An explosive vocal trio, powerful pop grooves and fresh lyrics...

Whisper Loud
Three Oklahoma girls-a wheat farmer's daughter, a high school principal's daughter and the daughter of an auto-body repair shop owner-grew up in three radically different church traditions, all singing in public from a very early age. Drawn together through friendship, their love of music and a passion for Christ, these girls have a mission in common: they want their lives to speak louder than words, to show their generation that faith is a visible, real relationship with Christ.

Grounded
Tessa Gaskill, Keri Blumer and Alana Carris, all in their teens, have been friends since childhood. Tessa and Keri began singing together as children in a national program called American Kids, a performance group under the direction of Keri's mother, Rita, a music teacher. Pop songs, American standards, spirituals-you name it, they sang it. When Keri was nine years old, she told her mother that she wanted to give her talents to God, to sing Christian music. Within two years, Keri's mother started a group called Kids 4 Christ, that would allow her to do just that.

Within two years, Alana Carris, who had memorized every Amy Grant song ever recorded, joined Keri and Tessa, and the threesome began singing as a trio called Braid. They were just 13.

"We've all grown up singing in our churches," Tessa says, "but the older we got, the more we all had that same desire, to do more than just compete and perform. We wanted it to count for something."

"Ever since the day that we started that little group," Keri says, "we knew this was the kind of music we wanted to do. There was just something about ministering to others and in the process, the music also ministered to us." As amazing as it sounds, even as young girls, this threesome didn't take their gifts for granted. They knew early, Keri says, that "talent is God's gift to you, but what you do with it is your gift to God."

"We all have great parents who have raised us in church," Alana says. "Having that strong foundation has developed that desire in us toward ministry.... We've always been taught the Word and what it says about how we should live. I know that God has given me this talent, and I want to use it to honor Him."

Always Learning
Toward that end, the girls took their group all over the place-anywhere they could-singing at churches and schools and in vocal competitions. They recorded their own independent CD and sold them wherever they'd perform. They even went to St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of an evangelistic team from a local college, raising the money themselves. And everywhere they went, the response was overwhelming.

"When we were asked to go to Russia, it was basically because they needed something to reach kids and teens," Keri says. "We didn't really know what to expect, but each night after the speaker finished, the altar was overtaken by people hungry for God. It was such an eye-opener for us. We will never forget that experience."

Tessa chimes in. "One of the coolest things there was just seeing how receptive the people were. You could feel the presence of God there. People were healed. I've never seen anything like it. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Their experiences stateside and in Russia have solidified the desire that first brought them together: the desire to show others, through music but more importantly by the way they live, how much God loves them. Thus, their name: Whisper Loud, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi's profound twist on Scripture that says, " Go into all the world and preach the gospel. If necessary, use words." It is a constant reminder of the fact that the Christian life is less about preaching and more about being.

"We don't want to just sing and leave," Alana says. "A big part of why we do this is to talk with kids, our age and younger, to hear what is happening in their lives and encourage them to live passionately for God."

"Kids don't see a difference in Christians these days," adds Keri. "They see Christians do the same things that non-Christians do. They need to see us live out our faith. We want the actions of our lives to speak louder than the words we sing."

On the Move Convinced of the girls' call to ministry and excited by their musical gifts and their passion for life-having seen them perform for two years at the Christian Artists Seminar in Estes Park, Colorado-Benson Records' President John Mays signed Whisper Loud, performing as Braid, to a recording contract in October of '99. Whisper Loud's self-titled debut, produced by Mark Hammond (Nicole Nordeman, Cindy Morgan), showcases intricate harmonies intertwined with powerful pop/dance grooves and real life lyrics.

And while a recording contract and a album has meant more opportunities for ministering with other Christian artist such as New Song, Audio Adrenalin, Joy Williams, La Rue and more opportunities for professional growth, for Whisper Loud, the most exciting thing is the opportunity to reach more teenagers with the hope and reality of the Gospel. "The three of us grew up in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma," Tessa says. "We're just a little singing group from small towns, and we're excited to see what God will do."

"We believe this album is an important part of our ministry, something to leave behind to serve people who we may or may not be able to meet face to face..." Keri says. "It's exciting because it kind of multiplies the message we're trying to communicate."

Courtesy of whisperloud.com