Wow musically you've grown a lot in this thread! My guitar teacher was my brother in-law. He had already been out on the band circuit and left from burn out. I had to be able to make open chords as he said them before he started giving me songs. He said your not ready to learn songs if you still have to stare at your hands to make chords and can't make them fast enough to stay in time with the music. It couldn't argue with that, so I leaned them.

If you stay with what you said and learn them before moving on it will help you more than you understand at this time. You will have a real chance to work on your rhythm because you can form the chords fast enough that you don't have to stop your right hand and wait for your left hand to do it's thing.

That is so cool you have someone from your home town to inspire you. Like you I have lived in the same town my whole life. I got to meet a guy one time who had just spent 12 years of his life learning, eating, drinking and sleeping guitar. He came over and jammed with us 3 different times, to get use to playing with others. To this day I think that guy had more skill sets to offer then anyone else I have see live.

Learning to play music can be a beautiful thing for those who need to learn to wait. You cant rush music, you have to practice and wait to reach the level you want to achieve.