CRISIS XN ROCK
Roots rock, high-energy leads, folk-style vocals, hair-band drumming, and jazz-oriented bass lines meet...JESUS??? Yeaaahhh....that's CRISIS (Christian Rock...and More!)
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
The drummer found the singer/songwriter/guitarist through a church connection. She was married to a bass player. They knew a lead player. The church had a talent show. People liked what they heard and asked for a recording ("CRISIS and Diana Tyler", released December, 1999). Venue owners began calling (er, rather...e-mailing [see what we mean about the internet?]). The band has been very busy...
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
We LOVE to play live!!! We're at our best live!! Although we play mostly at Christian coffee houses, church concerts, festivals, we'll play wherever we can without going into hock.
Your musical influences
The drummer likes Creed and '80's hair bands. The lead player likes Queen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and all "power guitar" rock. The singer/songwriter is a folkie at heart with a love of rock, blues, harmonies, modern country, and '40's love songs. The bass player loves R&B and jazz. This makes for a very interesting set list and stylization within songs.
Anything else?
People not generally "into" Christian music find themselves very surprised that they love this music. We do a lot of original tunes in folk, rock, country, blues, and pop genres, plus a couple of covers that take people by surprise. Even those smart-alecky teen-aged kids who named the band admit that this band COOKS live! CRISIS has been likened to Jars of Clay, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, and "Peter, Paul & Mary...with a twist". The vocalist has been compared to Sheryl Crow, Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Nicks, Angela Strehli, Mariah McKee, Loretta Lynn, and others. Musical diversity is a key element of CRISIS.
