It started with some great music.
It started with a bunch of ministers.
And the combination --like peanut butter and chocolate--
has proved deliciously sweet.
The story of Connections Band is as remarkable as what the
band has achieve in its short history. The band started
from a chance meeting at a yearly clergy retreat for United
Methodist ministers one October.
"I had this incredible room that I'd been given at the
retreat," says Eric Folkerth. "I invited people over to
hang out one night. This guy with red hair who I'd never
met showed up, and we played Dan Fogelberg songs until one
in the morning."
The red haired stranger was Rusty King, Minister of Music
at Spring Valley UMC in Dallas. The two were joined by Paul
Escamilla and John Fleming, whom both had known separately
for years.
In the years that followed, Rusty, Paul, Eric, and John
would recreate their late-night "jam sessions" at that same
October retreat. They were soon joined by Frank Rahm and
Ann Willet, and the six are known today as the "founding
members" of Connections Band.
After one of their late-night sessions, King came up with a
crazy idea.
"He just said, 'Hey, why don't we do a Dan Fogelberg
Tribute Show,'" Folkerth remembers. "And I thought to
myself, 'sounds fantastic to me, but who would come?!'"
Turns out, more than 200 people came to the group's first
show in March of 2004, and the "magical night" raised
almost $2,000 for missions.
"I think we believed that after that we had something
special here and we ought to see where it would take us,"
said King.
It has taken the band to fourteen concerts, and soon-to-be
four different "cover shows" of artists like Fogelberg,
James Taylor, Carole King, Chicago, Eagles, Doobie
Brothers, and Elton John. It has seen the band play before
thousands of people, and raise nearly $40,000 for mission
work.
"Nobody in the band ever imagined we'd have the success we
have had," says Fleming. And I think we are all just
incredibly grateful to God and to all the people who keep
turning out for the shows and supporting our causes so
generously.
On the heels of the "magical night" of Fogelberg songs, the
band pushed itself to the limits with an ambitious "Tribute
to Chicago and the Eagles."
"That show, " says King, "is probably our most challenging
in that the band can be as large as 19 people. We have
almost 40 people who we consider 'members' of Connections
Band. Who plays at a show depends on the show we're playing
and who we need to get the best sound."
Frank Rahm says the band has struck a chord with its fans.
"We now have fans who come to all our shows --sometimes as
many as a hundred of them-- who like what we do and keep
coming back for more. People are hungry for a quality
evening of entertainment, where it's not some smokey,
smelly room , but instead a place where you could bring
your whole family."
The focus, though, is not only on the music, but also on
the mission. At each show, a "love offering" is taken for
one of two causes: "Nothing But Nets," and "United
Methodist Committee on Relief."
None of the almost forty musicians in Connections ever gets
paid for a gig. They volunteer countless hours of their
time in rehearsal so that money can be raised for this
great missional causes.
As the band has continued to find success, and as the
amount of money raised for mission increased, Ann Willet
notes that the band's work seems to have taken on a
different feel.
"I've come to consider all of us as a partners in a
different kind of mission trip," she says. "Instead of
going to Juarez, we are doing other work for the
kingdom....sometimes tiring and frustrating, sometimes fun
and uplifting, but always worthwhile."
After the highly successful Chicago/Eagles Show, the band
came back with a third show, the "James Taylor/Carole King
Tribute."
"That show is a more stripped down show," says Folkerth.
"The band is smaller, and the music more intimate. But
audiences react just as positively. You know, this music we
do reminds so many people of some of the best times of
their lives. We find folks sing along all night, and just
enjoy the ride."
People constantly tell the band how surprised they are at
how good the sound its.
"I think we benefit from low expecations," Folkerth muses.
"People think, 'a bunch of ministers...how could
that be good?' Then they hear us, and are often
blown away. We'd like to think that inspires them to give
even more."
In the Fall of 2008, Connections will return with it's
fourth tribute show, "Tribute to the Doobie Brothers and
Elton John."
"Our band has really hit on a winning combination of music
and mission," Escamilla says. "And our name, 'Connections,'
pretty much sums up our goal. We connect music and mission.
We connect an audience and helping others.
'The Connection' has always been an important phrase for
United Methodists, because we're tied together across the
world in so many beautiful and fruitful ways. Here's one
more."