Rebel for God

by Eddie DeGarmo

  I didn’t try to sway him one way or the other. Our band was known for our faith and our evangelistic intentions. We were always up front about what we stood for and how Jesus changed us. I just wanted us all to think carefully about it that night. All of us worked so hard to get this kind of mainstream exposure, and I knew that show could be a “make it or break it” move. The repercussions could be significant. There were both ministry and career implications to consider.

  Dana came to me a few minutes later and said, “Eddie, I’ve thought about it and if I don’t preach, and we don’t give an invitation tonight, I’m afraid I won’t be able to live with myself—Capitol or not.”

  I totally understood what he was saying, but I also had my suspicions of what it could mean for our new relationship with Capitol and the mainstream crowd.

  The show was sold out that night and we were in fine form. The crowd had a great time. I’m sure the Capitol folks must have been surprised to see a band like ours performing at that level. And yes, when the time came, Dana preached his heart out and we both gave an “altar call.” Several people came forward to accept Christ. It was awesome.

  The next day Capitol Records dropped us like a hot potato.

  I understand the desire many Christian artists have to “cross over” into the mainstream world. I know it personally. Most artists just want as many people to be exposed to their work as possible. The Christian market could definitely feel stifling at times from a creative or even spiritual perspective. So yes, I can personally relate to Christian artists who want mainstream audiences. Sometimes, however, the mainstream just doesn’t want them back.

  Sometimes it works. A few Christian artists have achieved excellent mainstream success over the years. It’s not an exact science. It usually comes down to some combination of the artist, the song, the skill level, the cultural moment, and a thousand other intangible elements. Ultimately, it’s probably up to God.

  That was another defining moment for D&K. It was the last time we attempted to cross over with a mainstream record company. It wouldn’t have worked for us. We were on a different mission and wanted to be free and unbridled in our Gospel presentation and lyric content. The mainstream wanted us to soften that message. I get that. I really do. It was like oil and water.

  These dilemmas have faced people of faith since the very beginning. When should I be vocal with my beliefs to the watching world? When is it better to be quiet? These are questions all of us have to answer. Sometimes the answers vary depending on the circumstances. We face this dilemma at school, in the workplace, and in our everyday lives. I believe it was right for D&K, in that moment at Melodyland, with Capitol Records present, to be outwardly vocal about our faith even though it was career suicide for our mainstream aspirations. We knew who we were and why we were there. I get it and am comfortable with our choice. That is not always the case for everyone, though.

  We Christians oftentimes feel we are obliged to speak our minds and offer a “biblical perspective” to every audience, at any time, regardless of the circumstances and the social ramifications. We also have a tendency to speak out, whether we have been asked to voice an opinion or not. This is not how Jesus often handled those opportunities. Although he never failed to tell the truth when he knew it was the right time, sometimes he held back.

  I think about the time Jesus was asked if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. There was a lot going on behind that question we might miss. Some of the religious people didn’t believe it was appropriate for them to pay taxes because it involved using Roman coins with Caesar’s head stamped on them, which they believed to be an idolatrous “graven image.” Others wanted Jesus to oppose Rome as a dissident and even a revolutionary. The question was a trap. The chief priests were hoping to either catch Jesus preaching against Rome by saying not to pay taxes, or against the religious people by saying they should pay taxes.

  Jesus asked to see the coin and then rhetorically asked whose picture was on it. The crowd answered that it was Caesar’s picture.

  Then Jesus threw them for a loop. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

  His opponents immediately recognized the brilliance of his answer and shut up.

  As I think about that story I find it fantastic that Jesus didn’t take the opportunity to soapbox about all the bad things the Roman Empire was doing. He had the chance. They teed up the ball for him. Why didn’t he take a swing? He could have talked about how Rome enslaved people. He could rebuke them for being entertained by gladiator contests where people were forced to fight to the death. He could have preached against the way they killed their infants to control unwanted pregnancy or how they worshipped pagan gods and had wild orgies. You name it. Jesus could have talked for three hours about the ills of Caesar and the Romans. He could have talked until the cows came home about those dirty Roman low-down heathen bastards. Or, he could have preached against the religious hypocrites who were trying to entrap him. But he didn’t. He chose to hold back at that moment. There is much for us to learn from his wisdom.

  There’s an old proverb that says, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” There is a time to preach verbally, and we should never be timid to do that. But we should live our lives in a way that points to God’s grace whether we are opening our mouths or not. That’s powerful stuff! It’s not always so clear, is it?

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Soldier of Fortune

  Petra was the biggest band in our genre during that time. They were great guys, and we had known them since the seventies. Dan Brock received a call from Paul Jackson, Petra’s manager, asking us if we were interested in joining them for a fifty-city tour. Dan and I went to Nashville to meet with Paul and Petra’s founder, Bob Hartman, to talk about it. We gathered at Bob’s house in Franklin, along with our respective booking agents, and hashed the whole thing out. It was a happy coincidence that our Streetlight album fit the concept for their Back to the Street Tour so perfectly. As Petra was better known than we were, it was appropriate for us to play first. We were definitely not treated like a typical “opening band,” though. They invited us to perform a fifty-minute set with full use of the sound and lighting rigs. We were treated extremely well by Petra and their staff. The tour was mostly booked into large arenas, which were much bigger than we were used to. Our recent tours were mostly in civic centers, colleges, and bigger churches.

  We added a second guitar player to free Dana up a bit on stage. We chose a Memphis guy named Steve Taylor (not the recording artist of the same name) to join us in that capacity. Steve worked for us on the Sozo tour as our monitor engineer. We knew him well and knew he was a great player and an even better singer. Steve was also a great guy to hang out with. He could be pretty zany. It seemed he saw the world just a little bit off kilter from the rest of us.

  The Petra/D&K tour attracted some large audiences and was arguably the biggest Christian rock tour ever staged at that point in time. We played for almost a solid hour every night and packed every possible musical moment into that set. Our last song was a seventeen-minute medley of some of our biggest songs back to back. Dana even included a couple bars of Jimi Hendrix’s version of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The crowd went wild and we received an encore every night.

  Petra also put on one of their finest shows ever. They were consummate professionals. I watched them every night as both a fan, and a student, determined to glean what I could from them.

  As great as the Petra/D&K tour was, however, we were eager to get back to our own concerts. It was rock-n-roll, for sure, but it was also missional. It was important to our core beliefs and calling for us to close each night with a word from Dana and to offer an invitation for the audience to respond and make a commitment to Christ. It’s who we were, and it was the foundation of why we did what we did. We were sub-culture missionaries and were totally comfortable in our skin. That is what God created us to be. We overcame many obstacles a
long the way and learned a lot. But by 1986 we were really feeling effective. We were anxious to get back into our own element. When we saw people accepting Jesus, either for the first time or as a renewed commitment, and streaming toward the front of the stage each night, it really made all of the challenges and collisions worthwhile.

  Later in 1986 we received an invitation from Michael W. Smith and his team to go out with him on The Big Picture tour. It was ninety concerts across North America. A bonus for us was Chris Taylor, our former soundman, was production manager for the tour, as well as front-of-house mix engineer. That would make it very comfortable for us.

  Dana and I had a real difference of opinion on whether or not we should do the tour. I believed it would be good for us to reach Michael’s audience. It would be different than the Petra tour where both acts played for the same group of fans. Michael’s audience was larger than ours and definitely more pop-oriented. I thought it would be a positive career move for us. On the flip side, I thought it was wise of Michael to reach out to our more rock ‘n’ roll audience. It was a win-win in my mind. We were asked to play a full hour set, which was totally respectable.

  Dana felt deeply that the tour would be perceived as a step backward for us in the public eye. We had been around a little longer than Michael and Dana was concerned it might cast a bad light on our momentum. Dan Brock agreed with me and we had a very heated debate about it with Dana. We had a policy, though, that all three of us needed to be in agreement about these big decisions. So in the end we didn’t take the tour.

  Not doing the Michael W. Smith tour could be viewed as a major mistake and a missed opportunity. On the other hand, one closed door can almost always be associated with another open one.

  We continued to tour Streetlight throughout the spring and summer of 1987 to enthusiastic audiences. The music of that album really worked in a live setting—probably because so much of it was recorded live in the studio. It really connected us with our roots in every way.

  With the release of Streetlight, we fulfilled our recording contract with The Benson Company/Power Discs. We were free agents again. This was an interesting time for Benson. They were acquired in 1980 by The Zondervan Corporation, which was a very large book and Bible publisher that had owned a smaller music operation. Zondervan bought Benson and merged it with Paragon Records, which was owned by Bob MacKenzie and Wayne Ericson. It was Zondervan’s way to become a market leader in music. Problem was, it was more difficult than they imagined to merge the book and music cultures of their businesses. In 1986 they were on their third president in just six short years. Bob Mackenzie was first, then Wayne Ericson. As we fulfilled our contractual obligations a guy named Bill Traylor was appointed to lead the company.

  Traylor came from a Southern Gospel background, and we didn’t know him at all. Zondervan severely restricted the company from spending money on marketing or promotion, and we weren’t very happy about that. Sandi Patti and Carmen, two of the other big artists on their roster, left the label and signed with a competitor. Suddenly DeGarmo and Key found ourselves their best-selling artist, and we were out of contract.

  This next phenomenon is nothing short of a miracle in the music business. Dan Brock, Dana, and I met to strategize about a new contract. Other labels were courting us and Benson wanted to re-sign us. We had options. We were determined to make the most of this rare opportunity.

  Dan started off. “With the unsettled situation at Benson,” he began, “the only way I could recommend you guys staying is, if they would grant you ownership of all of your songs and recordings, all the way back to day one. Them owning your catalog gives them an edge the competitors can’t match.”

  “Do you think that is remotely possible?” I asked. “That never happens.” I then added, “Dan, if you can pull that off we will give you a third of it all.” Dana readily agreed.

  Shortly after that meeting, Bill Traylor drove from Nashville to see us play in Birmingham, Alabama. It was the last night of the tour and after the concert was over, we were headed back home to Memphis, about a three-hour drive, give or take.

  Bill said, “Hey Guys, I’ve got a custom van. How about I drive you back to Memphis instead of you riding the tour bus. It will give us a chance to talk.” We agreed.

  I sat up front, next to Bill at the wheel. Dan sat in the back seat, right behind us, with his head stuck right between Bill and me all the way to Memphis. Dana went to sleep in the back seat.

  Bill let us know he understood the situation clearly. He was real nice about it. In fact, he said, “Look, I know Benson is going through really tough times. I wouldn’t blame you guys a bit if you went somewhere else. So, I’m asking. What would it take for you to stay with us?”

  I looked at him across the middle and past Dan and said, “Just give us back all of our albums and songs, and we will stay.”

  He was completely silent for a moment, and then whispered, “I understand.”

  So that’s how it happened. Dan came up with a great idea and I happened to be able to deliver it at the perfect time. It worked.

  Dan and our attorney, Richard Green, worked very diligently over the next several months to hammer out an agreement. Benson Records returned ownership of all of our past catalog of recordings, and the publishing rights to our songs to us. Future records would be owned by us on day one, but licensed to Benson for a time, along with the back catalog, exclusively for the United States. Richard Green came up with the idea to get ownership of the back catalog immediately, but license it to Benson for a period of years in the future to get Benson comfortable with the idea. Then for every new album we turned in, we got another album returned back to us. We retained all international rights from day one. It was a unique business arrangement. We were going to need to formulate a plan. We needed a company to house our intellectual properties, meaning our newly acquired master recordings and song copyrights. A new door was opening indeed.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Rock Solid

  When it came time to record again we wanted to continue with the more aggressive rock-n-roll sound we returned to on Streetlight. We also wanted to continue the “live in the studio” recording approach. We felt it gave us more of a distinctive “band” sound and it infused the music with an undeniable and palpable energy.

  Dana wrote a little ditty with an old school rockabilly/blues riff called “Out of the Danger Zone.” When we arranged and recorded it, however, it came out as a frenzied, totally out of control, rock explosion Dana basically screamed from beginning to end. I loved the edgy sound on his voice. It was a perfect way to open the record.

  I wrote “Rock Solid,” which became our biggest rock anthem over the years. I wrote the song as a duet so when we performed live, Dana and I had a chance to play off of each other vocally. It gave our concert another element of surprise. I hadn’t sung a lead vocal on a D&K song since “Living On The Edge of Dying” on our second album, Straight On, in 1979. I think the notion of it actually unnerved Dana a little bit. He felt like his persona was rolled up as the lead singer of our band and didn’t seem too keen to share the platform. I certainly was never pressing to be the prominent singer in our band, but I did want to sing lead when I thought it would contribute to our sound and performance. That desire ultimately led us to record solo albums a bit later as a creative release.

  I also wrote “Brother Against Brother,” which was aimed at infighting within the Church and against Christians attacking one another. An unbelievable story happened with the song and the album credits. The televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was openly critical of Christian rock music and deemed it to be of the devil. I was told by others he specifically referenced D&K at times in this regard. Others seemed to follow his lead.

  I was pretty used to that kind of criticism due to our musical style. All of us early Christian rock bands faced it constantly. My gosh, I even remember our little girl, Shannon, coming home from the fourth grade one day with a church bulletin some kid gave her. It had a pic
ture of me on the front. The picture was one used on a CCM Magazine cover. It featured me holding my key-tar up to my mouth while mock biting the keyboard with my eyes all wide, like some kind of maniac. It was a joke. The picture was widely circulated, so we were used to seeing it pop up here and there. The problem this time was the caption above my picture, which said, “The True Satan!”

  Shannon asked me, “Daddy are you really the devil?” Then, she laughed and ran away, wanting me to chase her. She was joking around with me. Even in the fourth grade she knew I wasn’t Satan. I hope so, anyway.

  It seemed a lot of the problem fundamentalists had with us was we didn’t conform to their accepted vision of what “Christian people” looked or sounded like. They almost never argued with our lyrics in the songs, or the things Dana said when he preached, or the other things we said from stage. It was never about the important stuff, just the surface stuff.

  This next story shows just how shallow it can be. Christian music festivals flourished around the world starting in the seventies. Some were quite large, with crowds numbering over seventy thousand. Many were more in the twenty to thirty thousand range—which is still a lot of people. There were dozens of these events. Most were pretty “middle of the road” musically, focusing mostly on the artists heard on Christian radio. Some, like the Cornerstone Festival the Rez Band folks put on in Illinois, were more fringe oriented. We got invited to both types since we were a rock band and we had hits on the radio.

  We were at the Fishnet Festival in Port Royal, Virginia, one of the more conservative events, when a young man took issue with me to my face. We had just returned from Australia, where I picked up a pair of black and white striped pirate pants and a long black coat that kinda looked like a cape. The clothes were outlandish, and I was proud of them. They have been immortalized in our Rock Solid video. If you would like to enjoy them for yourself you can find it on YouTube. I even had black buccaneer boots and a tie dyed shirt. You can thank me later. I thought it was cool.