Jackie Street: A friend and brother to us all.

Our brother and friend, Jackie Street, has left this life for a new one. Jackie passed on early this evening with his sisters and nieces by his side, as well as, many close friends. We will miss this gentle man who made an impact on thousands of people during his short 48 years of life.


Should you google Jackie Street you will find tons of records that he has played bass on. There are very few artists here in Nashville that hasn't had Jackie come and lay down some low end! He was a first call bassist for many years and I have to say he was always my first call when I had a project to do. Jackie had the natural ability to make songs come alive. He knew when to lay down the simple parts and when to make moments shine with his incredible chops that always seemed to lay in just the right place of a song. He was a master musician.

Jackie lived with diabetes for many years. Everyone could tell the last few years had been hard on him, but I don't think any of us knew he would be taken from us so soon. From what they can tell his blood sugar went way up and he went into a coma sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning. He was found on the floor by his roommate and taken to the hospital where he never came out of his coma. His sisters were waiting for their other brother to show up tomorrow and they were going to take Jackie off the life support machines then...but, it seems the Lord decided to take Jackie tonight. Jackie's mother was not able to come to Nashville with his sisters due to her falling and breaking an arm and leg and is now in an assisted living situation in Georgia. We assume the family will make some hard decisions tomorrow and in the next few days on where to have services for Jackie and how to accomplish all that needs to be taken care of. Though he grew up in Georgia, Jackie called Nashville his home. He loved this town, his friends, and his work. He will be missed by all of us.

One of my favorite memories of Jackie was when we were recording a record at our house and our youngest son Tom met Jackie. Tom was about 7 or 8 years old at the time and Tom immediately liked Jackie and loved the way he looked. My wife and Tom were leaving to do some errands and get Tom a haircut. Well...when they got back home Tom walked into the studio and walked right over to Jackie and stood in front of him...with a newly clean shaved head!!! It was an incredible moment for Tom and Jackie. Jackie hugged Tom and it was so obvious that Tom was so proud to look like Jackie! I think we have a picture of that somewhere and if I can find it, I'll post it. Thanks Jackie for being someone my son could look up to!


The picture above of Jackie was sent to me by jb and I am so glad he had this one. What a great picture and so typical of Jackie having that grin on his face! This picture was taken in a past New Year's Eve at the Blackstone in Nashville. One of Jackie's favorite places to hang out when he wasn't working.

Here's to you Jackie Street! You were a true witness for Jesus and we thank you for impacting our lives. We'll be seeing you again one day!

Please also visit: http://www.texturedartists.com/id6.html
and: TuneInMusicCity.com

Jackie Street * Update

Today, friends of Jackie Street will be at one of his favorite hang outs, The Blackstone Brewery in Nashville. They have graciously set aside a few hours to allow Jackie's friends to gather and honor him.

Tomorrow, Jackie's family and friends will endure one of the hardest things any of us have to do in life. Jackie's funeral will be in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. Though the hearts will ache, I pray the hearts will celebrate as God allows each one to recognize His mercy and grace, and His abundant LOVE that He poured through Jackie.

We are expecting a final day and time to be determined for those of us here in Nashville to gather to honor and remember our most beloved brother. I will post that time when it is finalized.

Jackie loved baseball. He loved the Atlanta Braves and I have had a bad taste in my mouth for them ever since Ted Turner owned them and then Atlanta voted to name their new field after Turner! What were they thinking! One of the greatest players ever, Hank Aaron, gave his life to the Braves and they name the field after Turner!!!!!!...so anyway, when Jackie would stop by to see me here at NBTA looking a bit like a ballplayer with an Atlanta cap on, I would greet him and say, "NO BRAVE CAPS ALLOWED!" He would just grin and laugh and then tell me the stats of the Braves! Yes, he knew what was going on with his team and loved talking about them.

My son Tom really loved Jackie and as most of you know, Tom is now playing college ball and Jackie really thought that was great to see him grow up and follow his dream. We went down in the fall to see Tom play in his first college game ever and like a good dad, I filmed some of the game. I'm horrible at filming stuff, but nevertheless, I have what I have on video. So, to give my son something to remember, I made a video of his first game and used a really old song that I wrote back in the 80's as background music. I never showed Jackie the video of Tom playing his first game. I wished I had. Anyway, I posted it last fall and you can find it here.

Here's to you Jackie Street! I give a toast to you and your Atlanta Braves!

Jackie Street Memorial Service

A memorial service for

Jackie Lane Street

was held today,

Saturday March 1, 2:30 PM at the Belcourt Theatre

Nashville TN

We were honored today to meet Jackie's family.

It is now easy to see why Jackie was such a loving, quiet, gentle, kind and humble man. This family is amazing! How precious they were and so loving and gracious as we all wanted to be with them and tell them once again that we miss Jackie. But, how could we miss Jackie more than they miss him? I feel a little selfish that they came to Nashville just to allow us this last farewell while they are still grieving and missing their beloved Jackie. I am also grieved that I couldn't hear them speak more about their lives. It's so obvious that the Lord has given this family a special place in this world. They truly are a testimony of God's love to all of us.

I hope and pray that this is just the start of something that will continue for many years to come. I hope that all who have been blessed to participate in this past week will realize that we all need to learn what Jackie and his family have shared. It is all about love. It's about giving and living a life that reflects the love of God.
Such a simple message. Love. It changes lives. My life has been changed.

Some that participated in the service, Ron Hemby, Phil Keaggy, Phil Madeira, Bernadette Keaggy.

Some of Jackie's family at the Blackstone after the memorial service.

Jackie's family sings a final song to bless us all here in Nashville. How humbling it was to have them sing and give to us when we so much needed to give to them.

We now know that Jackie not only helped take care of his mother for many years, but he gave pretty much everything else he had away. Stories are that he would send his money to help others in need. Ever since I've known Jackie he drove cars that looked like they were about to fall apart. He lived simply and never cared about storing up treasures here on earth. He lived knowing the Father would care of him and was content to have only what he truly needed.

If you would like to help Jackie's family with all the medical expenses and to help in the continuing support of his mother, make checks payable to Jackie's twin sister:

Jacquelyn S. Jackson
5290 Mill Run Drive
Marietta, GA 30068

More on Jackie: The Cyberservant

Angel(s) in the Outfield

Last Thursday I was working at NBTA and I get a call from my son Tom. When I answered instead of a hello it was, "I know you're watching ESPN right now?!" So I turn the TV on and there are our Dodgers beating the Braves! It was only the second or third inning and we were up 2-1. After Tom and I talked a bit I settled into my big chair to enjoy my first pre-season baseball game of the year with our favorite team against our least favorite team. You can't get any better than that.

The first movie ever that Becky and I took our then foster kids to was "Angels in the Outfield". We saw this movie was at the theater and didn't know much about it but thought it would be a nice movie about baseball and of course it was a kids movie. So we go and who knew...it was about 2 foster kids, baseball, and in the end these kids were adopted! Talk about God doing great things! We had no idea about the story and at that time we had no idea that Charlie and Tom would ever be released so that they could be adopted! In fact we were told that Charlie and Tom would probably only be with us a short time.

So back to watching the game. I started thinking about how God has blessed us with our sons and it was shown to us through that movie "what was meant to be". Then because of the passing of Jackie Street, I start thinking about him and wishing he were around so I could bug him about the Dodgers beating up on the Braves! Well, that thought lasted only a few innings because all of a sudden the Braves started pounding out the hits and before I knew it, the game was over and the Braves won 10 to 3! I started laughing and thinking again how great is this?! My son calls to allow me to watch my first game of the season...and Jackie's hanging with the Braves and helping them from the outfield! God is so good!

So the Dodgers lost...but at least they made it a little rough on the Braves!