Burlap to Cashmere's Johnny Philippidis resting at home

I've been following the situation with the B2C guitarist/vocalist who was brutally beaten and left for dead November 17 . A few days ago I reported that Philippidis had been released from Brooklyn's Lutheran Medical Center.

Well, I just got off the phone with Johnny's sister Nicole, who tells me that her brother is dividing his time between rehab and resting comfortably at his mom's house.

"I'm just so happy that so many people are praying for him," says Nicole. "I really think the prayers are working; it's almost a miracle that he's been healing so rapidly."

She's especially amazed at the success of a seven-hour reconstructive surgery, which she says "went beautifully."

Nicole is asking for continued prayers for a full recovery for Johnny, including for one of his eyes that is still swollen shut.

She says the first couple of days after Johnny emerged from a medically-induced coma were "scary," as her brother was not himself. But then, she says, "things started processing." She says Johnny has only a hazy memory of what happened to him, but doctors say that memory could easily return.

(In the meantime, authorities continue to investigate the criminal aspect of the incident. 25-year-old Jonathan Goody is a suspect in the beating.)

As for the re-uniting of Burlap to Cashmere at some point in the future, Nicole says, "Oh, yeah, that's definitely going to happen." She says a friend brought to the hospital the demo that Philippidis and his cousin Steven Delopoulos had just completed before the accident, and she says it was exciting to hear it.

Known as a wonderfully gifted guitarist, Nicole says Johnny Philippidis has only picked up a guitar once in recent days--and that was to tune the guitar of a friend. But we can all continue to hope and pray that his talents will be fully restored in the not-too-distant future.

Happy Birthday to Me!


Well, it's actually tomorrow, but since I normally don't blog on the weekennds, I thought I'd jump the gun a little. This may be the last birthday that I claim, so I'm going to milk this one to the hilt!

Everyone have a blessed and joyful weekend!