Throughout the years, Central has seen various musicians come and go. Most of them join a band at some point in their college career, resulting in typical band behaviors, such as late nights at rehearsal, intentional run-ins at the cafeteria, and crazy road trips to faraway places. All which lead to the almost inevitable band break-up due to either a falling out or the ultimate end: graduation.
Central’s worship teams experience the changes that go with being in a college band every year. This year is no exception. In a short interview, several of the band leaders shared just a little bit of what changes they have already undergone since the end of last year.
The question “What is the name of your band?”, often thought to be an easier question, was met with stony silence by several band leaders as they confessed that they had not found “the one” just yet. One band, which shall remain nameless, is entering their second year together still pondering this question. “Some names were tossed out but not agreed upon, and we have not pursued it any further. It’s apparently not a band value for us,” says leader Jason Palmer. Other bands wasted no time in making a decision. The traveling ministry team, for instance, has committed to the name “Silent Willow.” Inspired first by the discovery of a paint in a store called “White Willow,” the name evolved from observations made by one of the members on a walk about how God made all things to praise him in their own way. Sara Still explained it, “Trees…they’re silent, they don’t move, they don’t do anything, but they’re worshipping God.”
Band practices typically run an hour and a half to two hours once or twice a week. There are two Vespers Bands that alternate playing on Sunday nights, as well as both a Tuesday and a Friday Chapel band that play weekly. The traveling ministry team will soon begin visiting and leading worship at several of the band members’ home churches as well as some of the churches in the McPherson community. In the past, the traveling team has also led campus worship during interterm.
Though the bands are sporting many new faces this year, there are a number of returners in each band adding an element of familiarity throughout. Both of the Vespers Bands have members that have stuck it out through thick and thin. Seniors Micah Barriball and Caleb Chase have been part of the band known as “Sweetly Broken” since freshman year. Lauren Dinsmore, Laura Smith, and Liz Cantu are juniors who have, up to this point, made up the core of the band “Elle,” which began initially as a lab band during their freshman year. The two Chapel Bands have currently only added three new students to make a combined total of eleven Chapel musicians. Jason Palmer is the leader of Tuesday’s Chapel Band, previously known as Friday’s Chapel band, who lost valued drummer, Michael Gemmer, to graduation. This led to the switch of Ryan Massey from bass to drums. The other chapel band, headed up by Andrew Tuszynski who formerly led the traveling ministry, is a new combination of musicians drawn from backgrounds in other bands as well as songwriter’s lab. Sara Still has taken over as the new leader of the traveling team. She and longtime bandmate, Tisa Burton, are joined this year by Abigail Waddle and Joanie Magallanes to make up the aforementioned band “Silent Willow.”
As with any group endeavor, there have been challenges along the way. The worship bands have dealt with new or different levels of skills than previous years, time constraints, lacking necessary musicians, and just trying to find better ways to reach out through music. Despite the issues, they are continuing to learn and grow together as a community.
“Be with people you enjoy. Remember that you’re there to lead people in worship, but also have fun.”
-Andrew Tuszynski
“Be able to play the songs on your own without anybody… so when you come to practice you can hold your own.” -Jason Palmer
“Make sure you give people their space… Everyone can’t always be right.” –Lauren Dinsmore
“Communication is really important… When you’re focusing on worship rather than how you sound, everything else will fall into place.” -Sara Still
BY: Andrea Ruiz
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