Richard Stonefingers Johnson - Bio

The Sixties and Seventies

​- Started performing in the coffeehouses of Boston and Cambridge during the sixties.
- On the college concert circuit starting in the early seventies.
- An opening act for John Prine, Martin Mull, Steve Goodman, David Bromberg, Elizabeth Cotton, Vassar Clements, Odetta, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Patrick Sky, Robert Klein, James Cotton Blues Band, Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong, John Hartford, Ry Cooder, Mose Allison, Wendy Waldman, Doc Watson, Pat Martino, Buzzy Linhart, and many other performing artists.
- Frequent performer at Passim and the Nameless Coffeehouse in Harvard Square.
- Recordings: "Plum Island" and "The Plum Island National Anthem."

Drunk, Stoned, and Angry

- Lived the musician's lifestyle to the fullest.
- His manager tired of his substance abuse and cut him loose.
​- Ended up playing in bars for fifty bucks a night and all he could drink.

Recovery - Then Freedom in Christ

- Went out to get high on New Years's Eve, December 31st, 1979.
- That night, Jesus turned the wine into water - booze and drugs stopped working - he couldn't get a buzz. It was the last time he drank or did drugs.
- Met the Lord in 1957. Walked away in 1969.
- Encountered Jesus in his bedroom closet on January 24th, 1982.
- Surrendered his heart and life to Him.

A New Life and a New Song

- Moved from recovery to freedom in Christ.
- Took the guitars out of the closet and began to write and sing again.
- Started Stonefingers Ministries - full-time itinerant ministry.
- Joined the Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE).
- A member of Prison Fellowship's Operation Starting Line in-prison evangelism team.
- Ministered in thirty-eight states and four Canadian provinces - prisons, churches, re-entry programs, and other venues.
- Released seven Christ-centered recordings since 1992.
- Ordained in 1995. Commissioned a Bishop and Apostle in 2017.
​-​Started My Recovery Online in 2019.

Family

- Married Dawn Marie (his best friend's daughter) in 1985.
- Two adult children - Suzanna and Jimmy.
- Three grandchildren - Ziva, Jack, and Danny.
- Lives in southern Indiana across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
- Suzanna runs Christian Formation Ministries, which Richard and Dawn founded in 2005.
​- Jimmy runs a table top gaming store in Louisville - has a pastor's heart.