Farewell my Friend, Roby Duke

It is with deep sadness that I write this. A dear and close friend, Roby Duke, died of a massive heart attack on December 26th 2007. Part of me feels that it must be a mistake. Maybe Roby is hiding out somewhere having an eclectic fit or something. That would be 'so Roby'. But today, it hit me like a ton of reality-bricks that Roby has truly left the building. He just can't be contained and he would be making incredible songs in God's presence while 'touching His face'. Roby was one of those in my life that truly shaped a part of who I am. We have a long working history that turned into a strange, deep relationship. I just want to write down what I can remember of my time with Roby to the best of my memory. Sorry in advance if it isn't eloquent enough. It would never capture the experience of knowing Roby completely but hopefully it will help you understand my friend, well, our friend for those who knew him.

I first met Roby when I was on staff at Calvary Chapel West Covina. I was responsible for weekly Sunday night concerts and outreaches. In the early 80's, Roby moved from Mississippi and had recorded his first Album 'Not the Same'. I remember thinking he sounded like Kenny Logins but with a lot more R&B. I decided to book him for a concert and that is how we met and began our long friendship. Roby became a favorite at Calvary WC. Eventually Roby came on tour with us as we traversed across the US visiting various cities such as Chicago, Albuquerque, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Hawaii and more. I eventually pitched Roby's song 'Come Let us Reason' for the new theme song of the daily bible study radio program 'Manna for Today'. It was a big hit and soon Roby, myself and the team were inseparable.

Roby was perfect for these trips because he was 'compact.' Just him and his guitar and his honest humor. But Roby was bigger than any band out there. Roby could captivate a crowd effortlessly with his open and honest style. I look back at those trips with fondness. I remember Roby teaching me chord progressions and finger styles while we sat in hotel rooms. And the time the speaker was 'high' on sudafed and we were off stage just laughing at what was coming out of his mouth - but even then people got saved!! We both knew it was God and not the messenger. They were so fun and Roby and I used to laugh so much at situations we saw in 'ministry'. It was either laugh or cry. We decided to laugh to keep sane.

We also met so many great people out there. Especially on the east coast. We both fell in love with the people because they spoke their mind (whether you liked it or not). I remember driving down 5th Ave in NYC with Roby at the wheel of our rented van. And he decided I should drive. So he got up out of the drivers seat and told me to take over! 'What?' I thought as I quickly jumped over to take control of the van. But one time in NYC, Roby's back went out severely. So much so, I had to help him to the toilet so he could pee. Even in his pain, he told me grinning: 'okay, help me aim' as we both stood at the toilet. I was laughing and he was both laughing and crying (from the pain). A doctor came and gave him a high dose of codeine for the pain. He also told Roby in his jamaican accent, 'a lil cocaine would do da trick mon'. Thankfully Roby passed on that one.

Around 1983, we did an outreach at the Shrine Auditorium featuring 3 acts: 'Glad', jazz legends, 'Koinonia' and Roby. I called the concert 'Somebody Loves You LA'. I remember on the night, Roby thought I was crazy because I wanted him to close the concert after Koinonia's set. Roby thought - How am I supposed to top Abraham Laborial? In perfect Roby style, without missing a beat, he came out and started 'slapping' his guitar mimicking Abe's bass slapping style. The crowd of 6,500+ (max capacity) loved it and Roby was a hit! Of course having Koinonia which was an instrumental jazz band playing at a Christian outreach was very out-of-the-box to begin with. But Roby was the element that brought it all together. As the years rolled by, anytime I could use Roby's music, I would. In fact, his song 'I shall See God' was used as the closing song of a documentary I directed called 'A Quiet Hope'.

I got the opportunity to design his album covers including 'Blue Eyed Soul', 'Down to Business' and the CD re-release of his 1st album 'Not the Same'. It was an honor and a blast to be part of that. If ever there is a greatest Hits album, sign me up! Roby always pushed me to do better, be more creative and today I owe him a lot for that.

I learned a lot from Roby. One lesson he taught me was to not hold on to anything too tightly. Roby was a very giving person. I remember being on a trip and he saw I was eyeing his cassette walkman (remember those things? They were so small and cool). Well Roby just turned and gave it to me. 'Here you go, you take it, I'll get a something better'. Ever since, I have tried to be much the same because of his example. Of course, Roby had the habit of giving away stuff that didn't belong to him too. Like the time he borrowed my Fishman pre-amp and I never got it back. In fact, this story says it all: A friend of mine, Andrew, here in Melbourne told me he met Roby when he came down to Australia with Doug Murin. He remembers checking out Roby's hot pink guitar cable/lead and thought how cool it was. Roby, told him, 'here, take it, it's yours'. Andrew thought, 'how cool of him'. Then later, Roby walked up to Doug and said 'Oh by the way, I gave your pink cable to Andrew'. He just laughed as he walked away. That is sooo Roby. I miss him.

I remember when things in ministry life became very hard for me. Roby was there just to listen and make light of the situations. He didn't try to fix it, just tried to get me to 'lighten up' some. He knew first hand how crazy some of the large churches could be. Insecure pastors that were manic and destructive. We used to have some deep talks and we used to say 'Let's get 6 feet under' and we would talk honestly about things & issues. I don't think I spoke more open to anyone else on this planet than Roby. When I was going through the darkest time in my life, Roby happened to be here in Melbourne and I found out that he was also going through similar things. Needles to say, we went '6 foot under' and spoke honestly. There was a lot of good from it. Not sure if I could call it healing but it was invaluable. Although he wouldn't think so, he was a mystery and grace followed him like a blood hound. I know God loved him so much because he was so honest. More honest than the ministries we worked with and the record companies that took advantage of him. I am loving hearing that Roby was beginning to perform for Christians again. The community needs more like Roby. The world is worse off without him, but heaven must be rockin'. Like Roby told my wife recently "Pete is one of my best co-horts in our developing years (&) given what we experienced in the church culture, it is a miracle that we would ever bow our heads again."

Ironically, I had recently re-visited some of Roby's music before the news of his death. Stuff I haven't listened to in ages. The music is so beautiful and moving and deep and most of all, timeless. Roby was a master songwriter. I remember speaking with Roby about how many in the 'industry' told him he just doesn't have the 'look' to cut it. Talent? Sure; Songwriting? you bet; Voice? Perfect; Looks? Too bad, you just wouldn't sell records, next?. He was so hurt by it but used to just joke about it. I hated the fact that people treated him that way. In fact, his transparent nature is what strikes a chord at his concerts. People felt safe and more determined to be honest with God. That was Roby and after seeing him play, you just wanted to be that honest too.

Man, I miss him . . .

Some of his songs hit so close to home, I would just lose it when listening to them. I think I will refrain from pulling them out at the moment. For those who haven't heard of him or heard his music, here are some youTube videos of a couple of recent performances. Please take the time to watch and enjoy! Also visit: http://robyduke.com/

Happy Holidays!

Hope you had a great Christmas and, as I write this, 2008 is only days away! Can't believe it myself! Don't we feel that every year? Time is slipping away so fast. In fact, it has been so long since I last posted a blog, I thought I'd better get another in before the new year arrives.

Our Christmas was spent in Queensland (Dec 18 - 27). We had an awesome time on the Gold Coast in Queensland! We took our good friend Yvonne from California and she had a blast. We stayed in Broadbeach (south of Surfer's Paradise) in a brand new high rise apartment called Ultra. The views were amazing and the apartment was beautiful.

Of course, I got sick a bit with a flu, so I had a day and a half in bed but at least I had a view of the beach! Eventually I was able to join the land of the living. The weather wasn't typical QLD weather but there was enough sun for me to get burned! And the waves were fun too.

Jude experienced his first 'wipeout'! Couldn't find his body under the whitewater for about 2 seconds! He came up looking frazzled and said 'I wan't mommy' . . . no crying or coughing, just 'I want mommy'! It was so funny. Jude loved the beach.

We did a lot of eating and drinking and eating and, did I say drinking? Yvonne can drink! She is lovely when she is sober. Otherwise - look out! I thought Aussies can put it away, but she was a big surprise.

Of course, there was plenty of shopping and we were only 10 minute walk away from Pacific Fair shopping centre. All good fun!

We left on the 27th. Good timing because a possible cyclone was about to hit Gold Coast! And arriving back in Melbourne to +30º sunshine! Welcome home!

Despite some of the hiccups, we had a great time and are already looking for a way to get back up there! I hope you all had a great Christmas and may 2008 be an awesome year filled with blessings and challenges!

Hawaii 5-0

Yes it is true, I am 50! And to help me celebrate it, about 70 friends and I hung out under the stars in our lil back yard! December 1st, What a night! It was decked out in the Hawaiian theme complete with tiki torches, surf videos, longboards and everyone wore some sort of Hawaiian shirt/dress thing. My actual birthday was Nov 23rd. The special thing about it was that instead of receiving gifts, we raised money for Watoto in Uganda. I am so proud and thankful to say that we raised over $2000 so far. Many others are wanting to add to the kitty too.

Special thanks to Sharon for coordinating everything behind my back (it is hard to keep secrets from me - mostly because she cannot tell a lie); to Wendy Lee who created the invite and also a beautiful canvas that people wrote well wishes on and it had some beautiful 'Hawaiian' illustrations on it - very nice; to Birgitte & Kathy & Joe & John for helping in the kitchen and dishing it out to people; to Adrian Dogget who decked the place out with some cool lighting, a screen and AV stuff; to Steve McQueen who created an awesome slide show; to Heidi who made such a cool cake! And of course to all who came! We had such a great time. I also want to thank my family in the States for that great video surprise - blew me away! Thanks so much.

Here are some shots of the night:

70 people is such a small backyard!

Plenty of finger food dished out by Joe

Cheers!

Alfred & Anton: nice guys when they're sober (joking)

B, Bindi and Wendy

Todd, Billie, Emma & Jack

Adrian, Brett, Marion, Michael & Tina

Peter Hynes enjoying the Pina Coladas - make mine straight up

Awesome cake!
Looks like a prom shot from high school
The token Californian looking Jet Lagged (Yvonne arrived that day)
After Midnight . . .
Kathy & Joe
Me & my Sharon

Out of Africa

It is 6am Kenya time. The problem is that I am now in Melbourne. And the local time here is 2am. Hello jet lag my old friend! Wait a minute it is actually 6pm in Kenya . . . whatever, can't work it out.

The cool thing is, although I can't sleep, at least I'm at home! So good to be back with the boys and my beautiful Sharon. So good to be back.

Here is a rundown of our exit from Africa. We left on Sunday afternoon from the Maasai Mara on a stormy day (torrential rain, thunder & lightning), absolutely magic. The airport is a dirt air strip with a hut off to the side. Very cool but a little discomforting in a storm. As usual, waited for our flight and when it came in, it was a 12 seater mono-prop plane. Very exciting! As we waited for take off the one pilot (looked like he was about 15), tried to work out who he was supposed to take and fortunately, it was so booked that I got to sit in the c0-pilot seat! Very cool! So we took off on our 1 hour flight to Nairobi. Incredible! I remember thinking, 'what a trip this has been'! But wait there's more!
Above: on the runway, next to my plane
above: Anton, speaking to the 15 year old pilot - in the rain
above: Ladies and Gents, fasten your seatbelts - 'hey, look at all the pertty buttons!'
above: Take-off over the Mara River - 'later hippos!'
above: landing at Wilson Airport, Nairobi.

We arrived at the Kenyatta International and booked into our Emerites flight home which left at 1130pm - way too much time at the airport! But Anton, did his stuff - he went through every shop looking for a bargain! What a shopper. And the thing is, he was doing it for me! I didn't get any ebony wood carvings of animals that I wanted for the boys, but thanks to Anton, the animals are sitting on the dinning table (right next to me - they look great). I think that burned about an hour. 'Welcome to Africa, what's the hurry?'

1130pm came, 1230am, still waiting to board the plane; an announcement at 1am: 'we are experiencing technical problems . . . we regret'; 130am . . . no news is 'blankity-blank' news; 2am: is that the crew I see leaving the plane? Anton hears the pilot speak to the ground crew to make an announcement to the passangers; 3am - announcement: 'it is regret that the flight cancelled to Dubai . . . we inform to regret'; 4am, we all finally move to baggage claim to collect our bags, but first we had to go through Customs! Some had to pay a visa to enter the country. Fortunately, ours was still valid. We had to push and shove to get our hotel voucher and then head for the Holiday Inn, about 30 minutes away. 430am, check in and wake up call for 630am to eat breakfast & 7am leave for airport to catch 11am flight.

Next morning, no, same morning we got up all 'puffy eyed', ate got to front desk, only to be told that we have til 1pm before we have to get to the airport! Argh! So we all tried to sleep. 1pm we are sitting in a bus, a logistical nightmare! We make it to the airport and findout oour flight leaves at 6pm (or something like that). This meant our 1 day in Dubai was cut to about 5 hours! Never saw the place. I did get to sleep on a sofa bed though! I lost the coin-toss, bummer.

Next day after 2 1/2 hours sleep, we flew off to Hong Kong. We arrived and had about 5-6 hours sleep, magic. And then off to the airport, booked in, only to find that the flight was delayed an hour . . . argh! We could've had another hour of sleep! Oh well, what else do you do in Hong Kong when you are with Anton but shop! It was good fun! This place was shopping heaven - not enough time, really, almost missed the flight!

Qantas flight 30 took off an hour late for home, sweet, home. It was a great flight. Watched 3 movies and they even served ice cream and chilled apples! We arrived home and had to face customs. I lost the animal skin from a drum I bought Ezra, but I'll just have to get it re-skinned. Saw the beautiful family, sight for sore eyes! We are home!

This is the better half - Anton Hardisty

We are coming to the end of our Kenya Safari leg, and it has been amazing, having seen over 30 different animals.
On a trip such as this it is not only the animals that make it great but the whole experience. The staff at our lodge Olonana have been great with five star service second to none.

Well I am missing the family, but we will be home shortly hang in there. Going for a short nap before leaving on a 30 seater to Nairobi and then later tonight on to Dubai.

To Alvecia and the girls, I love you heaps
Dad.

Calling Sharon, Come in Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I have tried to email you but your box is full and it gets returned. I keep hearing Elvis singing: 'Return to sender . . . address unknown...'

Just want the world to know that you are the other side of me and I love you. Gonna call you early Monday morning - have the phone by the bed!!

Love, pete

Hakuna Mitata from Maasai Mara!

Yes they actually say that here! And jambo is hello but they seem to use it like aloha. We have had some incredible game drives and it has been a photographers dream being here. We have seen lions feasting on a kill, a hippo give birth, a female lion trying to hunt while a male lion was trying to mate with her. The females are the hunters by the way and in this situation, the male was always in the way! So they gave up as it got hotter. We tracked them for about an hour - it was fun watching them and they were so close, maybe too close. They followed a herd of wildebeasts. We saw a herd of elephants with babies as young as a month old! We saw hyenas and a serval cat; vultures and eagles. The list goes on and on. The photos are awesome - very happy with them. I love the elephants!!

The camp is full on luxury and if I had a tent like this all the time I would be camping a lot!! The food is gourmet - don't expect us to come back looking slim and in shape - sorry, it is just too good here. Last night we had a bush BBQ around a fire along the bank of the Mara river. We were serenaded by the staff and some are maasai. Our guide and the entire staff are awesome. if you ever get a chance to do this - please come here - it is the best! Just incredible.

Tomorrow we head off from here around 4pm and then to Nairobi for our connecting flight to Dubai. We stay there one day and then off to Hong Kong, have a sleep and then the final trip home to Melbourne. I can't wait to see my family. I miss them heaps! Not sure if I will get a chance to post something in Dubai. We'll see. - Jambo!