He stands in an empty church, practicing. Always practicing. Ninety minutes every day, two mallets in each hand.
They fall gently on an old vibraphone he once rolled through the streets of Manhattan in another life. Another time. Back then a long-haired Norm Freeman played Broadway, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden.
Now? He plays for a hundred people here. A hundred there. He leans over the instrument: Soft strains of “Stardust” lift to the vaulted church ceiling.
It’s hard to believe he once played with the thrash-metal band Metallica. Or at the MTV Music Awards. Or on Saturday Night Live.
“Trying to prove myself in the music business ultimately left me feeling empty,” says Freeman, 55, a husband and father of two. “It was from that place that I started a spiritual quest.”
Wow, thanks, Kendall. God calls the whole person and all the experiences. I looked at the church’s website and it looks like a good place to attend, even if it differs doctrinally with 95% of the forumites here. I can see why it’s growing. I have gotten to the point where I like a diverse, active church, too.
And if he can bring the Gospel to Barbara Streisand that would make it doubly exciting!