Barnabas (band)

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Barnabas was a Christian rock band that performed during the 1980s. Noted for strong vocals and hard driving guitar work, their sound was primarily hard rock with influences ranging from punk rock early in their career to heavy metal which dominated the sound of later albums.

The name of the band was taken from that of the New Testament disciple Barnabas.

Monte Cooley and Gary Mann founded the band in southern California in 1977, before they were aware that any other Christian hard rock bands were in existence.

After the completion of the first album, Monte decided to leave the band, but his creation continued with a new line up.

[edit] Controversy

During the mid-80's, Barnabas clashed with some church organizations who disapproved of a heavy metal sound being used in a Christian context. Noted critics included Bob Larson, Jimmy Swaggart, Bill Gothard and Jerry Falwell.

Some think that the controversy finally took it's toll, as Barnabas broke up after the recordings were completed for Little Foxes in 1986. However, it is a known fact that Christian heavy metal continued to flourish well into the next millennium, and is still going strong today, with millions of fans and strong support from many established churches.

Since then several of Barnabas' albums have been re-released on compact disc, and may be available at the Blast Beats website.

[edit] Discography

  • Hear the Light (1980)
  • Find Your Heart a Home (1982)
  • Approaching Light Speed (1983)
  • Feel The Fire (1984)
  • Little Foxes (1986)

[edit] Line up

Ultimately, the four members of the band were:

  • Brian Belew (guitar)
  • Nancy Jo Mann (vocals)
  • Kris Klingensmith (drums, percussion and lyrics)
  • Gary Mann (bass and keyboards)
  • Monte Cooley (original founder, songwriter, and lead guitarist) went on to lead worship in various churches in the Los Angeles area, Portland, Oregon, and Idaho.