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Thirty dollars in the summer of 1979 bought Doug Norton’s
first bass & amp. He took some lessons long enough to
learn the names of his strings and how to tune them but soon
after he found himself skipping lessons because jamming songs
by Cheap Trick & Ted Nugent for his friends seemed cooler
than practicing Twinkle Twinkle. That lack of self-discipline
led him to give up on lessons, which is a decision he looks
back on with regret (so beginners stick with those lessons!!).
Throughout the 80's & 90's, Doug had opportunities
to play with lots of professional bands, including full-time
touring bands that were playing everywhere from Seattle to
Ft. Lauderdale and even Canada as well as an all original
L.A. band doing the sunset strip pay to play circuit.
However, everything changed for him in the summer of 2000
when he first attended church and found Christ. Doug had
a Christian friend who invited him to church. He had a great
time in church and shortly after that Sunday, he accepted
Christ into his life. After an awesome year or more of growing
in his faith as a baby Christian, he eventually was given
the most awesome privilege of joining the worship team at
his church (Evangelical-Free Church of Marshalltown, IA).
For the first time in his life, Doug was able to thankfully
give back to God using the gifts that God had given him.
Towards the end of 2002, Doug took a break from the worship
team for a short time. During that time he felt like his
own personal closeness to God was still there, but not quite
like it was when he was using his gifts to serve the body.
He realized that he really missed being on the worship team.
So on January 26, 2003, after nearly two months off, he was
going to share a special song with the congregation. He sang "Sing
To Jesus" by Fernando Ortega. Little did he know that
on that Super Bowl Sunday morning there were some visitors
in his church: Nate & Sara Womacks and Donnie & Kat
Lunceford from Des Moines. He was able to meet them briefly
before church. But after church, the Holy Spirit led him
straight to them so that they could make plans for lunch.
While talking at lunch, they were telling him all about
Coram Deo. They made many references to the Lord and His
will and
plans. Doug saw from the git-go that their hearts were for
the Lord. He asked many questions about their band; the players,
the songs, etc. They explained about various others who had
been in and out of the picture but emphasized that the two
of them (Nate & Kat) had been hanging in there practicing
and doing a lot of praying for months and months. Doug found
himself very curious about the style of music, the songs,
and what their music was like but Nate and Kat found it difficult
to find the right words to really describe their music. Doug
suggested that they all go back to the church and grab a
guitar and play a couple songs (Kat seemed a bit apprehensive
at the time but she obliged by throwing down a solo rendition
of the song Freedom.)
Doug’s very first impression of Kat's singing was “WOW!
It's a good thing this chair is solid because I'm about to
fall out of it!!!” After that song he was so blown
away that he requested another song and she played "Still”.
He then grabbed his acoustic bass and played along with her
and it felt really comfortable. He just locked into the groove
along with her. He was so impressed with the song and her
voice that remembered thinking, “She must have to rent
storage space for this voice. She's so little but her voice
is so BIG.”
While hearing these first couple of songs he really felt
the presence of the Lord. Everything about the situation
was focused on the Lord. This group was different than anything
he had ever seen or heard. They told Doug about an opportunity
to play at an upcoming youth convention in Des Moines. They
didn't have a full band at this time and asked Doug if he
would be interested in learning some songs to play with them
at the upcoming gig. He remembered thinking that he would
be crazy to commit to a Des Moines band because that would
mean a lot of driving back and forth. And being the single
father to his nine year old daughter, Jordan was enough to
deter him from joining the band. But he really felt the Holy
Spirit prompting him, so he jumped at the chance to play
with the band.. That's when he was informed that due to conflicting
schedules, (Coram Deo was recording for the next two weeks)
the soonest they could get together to practice would be
February 11 and the gig was on the 14th! That would give
them only 3 or 4 days to practice before the gig.
Doug’s happy to say that all went well at his first
gig with Coram Deo. Just a few days after playing the Valentine’s
Day show, Nate called him and formally asked him to become
a member of Coram Deo. Doug had already been praying a lot
about that very thing and he felt "called" to join
the group. He can honestly say that the ever increasing bond
he shares with the band is a vital part of his life. He cherishes
and loves his friends Nate and Kat, as well as their families.
If God can use this ministry to reach the heart of even just
ONE person (which He already has), it makes this all worth
the effort.
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