Church Music
Karen Lafferty played an important role in the early growth and development of Contemporary Christian Music. She put music to the Bible verse Matthew 6:33 in 1974, thus creating the early and influential praise and worship song “Seek Ye First.” The song was released on Maranatha! Music, a Christian...
Sharell Del Fiorentino remembers as a little girl pretending the back of her daddy’s car seat was a piano keyboard. As long as she can recall, she has always wanted to be a pianist. When she was ten her parents purchased a piano for her, although they could hardly afford the expense. As a result...
Gordon Kennedy is the songwriter behind such hits as Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Gypsy in Me.” As many may also know, Gordon is a sought after musician who has recorded and performed with Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs and Peter Frampton (to name but a few). His parents sang...
Pastor Dave Brown developed a rich and meaningful appreciation for music when he began playing cornet in his high school band. He attended many concerts as a teen (namely at Cafe Au Go Go and the Fillmore), developing a deep appreciation for the blues music he encountered. As he grew up he also...
Ryan Smith remembers with pride the day in the 5th grade when he joined the school band playing drums. That special feeling of making music and being a part of something bigger than himself has stayed with him. In fact, as a employee at Beacock Music in Vancouver, Washington, he is able to relive...
Dan Miller has always felt a great sense of pride by providing the music people have worshiped to in the many churches he has performed in over the years. He took piano lessons as a child and later discovered the joy playing the organ brought to him. He attended Moody Bible College and served as...
Frederick Swann is one of the most famous organists of the last 50 years due to his many publications, recitals, church performances and his long run on the television program The Hour of Power. His career began when he was just 10 years old and he was asked to fill in for the organist at his...
Les Deutsch is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientist in the aerospace industry who holds several patents for electronic musical instruments. His father, Ralph Deutsch, invited the sound generator technology for the first digital organ. That instrument, produced by Allen Organ and first shown...
John Green began installing pipe organs when he was still in school and fell in love with not only the technical process but in the reaction of the customers. He worked in a music store in Newport Beach, California before being hired by Rodgers Musical Instrument Company in 1976. He was with the...
Bob Watters was 12 years old when he picked up his banjo and began traveling for evangelists in and around his home state of Texas. He performed for tent shows and gospel revivals for a few years before he, at the age of 15, started providing some of the sermons. Along the way he performed with...