keeps us 'in check'." While growing up in Chicago,Bob was fortunate to play with older,seasoned Musicians. He now says,"I'm glad I had the good sense to listen to them and heed their musical advice. I have also been strongly influenced by such bass players as Jaco Pastorius,"Rocco" Prestia and James Jamerson of Motown." Brandys parents,Chet and Ginny Benson,have been longtime veteran performers on the Country Music circuit. She has fond memories of her youth as she told me "There was always music of some sort coming from the various rooms of my parents home. I have many memories of 'Jam sessions'-some of which still happen today when we all get together."
The first CD from "A Step in the Faith" is a collection of Praise songs entitled "Stand up",but Bob told me there are other projects in the works. "We are working on an all original project. Everyone in the group is contributing to the writing and we will also 'sprinkle' the project with some surprises,just as we have done on the first CD. We have had several concerts throughout the year and most recently performed at the U.P. Christian Fest in Marquette and the Great Lakes Gospel Fest in Mackinac City. We have performed for multi-denominational church services,special events,festivals,adult and youth corrctional facilities and coffee houses. We are currently booking the calendar for fall 2002 and the coming year. We believe that we are being called to a larger region and we look forward to visiting new areas. We are trusting that the Lord will lead us where he needs us." Bob & Brandy also run a recording studio called "Dr. Beat Productions" which they opened in 1992 to help aspiring musicians realize their dreams. As for purchasing the CD,Bob Says that for a minumum donation of $15 plus $3 for shipping and handling,anybody can recieve the disk. To make a donation or learn more about their ministry,write to them at "A Step in the Faith,Inc."-108 2nd Stret,Iron River,Mi 49935 or call them at 1-906-265-3060.
Odds & ends...Quiet week for new releases next week. They include Aaron Carter's "Another Earth";Pam Tillis' "It's all Relative: Tillis sings Tillis"(Her fathers songs) and Ozzfest Live 2002...The new BOSTON song "Corporate America" was leaked to a website called "Melodic Rock" anb billed as a band called "Downer's Revenge". The song was available for downloading for a few days before it was quickly pulled. My sources tell me it appeared to be some kind of a "legitimate" leak,but there is still no official release date for the CD. Additional "Rumours" can be found via the official Boston Website or www.melodicrock.com...One Way records reissues the Long Lost DIESEL LP "Watts in a Tank" to CD on September 10th. The original LP,released in 1981,included the hard-to-find hit "Sausolito Summernight" which reached #25. While the single version of that song
became available a few years ago,this is the first time the entire disk has seen its release to CD. Got questions or comments about music? Contact Steve at themusictree@hotmail.com