Undaunted by downpour, local singer feels ‘free’ at Riverbend’s Faith and Family night (slideshow)

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By Casey Phillips June 11, 2014 4 min read

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Ku Klux Klan dreams of rising again 150 years after founding

In this April 23, 2016 photo, protestors listen during a "White Pride," rally in Rome, Ga. The name "Ku Klux Klan" evokes horror for many, but what is the organization today? 150 years after it was founded, the Ku Klux Klan is trying to raise its hooded head, and the group dreams of again becoming an invisible empire spreading its tentacles throughout society (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

In this Saturday, April 23, 2016 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings after a "White Pride," rally, in rural Paulding County near Cedar Town, Ga. The Ku Klux Klan is trying to raise its hooded head 150 years after it was founded following the Civil War. Born in the ashes of the smoldering South after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan died and was reborn before losing the fight against civil rights in the 1960s. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A protester shouts at members of the Soul Survivors Brotherhood, who are self-described Nazi sympathizers who wandered into a crowd which was protesting a rally by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement group Saturday, April 26, 2014, on the lawn of the Hamilton County Courthouse in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Police and Sheriff's officers speak with protesters who tried to follow members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement group around the courts parking garage after the group held a rally Saturday, April 26, 2014, on the lawn of the Hamilton County Courthouse in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Members of a North Georgia chapter of the Klu Klux Klan raise their hands in allegiance to their cause Saturday on the steps of the Sequatchie County Courthouse.

A protester carries a homemade sign onto the lawn of the Sequatchie County Courthouse during Saturday's Klu Klux Klan rally in Dunlap, Tenn. Dozens of people wait to enter the enclosed area as law enforcement search individuals upon entry, upper right.

A KKK member lights a cross during an event in North Georgia in 1987.

Opponents of the Ku Klux Klan's rally on Saturday move with their signs onto the sidewalk across the street from the Klansmen. The Klan held a rally outside the Gilmer County Courthouse in Ellijay, Ga., on Saturday. About forty klansmen attended the rally. An unknown number of both supporters and opponents attended the rally and stood across the street behind police barricades.

Opponents of the Ku Klux Klan's rally shout

Brother Jeff Jones, center, with microphone, and other members of the Ku Klux Klan salute and shout "white power" during their rally on Saturday.

Brother Jeff Jones speaks in front of the Gilmer County Courthouse during the Ku Klux Klan rally in Elljay, Georgia, on Saturday.

A unknown law enforcement officer stifles a yawn as he keeps an eye on the crowd of protesters and supporters during the Ku Klux Klan rally in Ellijay, Georgia, on Saturday.

A protester holds up a small, handmade sign during the Ku Klux Klan rally in Ellijay, Georgia, on Saturday.

Supporters of the Ku Klux Klan hold up a white power flag during the last half of the Klan's rally in Ellijay, Georgia, on Saturday.

A bust of Civil War general and early Klu Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest is seen Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 photo. The bust has been moved from outside the doors of the Tennessee House chamber but still remains in a place of prominence on the main floor of the state Capitol in Nashville. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

In this April 23, 2016 photo, a Rome policeman speaks to a protestor during a "White Pride," rally in Rome, Ga. The Ku Klux Klan is trying to raise its hooded head 150 years after it was founded following the Civil War. The ease of online communication is helping the infamous white separatist movement reach new members, and issues important to the Klan like opposition to immigration are coming to the political forefront as the presidential election looms. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

In this Saturday, April 23, 2016 photo, Loyal White Knights Grand Dragon Will Quigg of Anaheim, Calif., center, shouts to protestors during a "White Pride," rally, in Rome, Ga. The name "Ku Klux Klan" evokes horror for many, but what is the organization today? The AP is interviewing imperial wizards and grand dragons, a watchdog group and others to develop a portrait of the KKK as it exists in 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

In this April 23, 2016 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings after a "White Pride," rally, in rural Paulding County near Cedar Town, Ga. The Ku Klux Klan is trying to raise its hooded head 150 years after it was founded following the Civil War. Born in the ashes of the smoldering South after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan died and was reborn before losing the fight against civil rights in the 1960s. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Riverbend 2014June 6-14 • 21st Century Waterfront, Chattanooga, TNView in depth coverage

Chris Gomez performs with Victory Praise Team on the Volkswagen Stage.

With the festival grounds still coming up for air after being clothes-lined by a brutal line of thunderstorms earlier in the afternoon, vocalist Chris Gomez was reminded of one fundamental truth about being a musician:

No matter what genre you’re playing, someone in the audience will always, without fail, request “Freebird.”

As he and his bandmates in the Victory Praise Band walked out for their 6 p.m. downbeat, someone in the umbrella-brandishing knot of listeners near the foot of the Volkswagen stage yelled out a request for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern rock standard. The request, which was probably tongue-in-cheek, given the evening’s focus on Christian music, hit close to the mark for Gomez, who until last year was the longtime front man of popular local rock cover band Bud Lightning.

After a spiritual revelation last June, Gomez turned his life around, both spiritually and musically. For his new group’s debut, he said, his goal wasn’t to melt faces. It was to save souls.