Rocking for relief

Lutheran, The, Jan 2005 by Clemmer, Cindi L

All-Lutheran band offers unique response to disaster aid

When disaster strikes-as in the W devastating string of East Coast hurricanes last fall-how would you help? Give money? Serve on a work team? Organize a rock band?

The latter is what eight Lutherans in the Carolinas and Georgia have done, as they rock their way around multistate fund-raisers for Lutheran Disaster Relief and other charitable , causes.

"We're like Farm-Aid," says drummer Dave Galloway, a member of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Cary, N.C. "We help raise awareness of the needs and then provide a way for people to have fun as they come together to support a common cause."

Although members just started playing together last year, they have been around the block. Ranging in their mid-30s to mid-50s, most began making music as kids and together tally some 200 years of experience-including a century or so playing in bands.

Some weekends Jimi Beauston (bass, guitar, vocals), a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Greg Simmons (percussion, vocals) of St. Stephen, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation in Hickory, N.C., still play professionally in rockabilly bluegrass and folk bands. Simmons has even jammed with Jimmy Buffet in Key West, FIa.

Three members-show band veteran Robert "Bubba" Willis (keyboard, vocals) of Good Shepherd Lutheran, Columbia, S.C.; Steve "Grandpa" Kerekes (percussion, bass, guitar) of Christ Lutheran, Charlotte, N.C.; and Galloway regularly rock in their congregations ' contemporary bands.

Along with a lifelong passion for making music, band members share another key characteristic: Each works for Thriven! Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal benefit society resulting from the 2002 merger of Lutheran Brotherhood and Aid Association for Lutherans. Band members came from both of the predecessor organizations and met after the merger.

"We were looking for a new way to volunteer, and I realized we had this kind of talent in the organization," says Ed Blanton (guitar and vocals), a member at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Charleston, S.C. The managing partner of Thrivent's Carolinas-Georgia region, Blanton is a dance band veteran-turned-karaoke devotee.

But organizing a regional band is not as easy as it sounds. The eight musicians, who live in seven towns across three states, had to decide which songs to play and in what key, who would sing and play what parts, how to gather and move all the equipment, and when and where to practice and perform-all on top of regular jobs, family time and church obligations.

So far they've settled on the name ThriveAlive and the retro easy-rock sounds of the 60s and 70s, plus the ever-popular Carolina "beach music." Even their kids think their rock-and-roll dads are cool.

Blanton's 23-year-old son Edmund, who is also a rock musician, handles much of the logistics and makes sure the equipment arrives safely-packing speakers, amplifiers, cords, mikes and assorted instruments into a utility van or trailer. He also orchestrates the hourlong setup, plus the sound check and break down. Most members own instruments; some borrow or rent as needed.

Give thanks, give back

Despite the work, "there's quite a rush playing in front of a live audience.... I love the energy," admits Craig Bruno (guitar and vocals) of Trinity, an LCMS congregation in Savannah, Ga. As the group's only single dad, he takes the frequent teasing about being "available" in stride.

Although they like to kid around, these musicians are serious about using their talents for the greater good. "I love being able to share the gifts God gave me," says Kenny Keisler (guitar, vocals) of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Gilbert, S.C. He sings and plays mostly by ear, having learned to play the guitar from six chords his best friend's dad wrote on a card for him.

The performers have become a natural phenomenon at Thrivent chapter fund-raisers, which have capitalized on the national organization's offer to contribute 50 cents for every local dollar raised for hurricane relief (up to $2 million). So far the band has raised nearly $30,000.

No matter what the venue-from outside a bar to a church amphitheater to inside a community center-ThriveAlive conveys a simple message: Give thanks. Give back. "How blessed we are to be given the means and opportunity to help others in need," Willis says.

Clemmer of Charleston, S.C., is a writer, graphic designer and consultant who currently chairs the South Carolina Synod's commission for communications.