History
The Choir was originally formed as Youth Choir in the early 1980s by Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong. The two songwriters had been introduced by a mutual friend, the bass guitarist Tim Chandler, who was touring with Daniel Amos along with Daugherty, who was the band's roadie and sound man at the time. Hindalong and Daugherty quickly became friends and a songwriting team. Youth Choir became part of the Calvary Chapel Christian punk and alternative music scene, which also included the bands Undercover, Crumbächer, Altar Boys and 4-4-1.
The Choir's music has been described by the Los Angeles Times as "magical songs that combine strains of murky psychedelia with pure pop". Billboard praised the band for its "dark poetic leanings, effects-laden guitars and strong melodic hooks". In 1984, Youth Choir became the first band to play at the Cornerstone Festival, the pre-eminent Christian arts and music festival in the United States. By 1986, the band dropped the "Youth" from its name and began calling itself simply The Choir. Hindalong began writing most of the lyrics for the band at this point, songs that are known for their vulnerability and honesty, particularly about the challenges inherent in romantic relationships and the simple joys of family life.
Although the band has long had a cult following among listeners of Christian alternative music, that did not translate into financial success within the contemporary Christian music (CCM) industry, nor did it lead to a successful mainstream crossover experienced by later groups like Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Sixpence None the Richer, who have pointed to The Choir as a significant musical influence. As a result, the band nearly called it quits in 1996 after their final U.S. tour, a few years after Daugherty, Hindalong and Michaels moved from their homes in Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee, since much of the CCM industry is now based there. The difficulty of this move also made its way into the lyrics of the band's songs, primarily Speckled Bird. Nevertheless, the band continued recording, and received a Grammy Award nomination for their album, Flap Your Wings, released in 2000.
In spring 2005, The Choir returned to the dreamlike rock sound of Chase the Kangaroo and Circle Slide with the album, O How the Mighty Have Fallen, thanks to the influence of new band member Marc Byrd. He also produced the album, which was released independently on the band's own Galaxy21 label. Two months later, on August 19, 2005, The Choir played a 20th anniversary concert at Mariners Church in Irvine, California, along with 4-4-1, Altar Boys, Crumbächer and Undercover, in order to acknowledge the birth of the Christian alternative music scene under the aegis of Calvary Chapel in the early 1980s. Although The Choir had essentially ceased touring, the overwhelmingly positive response to this one-off concert led to a short series of tour dates to support O How the Mighty Have Fallen in the early part of 2006. A DVD of the Irvine concert was promised, but has yet to be released.
After a five-year recording hiatus, The Choir released two full-length studio albums in 2010. On June 29, The Choir released Burning Like the Midnight Sun, which received some of the most positive reviews of the band's entire career. Jeff Elbel, writing for the Spin Control column in the Chicago Sun-Times, called the album "a late-career triumph" and remarked that Midnight Sun was the band's "second exceptional album in a row, and its best since 1990's landmark Circle Slide". As of November 14, 2010, Burning Like the Midnight Sun has earned aggregate five-star reviews from consumers on both Amazon.com and the iTunes Store. In response, Daugherty and Hindalong went into the studio again, this time with cellist Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer, to record de-plumed, a collection of acoustic reinterpretations of one song from each of their 12 prior studio albums. De-plumed was released on November 9, shortly after the band embarked on a multi-city acoustic tour.
On April 17, 2012, the band released The Loudest Sound Ever Heard, to fans who pre-ordered it, with a wider release to follow. In April 2012, the band also embarked on a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Chase the Kangaroo album, playing the album in its entirety, including tracks like "Cain" that had never before been performed live. It marked the first time in 16 years that bassist Tim Chandler toured with the band.
In July 2012, The Choir is scheduled to be the last band to play at the final gathering of the Cornerstone Festival in commemoration of their inaugural 1984 performance.
The Choir continues to maintain an active online presence with their own website and Facebook page.
Read more about this topic: The Choir (alternative Rock Band)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)