Many people are under the false impression that Casting Pearls did not begin until the late 2000’s, after Bryan Olesen’s jaunt with mega-band newsboys. However, this about of their history will take you back to around 1996 to begin; 7 years before the newsboys entered the picture…
"In the beginning, God created Fish. He created a bassist and a drummer and a guitarist. And God saw that it was good. There were songs and there was music: the first band. But God saw that it was not good for Fish to be Fish, so he took the musicians and created a new kind of Fish and called it 'Helpless Speech.'" -- ntertanedangel
Bryan Olesen must have been a desperate man when he joined his first band. He was either desperate or mental. Perhaps he was both. He was living in Lincoln, Nebraska and was the guitarist for a band based in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. According to Mapquest, Scottsbluff is approximately 428.69 miles away from Lincoln.
As I said, Bryan Olesen was either desperate or mental.
It’s not clear as to what this band he traveled to was. It might have been Helpless Speech, it might have been Fish. No one has specified yet. This account will go on as if it were Helpless Speech, since the only reference to Fish was made by former members of the band.
It’s not clear as to what this band he traveled to was. It might have been Helpless Speech, it might have been Fish. No one has specified yet. This account will go on as if it were Helpless Speech, since the only reference to Fish was made by former members of the band.
During these changes, Case Maranville was found by Helpless Speech while working at a local youth center fixing go carts. He blew the guys away with his excellent bass skills and they began to pursue him as a bassist. Their bassist at that time, Matt Launtin, was no longer looking to fill the position. Case’s only musical obligation at that time was to his father’s country band Ace’s High. Helpless Speech reportedly lured him away with “tens of dollars”, but they evidently still haven’t paid him.
After kidnapping Case from Ace’s High, the band went on to change their name (perhaps to dissuade Case’s father from discovering what they had done to him). They were sitting around Case’s dining room, eating cereal, one night when they decided to change their name. (They hoped this would prevent the ‘Helpless Beach’ and ‘Helpless Peach’ jokes.) Case was dumbfounded and evidently didn’t offer anything worth considering. Shane Coop, their drummer, offered “Sky High Mother’s Day,” which is a line from a poem named “Why Some Look Up to Planets and Heroes” by Thomas Merton. The band vetoed that option because they thought it was too long. Bryan then offered “Casting Pearls.”
The guitarist at the beginning of the Casting Pearls era, Mark Hansen, was nicknamed “The Tone Doctor.” He taught the band the requirement and specifications for good gear. With both him and Shane they recorded “Really Good Sinners” in 2000.
But a round of complications began soon after the recording, beginning when Mark became deeply involved with his own band and left Case, Bryan, and Shane to work as a three piece. The arrangement didn’t last long and Shane took a job as a worship director in a far away land (AKA, another part of Nebraska), leaving the band drummer-less.
After Shane’s departure, Bryan and Case couldn’t progress much because, as Bryan put it, “I was working and Case was sleeping.” The band was limited to discussion over bowls of cereal between work and sleep.
After a little while they hooked up with a drummer named Casey Conann, who was in a band named “Common Ground.” He joined them part-time, forming a second threesome. In 2002 he traveled with Case and Bryan to Tennessee to record “Rock.”
They were invited to The New Union, a band tournament in Minnesota which had label scouts as judges. It appeared the band was finally picking up speed. Casey suddenly packed up his bags and moved to Nashville, leaving Case and Bryan drummer-less. The 16-year-old Scott Rutz bought Casey’s drum set, which is when and Bryan and Case caught his name. They were soon hiring him as one of their rotating drummers.
A fourth leg, guitarist Lee Bowes, was also rotating in and out. Case and Bryan, dissatisfied with the direction the band was taking, unanimously decided to officially add both Lee and Scott to the band line up. That line up lasted about two years.
Casting Pearls hit another speed bump when Bryan Olesen was hired by the newsboys as their official guitarist. Peter Furler had been interested in them for Inpop Records, and Bryan naturally came to mind. Bryan remained in Lincoln and worked both bands at once, but he did have give up his official job and most of his plans for Casting Pearls.
Lee parted ways with the band in 2004, prior to recording the self-titled ‘Casting Pearls.’ (The record, by the way, the CD was dubbed “The Rusty Impala” by the members of CCMbuzz.com while the official Casting Pearls message boards were hosted there.) It was released December 19tth, 2004 on Big Box Records. The album was recorded over three weeks in Audio Adrenaline’s studio, ‘West Bank.’ Evidently the studio, like most of Franklin, is haunted.
The general manager of Inpop Records at the time, Rob Poznanski, had it suggested to him that a Casting Pearls song would fit well onto a compilation disc, so the band left a few copies of their self-titled release with the label. The manager loved the record and signed the band, re-releasing the album nationally. It was re-released August 16th, 2005 under Inpop Records with a DVD recording of their December release party at the Rococo Theater.
By the end of 2005, Casting Pearls was so time-consuming Bryan found himself being led from the newsboys. He gave notice and left the band at the end of the touring season. Casing Pearls joined up with a Columbine survivor named Crystal Miller and began to travel with her on the ‘180 Tour.’ (For more information, view their website.)
This account brings us to present day Casting Pearls, though it is sure to grow as the years pass and the band is able to bring their message around the globe.