My history with the youth praise band at our church goes back many years. I was teaching guitar lessons in my spare time,
and playing for the adult services, when I was asked to play in the youth praise band. It started as three adults, then we
gradually started bringing youth in as their talents progressed. Spent a couple of years playing guitar/bass in several iterations
of this band.
During our time in Africa, there were a few more iterations of the original band, then a brand new student-led band,
then an adult was brought back in. When we returned, I was asked to oversee the praise band, so our current lineup contains
myself and 6 youth. I am privileged to have 2 drummers and 2 keyboard players, which allows me some flexibility in the event
someone has to be gone on a particular Sunday.
We cover a wide range of styles, as we play contemporary arrangements of traditional hymns, the most current praise and
worship songs, and even some original material. It helps now that many praise and worship songs are getting radio airplay,
since the students are familiar with a song by the time we sing it during our events.
