One thing led to another, and I went on to acquire albums not only from ‘Rez Band’ but also those from the as noted Jerusalem and Daniel Band in addition to Petra, Servant, DeGarmo & Key and Barnabas. My experience with Barnabas dates to the early eighties when a friend at the rather conservative Christian high school (to put it lightly) I was attending loaned me a cassette copy of Resurrection Band’s Rainbow’s End.
#Tunesmith guitar center full#
Moreover, it would be equally fair to suggest that Stryper and the literal flood of ‘white metal’ bands that followed on the heels of its commercial success owe a full measure of respect to Barnabas and said cohorts who literally blazed the trail ahead for them. Hence, how it would not be out of line to suggest that in ranking alongside contemporaries Resurrection Band, Jerusalem and Daniel Band, Barnabas defied the ‘mellower’ musical trends of the time as one of the leading figures of the early Christian metal and hard rock scenes. Prior to assessing the Barnabas legacy, one must first consider the late seventies to early eighties Jesus Movement era in which it came out of, a musically mellower period in which ‘the whole harder rock thing was still not considered compatible with Christianity by a majority of the church’ (as taken from the groups press material).
With drummer Kris Klingensmith rounding out its roster, Barnabas recorded the demo material that led to it signing with Canadian label Tunesmith Records, which released Hear The Light and follow up effort Find Your Heart A Home from 1982. The Barnabas line up did not begin to solidify until Cooley recruited bassist Gary Mann from an ad he placed at a Los Angeles area Guitar Center and later vocalist Nancy Jo Mann, whom responded to an ad he placed in a local ‘nickel’ paper, The Recycler. The group’s inception actually traces to the late seventies and founding member and guitarist Monte Cooley, who proved a pioneer of sorts - at least when factoring the time at hand - when he developed the vision to ‘start a hard-rock Christian band (with the purpose of) evangelizing young people’. We’ve admired Barnabas since the release of its 1980 debut full length Hear The Light.
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