For a band which has only been together for about 7-1/2 years, has 4 albums, been through 3 name changes, and 2 weddings, we guess that’s a lot to cover. However the 3 members of P f and still yet R have done just that. AAAhhhhh, where to begin...
Joel, who is the guitarist for the group, summed it up best by saying just this: "Mark and I met at Camp Shamineau in Minnesota the summer of 1987; he and I did a little bit of music together. But it wasn't until the summer of 1988 when we decided that we should play together more often. Mark was a counselor and I was leading the music. He and I played some music together, but a drummer and a guitarist don't make a band. It was the fall of 1988, when Patrick started coming to the youth group where I was an interim pastor. He was seeking.....um pretty girls and found them. That's why he came but then Pat started playing some of the worship stuff with me and he picked the stuff up right away, singing harmonies..."
And that's how the 3 member's of the band Inside Out met. Keep in mind we did say "3 name changes". Now known as Inside Out-- Pat, Mark (the funkiest drummer on the face of the earth, not that any of us are biased), and Joel started playing at the camp. From there the campers would hear them and have them play for their youth groups. This didn't happen just over night—No sirry BOB—this was in a 3 year period. .Also in that time the band members were lucky enough (would it be wrong to say someone was looking after them) in opening for the big acts at the New Union in Minnesota. This would eventually pay off BIG TIME!!!
On one faithful night they played for a chap by the name of Steve Camp, which then turned into (...he told two friends, then they told two friends and so on and so on and so on...) playing for Jimmie Lee Sloas and Bobby Blazier, who produced there first album. In October, the band, Sparrow Records, and Brown Banister started talking about record deals. According to Patrick, the bass player "...we went down to Nashville, signed on February 19, 1990 and started recording on February 20, 1990..." From that moment on there were known as Pray for Rain. The name Pray for Rain came about, contrary to popular belief, from a poem Pat saw and not so it would rain at every festival the band played. And believe me, we think we all must have attended a festival where they played, and we all wished their name was "Wait for the Sun".
"Well, here we are at the end of a great run. The Lord has blessed us these past few years, and so have all of you---our fans. We appreciate all of the love and support you’ve given us (and the records you bought, for that matter). We know the Lord has brought us to this place, but we aren’t sad, because this isn’t the end of the story. We’re just ending one chapter. To us, this is just the beginning. God Bless" ---PfR
After five years and four records, the threesome known as PfR--- Joel Hanson, Patrick Andrew and Mark Nash---are closing this chapter on their careers. As they embark on their farewell tour, a chance to say goodbye to all of the fans who have supported them, they say there are no regrets.
"To us, it seems really easy," Mark says. "When we started out, we knew it was what God wanted us to do. He put us together. Knowing that, we knew He would let us know when it was supposed to be over.
"Every year since the beginning, the band would pray and re-evaluate their position. "Even after the first record, we never had this huge ten year plan," Mark continues. "We just always took it one year and one record at a time." Last year God began calling them in different directions. "God spoke to each of us differently, but the timing was the same. We talked about it, and said, ‘Well, let’s give it a couple of days, we’ll pray about it and think about it some more.’ When we came back together, we were all more sure than before."
They shared their conclusions with the record company, who was very understanding. Sparrow told them if they wanted to do another record, they would push it as hard as ever. "When that was decided, we felt like we should just make the record the best record we can," Mark says.
Joel notes, "We didn’t write Them as a farewell album, but it drove us to really be who we are for one last time. This album has a little more energy then the others and captures the live sound more than anything we’ve ever done."
The 12-song collection showcases a harder-edged direction for the trio, and one with a more diverse musical palette. "You hear a lot of different influences," Joel says. "There are different feels on the album. There have been on all of our albums, but this one shows a real diversity. I like the fact that there’s some real edgy, driven stuff, which is fun to play live. We have the most fun playing live, because we just let out the stops and don’t worry quite so much about dynamics."
For the future, the three will reunite to oversee a retrospective record, that will include their hits, and a few new songs and hopefully some live tracks from this tour. "For that project we’ll still be involved, but that’s about it," Mark says. "Once that show is Minneapolis happens, we’re pretty much unemployed."
The had initially wanted to avoid another tour, but decided performing for their fans would bring some much needed closure for the fans—and for themselves. "It’s important to have closure, like a last show," Mark agrees. "Some bands, tour and then decide to break up and they just dissolve. It will be good for us emotionally to be able to point back and say, okay, that ended that whole chapter."
"We’re really thankful for the opportunities we’ve had," Joel says. "It means a great deal to us that we’ve made some friendships that will last a lifetime."
Immediate plans? Joel wants to stay home with his wife Kathy and write songs. Pat has already put a new band together and wants to record and tour; he and his wife Helen have just moved to Nashville. Newlyweds Mark and Leigh want to take some time off in their new Nashville home, and then he starts his new career as a producer early next year.
As you see the three different directions, you can sort of see how PfR was a training ground for their new careers. "None of us would be able to pursue these things without what we learned in PfR," Mark says, "I certainly think we accomplished some things with the band. Hopefully, it will be a stepping stone for all of us to greater things. The whole history of the band has been about us trying to be obedient to God. So, if the end is definitely His will and He’s bringing closure to it, then He has other plans for us. Maybe we’ll do more good for the kingdom and for God separately, than we could together.
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