Loose Stone

John Rutland

John was born in North Carolina, but relocated to South Carolina when his dad went overseas in the service. John's family located in the Barnwell area where his parent's families lived. At an early age, John saw friends and family making decisions during a revival service. He decided to go forward as well, but it would be twenty years before he actually became a Christian.

John became involved with music when his family would sing together accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. Even at an early age, he was able to sing harmony and lead vocals. Later he joined band in school and played several instruments. In fact, he first saw his future wife, Kim, at a multi-school band conference. When he finally asked her for a date, he was convinced she was the one. After dating for some years, John and Kim were married and he still considers Kim his childhood sweetheart. They have two sons, Jonathan the youngest and Jason who is married to Shelli Hanshew. Shelli provided photography for the first CD as well as some photos for the website.

"Playing music is a passion,
but God confirmed this new direction in a very unique way"

John's first group was formed with his brother playing drums, his sister playing keyboard and John playing bass guitar. Everyone swapped lead and harmony vocals. As the years passed, John played and sang with multiple groups including playing bass for The Ruppes. While playing with Daybreak, he began to sense that God was leading him to leave the group and get serious about his songwriting. Playing music is a passion, but God confirmed this new direction in a very unique way. He did some solo work and continued to write, but missed the group aspect of playing and singing. Eventually God began to lay the groundwork for a new group, Loose Stone. Mark Griffitt and John began to play and sing together on the praise team at Hagood Avenue Baptist Church, their home church. They also played a few dates together which were well received. The more they talked and prayed, the more convinced they became that Loose Stone was where God was leading.

John says, "Mark is a strong Christian, a phenomenal guitarist/vocalist and gives 110% to his music. I am privileged to be a part of Loose Stone with him. Our wives, Kim and Cynthia, are very supportive of Loose Stone as well.