Joyride: A Beginning In Every End (Physical Book)
Joyride: A Beginning In Every End (Physical Book)
There are a lot of reasons why you might read a book. Maybe you want to be entertained, maybe you want to be inspired, maybe you want to peek into the secret closets and junk drawers of an almost famous, almost rockstar's psychology.
This is the story of a Midwestern son of a coal miner who couldn’t decide between a pulpit and an electric guitar. At a young age, he saw God while looking up at the stars in his backyard and never looked back. Years later, his band, Atomic Opera, tasted success after signing with a major record label, poised to become the next great rock band.
What is a person supposed to do when it all slips away?
Frank gives us a glimpse into his triumphs and struggles, in music and in his personal life, and how he never lost hope. Joyride is a candid look at a man following his talents and the call of God through the many roles he’s been given: Rock Star, Husband, Father, Artist, Worship Leader, Teacher, and Pastor. Frank Hart is the frontman for Atomic Opera, a hard rock band from Texas, part of the “Houston Sound” created by Wilde Silas Musicworks (King’s X, Galactic Cowboys). The band was signed to Warner Brothers Records, released four albums, and toured with Dio. Frank is now a worship leader and pastor at NewChurch in Katy, Texas. He has released three solo albums and continues to rewrite the ending of his story.
“I’ll tell you about how I saw God in my backyard while looking up at the stars and I’ll tell you about how He saw me before I saw him. I’ll tell you about coming so close to my wildest dreams that I could have licked the frosting with my tongue. JOYRIDE was supposed to be the song that put my band, Atomic Opera, on the map. What? You've never heard of JOYRIDE? Exactly. You know the difference between a happy ending and a tragedy? It’s all where you stop telling the story.” ―Frank Hart
Also available on Kindle.
P.S. 2nd Edition, 2-7-2023. (This isn’t really interesting unless you’ve already read the book.)
Since writing this book it seems like I have lived another lifetime. Remember the publisher who approached me in the beginning of the book? Turns our David Dee and Alfred Adams were the same person. Just as the book was about to be published, I was talking with him on the phone—he was suggesting several things we could do to market the book. A coffee house tour, a book trailer—the most outrageous idea was for me to suit up and play basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters when they came to Houston. Go ahead and imagine that—Complete with the trip to the E.R. Anyway, we were talking about all these big plans and he says suddenly, “A tornado is hitting my house, I gotta go, I’ll call you back.”
He never called back. I couldn’t get in contact with him, so I started reaching out to other V.I.P authors. Eventually, one of them got back with me. That’s when I found out David and Arthur were the same person. Many weeks later I received an email saying everything was destroyed. All the computers with the digital files. Except for the 60 or so I had in boxes at my house, all the books were gone. Everything was gone. He said I could do whatever I want with the manuscript, it was mine, but he was out of the book publishing business.
Since then, a lot has happened. I went back to seminary and became an ordained Lutheran Pastor in the L.C.M.S. I planted a church in Katy, Texas called NewChurch along with Kemper and other friends. My kids are in college, my daughter is married.
I also learned some very interesting information about my mom and my biological father that pretty much changes everything I told you in this book about my family of origin but that’s a story for the next one. Thanks for reading.