We Have 5 Bands

Something really cool happened at the turn of 2019: Spirit Garage adopted a band.  Farm Dogs is a cool 3-piece group from Wisconsin that specializes in that not-quite-country/not-quite-bluegrass but definitely-Americana music.  All of the members are multi-instrumentalists and the list is LONG: banjo, mandolin, guitar, drums, washboard, shakers, keyboards and clogs.

Yes, clogs.  Heidi Coe clogs and sings and plays alongside Karl Sloth and Wade Barry. Together, they run a farm called Piney Hill Farm and have been making music at Spirit Garage worship on the 4^thSunday of the month.  Check them out on July 28, August 25 (Minnehaha Falls Pavilion), September 22, etc.

About the same time that Farm Dogs came into existence, another band materialized out of the ad hoc “Kernsey & Friends” musicians that became The Collective Ascent.  This is another acoustic act primarily, with John Kerns on acoustic guitar, Karl Sloth on mandolin & harmonica, and Maria Anderson & Kelly Burnett on vocals. This group is still finding it’s schtick, but has been powering new songs from Katy Perry to Sixpence None the Richer. The Collective Ascent leads worship every 2^ndSunday; see them on August 11, September 8, etc.

Don’t forget that we have two full-on rock bands, 3 on the Tree and Revealed, both of which have evolved continually since circa 1999 when they were formed, originally.  These bands are rockers, covering material from 1990’s-2000’s rock & pop.  Artists like Lenny Kravitz, King’s X, Phish, Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Matthew Sweet and the Foo Fighters.  These two acts lead worship on the 1^stand 3^rdSundays of the month (respectively).

On the 5^thSundays, when one occurs, we tend to have a guest artists leading music, or John Kerns takes it solo.  Kernsey has developed a style that includes guitar loops, a kick drum stomp block, and a foot powered tambourine.  Technically, that makes him a one-man-band, so lets just call this 5 BANDS at spirit garage.

Spirit Garage bands have come and gone.  Let’s not forget that Beautiful Grey, Identity Crisis and the original Spirit Garage Band were all dynamic in their own ways and helped this church stay afloat for many years.  Keeping a band together isn’t always in the cards; there is a sense of loss I feel with these 3, but none of them departed without being part of a learning process.   I’m happy to have worked with these band members. Raise a fist in the air for BG, IC and SGB.

What would it be like if we were swarmed with more musicians all interested in creating another group to lead worship?  I’m not sure, but if you invited your musician friends to worship to check out any one of us, we could start that conversation.