally and they have told me that I will really like what they are doing. The meeting starts and the praise & worship is awesome....Mac gets up and starts speaking and says something that would change EVERYTHING for me! He says "Lots of people dont think they "need" something like Celebrate Recovery(CR). CR is only for you if you have had a Hurt, a Habit or a Hang UP?". My friend David Magown, an amazing harmonica player, was sitting next to said "That's everybody?" and the Holy Spirit Goose Bump Event happened........



I said "Everybody....but Jesus!" There it was...In that moment....crystal clear! It's an amazing thing when God reveals EXACTLY why you are here. Life becomes a slow motion video and in my case very Peaceful...even in the face of adversity.



Its Sunday morning Januray 1st, 2011 and I am sitting in the Sunday service at the Whites Ferry Road Church in west Monroe, La. Tears are streaming down my face as I write the song "Everybody But Jesus" while Alan Robertson delivers an awesome message. Through the tears I see a very clear path...more like a super highway....and this "New Direction" is clearly "The Direction" for my life! God has found a way to combine my love for hunting, fishing and music in way that not only glorifies him but plays a small part in the great command to add people to the Kingdom of God!



I look forward to continuing our jourey together!

New Direction Part 3

So now after trying to become a big time country song writer in Nashville I am being asked by one of the most famous hunters on the planet to write a song.....about ......hunting? LOL

I said "I don't see why not?" By that time the duck hunting bug had hit me too!

The next morning there we were...in the blind...the sun just creeping up over the horizon like God was smiling at us and saying "Good Morning"...and it hit me!

"Black water...a Cormorant cries...a Wood Duck's song scerenades the sunrise
Black coffee...warms my lips...It doesn't get any better than this
There's no doubt who made this place
When you're standing here...you can see his face
I'm just glad to be part of the plan
That's the life...that's the life of a Duckman!"

God delivered the first song in grand style! The Life (of a Duckman) is by far the song that has generated the most feedback, email and other interaction with hunters all around the globe! I knew at that moment that there was a reason I moved to Louisiana and went through ALL the things that I went through....it started making sense.

It is said that there are two important days in the life of every man and women...the day they are born...and the day the find out WHY! On that day...in a Ouchita River lake...I knew EXACTLY why...and I praised God then and continue to do so each and every day. Ididn't HOW it was going to work out but I knew one thing for sure...I knew that God was in charge and that he would take care of it!

So I finished "The Life" and also worte "Duck Doctor" and handed a CD to Gary Stephenson who was editing Phil's DVD at the time and waited...it seemed like years! But soon enough Gary told me that they were going to use my music in Duckmen 4 Straight Powder! I was stoked! I'm thinking that they are gonna use it for fills here and there and maybe...if I'm lucky...they'll actually play some of it where I'm singing at the end when the credits are rolling! Again...I just smile and think to myself "I wonder what God will do with this?"

Well it gets better! Gary then tells me that they are actually going to use both songs smack in the middle of the DVD and produce them like they are music videos...WHAT?! Holy cow! He then says "This is really good stuff and you're gonna have to do a whole CD because folks are gonna want to buy it". So I say "Okay? I guess I can write and record a whole CD about hunting by the time you are eady to sell the DVD?". I was a little scared but I knew that so far as long as I stayed out of the way God had done a really great job of taking care of creating the music. God delivered the necessary music in plenty of time and DuckFever - No Cure was done and being sold through Duck Commander all over the country and even all over the world!

At this time I can't help but reflect on the journey thus far and marvel at what God had accomplished! Just a few years earlier I was at a cross roads in life sitting on the banks of the Ouichita River wondering why a guy with a really big beard was asking me "Have you solved your death problem yet?". It now made perfect sense why I had the abilty to write, record and sing this music with NO MUSICAL TRAINING!

I still felt unworthy and for me that was probably a very good thing. There was still much work that needed to be done in me and through me and this was just the beginning! But for now...knowing that hunters all over the planet were listening to....and being inspired by music that I created was ENOUGH!

To be continued in Part 4!

New Direction Part 2

So I got to Jase's house early with my note pad just biting at the bit to hear more about solving my "death problem" but deep in my soul somewhere i just knew that I was about to encounter someone or something that would change my life....and for the better!

We got started and the first thing he did was ask me another question " If your life was a publically traded company and you were the CEO up untill now would the board of directors extend your contract or fire you?"

And again I said...."HUH"! Then I thought for a minute and it was a fairly easy answer..they would FIRE me! Jase just laughed and said "Lets see what the Bible says about that and leave that decision up to you".

We spent the next 2 or 3 hours studying who Jesus is, what he did while he was here and why it was important to me. Jason showed me The Gospel of Jesus Christ in a non-judgemental and non-religious way. He answered every question that I had by using the words of Jesus or showing me how the people closest to Jesus lived after his death, burial and resurection. Minute by minute the fog of war....the emotional consequences of my sin...began to melt away and I saw clearly for the first time in my life!

Afer reading Romans 6 I knew exactlty what needed to happen next and I was READY to bury the old Steve and get started with my new life in Christ! I was stunned to find out that Jesus came for the broken ones just like me. Here I thought, up until then, that I had to "get right" before God would want anything to do with me......I am so glad that is not the case!

I was Baptized about Midnight that night and things have never been the same!

I spent the next 3 1/2 years going through many ups and downs. ...but mostly ups! I got to spend every Sunday night siiting in Phil Robertson's living room singing hymns.....hearing him teach a lesson and eating some really good Louisiana cooking. I also saw what true Christianity was about and watched it work in my life an the lives of many others....for what ever reason...God knew that was the environment I needed in order to succeed!

So now what? This is where it starts to get really good! Around Christmas of 1999 Phil asks me "Conover....you think you can write a couple songs for my next DVD?"

Tune into the next blog to see where the story goes......

A New Direction?

Hello Everyone!

Many of you know that I am working on a new CD of Southern Gospel songs to be released in April, 2011....what you don't know is WHY?

January 23rd, 1997 was a day and night that I will surely never forget. I was eating dinner in West Monroe, Louisiana with family and friends when the doorbell rang. It was some high school friend's, of my wife's cousin, Harold Strange asking if he wanted to go fishing on the Ouchita River that night. He turned and asked me if I wanted to go and I replied sure! Having just moved there I was looking forward to meeting new people and man....did I sure meet some amazing new people!

So we loaded up into a few pick up trucks and headed down to the river. We the piled into two 16ft 48" wide flat bottom boats and headed up river north of West Monroe to a sand bar just after a bend in the Ouachita River. It was a great night and a great set up for catching fish....or maybe even men?

I had just settled into a comfortable spot with a bag of Doritos and a Dr Pepper and was waiting in anticipation of catching my first big ole flat head catfish...when out of the corner of my eye I see a bearded young man approach and sit beside me. This man was Jason Robertson also known as Jase of the Duckmen of Louisiana fame...I had no clue who he was other than a nice guy with a really big beard! He asked me where I moved from and other chit chat and then....out of nowhere....he said Conover....have you done anything about your death problem yet?

Time stopped.....it seemed for eternity......and I said...huh? Jase just laughed and said I'll take that as a NO! He said " If you don't even know you have a death problem there's no way you would know what to do about it!"

I said "That's makes sense to me"...I was wanting' to get back to catching fish you know! But I just couldn't let it alone and had to ask "How do you know I have a death problem?". That was all Jase needed to start asking me a bunch of questions where I basically admitted that so far in life all I had managed to do was, for the most part, screw things up completely!

When we left late that night I asked Jason if we could meet and talk more about solving my death problem and we set up a study for the next night. He told me to bring a note pad and be ready to ask a bunch of questions. He also promised that our study would not end until all of my questions were answered. I was so excited I know I didn't get more than a few hours of sleep! This was the first time in my life that someone actually loved me enough to tell me the TRUTH and do it in a non-judgemental way!

Part 2 of "A New Direction" will continue in the next blog!