Glenn Kaiser

Glenn Kaiser

Glenn Kaiser playing at Cornerstone Festival (2004)
Background information
Born January 21, 1953 (1953-01-21) (age 59)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genres Blues-rock, Heavy metal, Rock, R&B (Early Days)
Occupations Musician, Pastor
Instruments Guitar, Harmonica, Lap steel guitar
Years active c. 1965–present
Labels Grrr Records
Associated acts Resurrection Band
Glenn Kaiser Band
Website Glenn Kaiser Official site
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster
Epiphone Sheraton
Gibson Les Paul

Glenn Kaiser (born January 21, 1953[1]) is a Chicago-based Christian blues musician, singer-songwriter and pastor. He was the leader of Resurrection Band and is currently the leader of The Glenn Kaiser Band.

Contents

Personal life

Childhood

Kaiser's older brother and sister left the house while he was still young[2] and his parents divorced when he was nine years old. Kaiser was active in Milwaukee's music scene, starting at the age of twelve, and was a member of more than twelve bands, leading two, before reaching nineteen years of age.[3]

Glenn Kaiser was raised as a nominal Lutheran and experimented in drugs before he became a born-again Christian, around the time of his eighteenth birthday.[2][3] He was quoted as saying: "Nothing else gave me so much happiness or sense of purpose until I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and become absolute Lord of my life.[2]"

JPUSA

Kaiser joined and got involved in The USA Traveling Team of Jesus People Milwaukee (later renamed Jesus People USA [1]), where he met Wendi, his future wife. Wendi's brother, John Herrin, Jr., and Glenn later became members of the pastoral team before the age of twenty-five.[2] JPUSA is the community that organizes the Cornerstone Festival, at which Glenn Kaiser and Resurrection Band have played.

Later life

Glenn Kaiser married former Resurrection Band member Wendi Herrin (born April 8, 1953[1]) in June 1972.[4] Glenn and Wendi have one son, Aaron, and three daughters: Rebecca (husband Matt), Heidi, and Amy (husband Brian).[1] In 1994 Glenn Kaiser published a book, The Responsibility of the Christian Musician.[5]

Resurrection Band

Glenn Kaiser's most successful and prominent band is Resurrection Band. Personnel included his wife Wendi, Wendi's brother John Herrin, Jim Denton, who was later replaced by Roy Montroy in 1987, and Stu Heiss. It began in mid-December 1971 as a band of the Jesus People of Milwaukee (part of The USA Traveling Team) and was first known as "Charity" (the King James Bible term for "love"). It was a traveling team and a mobile outreach of Jesus People of Milwaukee until the ministry disbanded in the summer of 1972. "Charity" changed its name to "Resurrection Band" around March 1972 and the band, as part of The USA Traveling Team left Milwaukee for the last time in early June 1972. They performed on the road for a few months, while loosely-based in Florida, before calling Chicago home in early 1973 with Jesus People USA. Though many considered it "the devil's music,"[2] Resurrection Band helped the movement of Contemporary Christian music towards blues and rock music. It disbanded, after nearly thirty years, in 2000.

Although the band did indeed break up in 2000, they have recently got together for a few reunion shows. Resurrection Band performed at Cornerstone Festival 2008 for the festival's 25th anniversary and also performed at the Chelsea House, a Chicago coffeehouse run by JPUSA. The key members of the band were the same at both shows, but Mike Choby (the bassist for Maron (band), another Jesus People USA band) filled in on keyboards.

Discography

Resurrection Band

Independent Cassettes

Studio Albums

Live Albums

Compilation Albums

Glenn Kaiser Band

Solo and other albums

References

  1. ^ a b c "Resurrection Band Website biographies". http://www.resurrectionband.com/. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Powell, Mark Allan (August 2002) [2002]. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Hendrickson Publishers. pp. 467–469. ISBN 1-56563-679-1. 
  3. ^ a b "Glenn Kaiser Biography". http://www.glennkaiser.com/bios.cfm. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  4. ^ "Wendi Kaiser Biography". http://www.askwendi.com/bio.html. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  5. ^ Kaiser, Glenn (1994). The Responsibility of the Christian Musician. Chicago, Illinois: Cornerstone Press Chicago. ISBN 0-940895-22-6. 
  6. ^ McGovern, Brian Vincent (July/August 1998). "Album Reviews: GLENN KAISER You Made the Difference in Me". HM Magazine (72). ISSN 1066-6923. 
  7. ^ Van Pelt, Doug (July/August 1999). "Album Reviews: Glenn Kaiser time will tell". HM Magazine (78). ISSN 1066-6923. 

Further reading

External links