Hello friends/family/fans!
I thought it might be fun to give you the "quick version" of how I got into doing music/ministry/mentoring for kids & teens (and how Carrie Underwood's guitarist impacted my life!):
- I loved baseball and surfing as a youth in CA, but my parents suggested I take piano lessons at age 14. (I did)
- At age 15, a friend said, "You're a good singer. You should join the high school choir." (I did)
- The first day of choir, I was humming a song as I walked past Shawn Tubbs (now a guitarist for Carrie Underwood). He said, "Hey! My band plays that song. You should come sing with us sometime." (I did)
- Then Shawn and I joined another band with a guy named Andrew (my first songwriting experience!)
- In 1995, my mom suggested I join the "Summer Vocal Teams" at Mariners Church in SoCal (I did)
- ...which led me to meet Craig and Diane Hodgkins. Diane loaned me a Steven Curtis Chapman video, which inspired me to become an artist.
- ...I started writing songs again, but the songs I wrote didn't song like "grown-up" songs!
- Months later, Hermelinda Navarrete (a Children's Ministry worker at Mariners) suggested I sing and lead the 5th-6th graders (I did)
- Then, when Trisha Graves (the Children's Pastor) didn't really like the theme song that came with a VBS curriculum in 2002, she asked me to write one (I did - "The Bug Song"!)
- Then, after hearing several songs I'd written for the kids, a group of families came to me, offering to help me pay to record my first album (they did, I did!)
And that's how God did it!
I don't stand onstage next to Carrie Underwood like my friend Shawn does, but I have been delighted and humbled to stand onstage next to YOUR CHILDREN, pointing them toward Jesus Christ, God's son (and hopefully, brightening their day!). I give God thanks and praise for that opportunity!
Rob Biagi - September 21, 2017