 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Combine
the rich instrumental heritage that comes from a lot of front
porch
picking and strong vocals influenced by a lot of church house singing
and
you have Canaan's Crossing. In 2000, Tina Miller, Andy Wilks and
Tim Maze
sang a "special" at their small country church in North
Alabama. In a few
days a local promoter asked one of the deacons at their church
if he knew of
a group that would sing on an upcoming concert. Little did he know
that he
was speaking to Tina's father-in-law. Tina, Tim and Andy were joined
by
Wayne Burgett and Junior Saint for that evenings performance and
that is the
way it has been ever since.
The
members of Canaan's Crossing come from the small North Alabama
town of
Arab (pronounced Ay-Rab). The band performed from 2000 until 2006
under the
name Jordan River gathering nominations for the Dove Award's Bluegrass
Album
of the Year in 2004 for "There's No Other Way" and the
Traditional Gospel
Group of the Year in 2006 by SPBGMA. In early 2006 they signed
to record
for Song Garden Music Group. Shortly after signing, management
at Song
Garden was approached by someone claiming rights to the name "Jordan
River". One of the finest young talent that has come along in a long time is Tina Miller. Tina comes from a bluegrass family from Holly Pond, Alabama where her grandfather started teaching her to play the fiddle at the age of 5. Being an instrument maker and friends with bluegrass pioneers like Bill Monroe and others, he new the basics of bluegrass music and how to start young musicians with proper technique and the "feel" that makes bluegrass a unique form of music. Tina is also featured vocally on many of the songs by Canaan's Crossing and writes much of their material. Andy Wilks, guitarist learned to sing at the young age of 4 with his sisters Sonya and Cheryl where he learned to sing harmony. He continued performing through high school and college with involvement in two state champion FFA Quartets and two other regional groups. Junior Saint, mandolin player learned to play the mandolin at an early age. According to Junior "My dad played the banjo in the old time claw hammer style and my brother was one of the finest guitar players I ever knew so there was always music around our house. I have always loved music of all kinds but bluegrass is more fun to play and you can always find someone who loves to pick as much as you." The band has recorded several of Junior's songs. One of the most dedicated members a group could ask for is banjo player Wayne Burgett. Wayne is a self taught musician that has an ear for arranging traditional songs with a new twist. His love for music is evident in his enthusiastic performance. The way he smiles when he is playing and singing, shows he has truly been blessed with a love and talent for music. No
matter if it is a church, festival or concert hall, the music
is
bluegrass gospel. "Every song has a story", says Burgett, " especially
when you are singing about the Savior, now what greater story could
you |
|
