|
Pianist Peter Jeffrey during his final year of touring with
two of his reasons for wanting to leave life on the road:
Hannah and Seth. Jeffrey is now assistant director of Bethel's
show choir, Renaissance.
It was a
whirlwind first year for Renaissance, Bethel College's new
show choir that, with just two weeks of summer training camp
behind them, debuted to a delighted audience at the August
2004 dedication of Prosser Hall. It was the first of many
performances that, by year's end, peddled Bethel's influence
as far away as the west coast.
Behind the scenes, piano virtuoso and songwriter Peter Jeffrey
was as new as any of the students he'd been brought on board,
as assistant director, to help ready for their performances.
Youthful at 42, accomplished, and steadfast in his Christian
calling, the story of how he arrived at his position is as
inspiring as his ministry to the young adults he serves.
Born in Oregon, his family moved to Puyallup, near Tacoma,
Washington, when he was seven years old. The move's twofold
purpose gave his father greater ministerial opportunities
while allowing his mother to live near relatives in Tacoma.
Peter jokes that Johnny Carson used to enjoy attempts at
pronouncing the unusual name of the mid-sized town that is
home to the Daffodil Festival, which he says hosts the fifth
largest floral parade in the United States.
The son of a minister schooled at an independent bible
college, Peter's early spiritual experiences were diverse and
amplified by his family's immersion in music.
"We had a very musical family," says Peter. "Dad sang Southern
Gospel in Texas when he was growing up; my mother sang and
played the accordion and piano. Mom insisted that we all learn
to play the piano and she taught us."
For Peter, the lessons hit home. The family group traveled
around to different churches with his older brother,
Christopher, playing guitar and his younger sisters--Beth,
Kathy, and Annette--playing cello, violin, and flute.
"We all sang harmony," Peter says thoughtfully. "It was a
pretty wild ride; we were always just as poor as we could
be--we never had a dime--but we had a good time... I don't
remember if the music was any good but we had a lot of fun."
Once he and Christopher were in high school, they started
their own Christian rock band. Christopher moved on to
community college for a year after which he spent another year
with a professional singing group before hitting the
nightclubs, resorts and hotels circuit.
Peter had entered Central Washington University's music
program, but had run out of money to continue, when
Christopher called saying, "We really need a keyboard player."
So, at the age of 18, Peter joined the circuit as well,
traveling the west coast, Idaho and Montana five to six nights
a week, first as "The Nightshift" and later as "The Famous
Flames".
A promotional photo shows Peter
(right) and brother Christopher, who in the mid to late 80s
toured the west coast, Idaho and Montana as The Famous Flames.
"We were The Famous Flames longest," says Peter. "We recorded
an album, wrote our own music and got radio play in the
area... Then he got in that terrible accident and I just
continued by myself."
Christopher was the passenger in a friend's new Corvette,
traveling up a winding hill at 85 miles an hour in a 35 mile
per hour speed zone, when the driver lost control and
fishtailed and a car coming down the hill ran into the side of
the car.
The pain of Peter's loss, in 1988, still lingers and is
brought to mind each year at his birthday.
"His birthday was the day after mine, so every time I have a
birthday, I'm saying, 'Uncle Chris would have been (so many
years old.)'"
For three more years, Peter continued playing the nightclubs,
resorts, and hotels circuit before realizing he wasn't going
anywhere. He decided his best option was to move to New York,
Los Angeles or Nashville where he could ply his talents in
songwriting, piano playing and singing.
"I picked Nashville," he says. He made the move in May 1991,
landing a job delivering furniture while trusting God for
better opportunities.
That happened when he became piano player and music director
for Mike Reid, the Penn State music major-turned Cincinnati
Bengal football player-turned Grammy award-winning songwriter
who in '91 was promoting his own album, "Turning For Home."
The album had netted him the number one single, "Walk On
Faith".
"He wrote about half of (Ronnie) Millsap's catalog," says
Peter, including Grammy winning "Stranger In My House" and a
long list of other number one hits performed by a variety of
artists.
Says Peter concerning his job as music director for Reid and
others, "I worked with artists, singers, to put on the show,
set up rehearsals, fire and hire band members, and worked with
the manager to evaluate rehearsals, show tapes, help work up
new songs, help work out new parts and keep general care over
the band."
He continued his dual role as piano player and music director
with brothers Darryl and Don Ellis, but unfortunately, says
Peter, "They were a one hit wonder, a flash in the pan."
Jeffrey spent a year with the brothers who eventually pursued
separate careers in music.
He worked with Jo Dee Messina for three years, the last two as
band leader, and also had stints with Doug Stone, Lee Ann
Womack, and McBride and the Ride.
His luck turned when he hooked up with Rhonda Vincent, the
much acclaimed Missouri bluegrass artist who was attempting to
cross over into country music.
"She's one of the best--probably the best pure singer I've
ever worked with," says Peter. "She was the first person to
have two songs on the bluegrass charts and country charts."
Peter (far right) poses before
the mountains of Japan with bluegrass artist Rhonda Vincent
(third from left) and members of her entourage, including
Peter's best friend, Darrin Vincent (second from right.)
It's a trend that continues today with her new album, "Ragin'
Live", that entered at number 56 on the country chart and
number two on the bluegrass chart.
Rhonda's brother, Darrin, was Peter's best friend and Darrin's
wife, Julie, was a schoolteacher in Smithville, about 65 miles
east of Nashville. Julie's best friend, Karen Hodges, like
Peter, was single, so it was only natural for the Vincents to
scheme about getting the two together. Darren invited Peter to
perform at a gospel singing, held at his church, knowing Karen
would be attending.
"I kind of figured what he was up to, but I went anyway," says
Peter, seven years and four children since his and Karen's May
31 wedding. "It just all worked out."
But, on the musical front, two and a half years after Rhonda's
experiment in country music began in the mid-90s, she decided
to return exclusively to bluegrass, a style not suited to the
piano, and Peter left the group.
"I really enjoyed that time," says Peter, who did what he
always did when he found himself between jobs in music. "I
went back to waiting tables at a fine dining restaurant in
Franklin," he laughs. "I had a deal that, anytime I needed to,
I could come back until I found work in the music business."
During this time, Peter fell back into writing songs,
something he'd been involved in since he was nine years old.
"Me and a buddy got a song on an album by a group called
Midsouth," says Peter.
The song, "Without You I Haven't Got a Prayer", earned the
songwriters a Dove Award in 1996, the same year Jars of Clay
was honored as new artist of the year at the awards ceremony,
held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, that recognizes the
best in Christian music.
The song crossed over from country to pop and, in fact, was on
the pop, country and Christian charts at same time. "It was
number 23 on the pop charts right next to Bon Jovi and Gloria
Estefan," grins Peter. "It fizzled out at 23 but I was
exultant.
"The coolest thing was, I was taking a flight to California on
American Airlines and I put on the headphones, punched a
button randomly and there was that song," he continues, waving
his arms as if holding his headphones and pointing. "I made
everybody around me put on their headphones and said, 'Turn to
channel 5, I wrote that song!'"
He reaches back into his memory to share his first attempt at
songwriting: "I just decided to write a song," he recalls.
"I'm a huge baseball fan, ever since I was 7, 8, or 9 years
old when Henry Aaron broke the homerun record. I had just
learned to play the guitar so I wrote a song about Henry Aaron
breaking Babe Ruth's record. I remember the title, 'They Ain't
Sharing That Record No More'."
Excited about his accomplishment, he was impatient to share
the song with his music teacher, who put him off until the end
of the class period.
"After I sang it for her, she was so impressed that she took
me around to all the classes and had me sing. The only
negative comment I got was from my fifth grade English teacher
who didn't like me using "ain't" and "no more".
Peter and his brother had continued writing songs as they
delved into the music business. Concerning the art, Peter
says, "I think honestly the title and subject just come to me
and the hard work is getting down and fleshing out the idea.
It's very similar to writing a sermon; trying to say what I
want to say in a short time. So I choose the words carefully,
trying to say things in different ways so that I don't stomp
the same ground over and over and try to keep control there
and make it work."
Peter's last full year of touring was with Chad Brock, who in
1999 had scored big with the hits "Ordinary Life" and "Yes!"
"Then in 2000 I surrendered to the call in ministry and
started working in music ministry at Trinity First Church of
God in Nashville," he says.
It wasn't the first time he'd been aware of his calling--he
was a teenager the first time he felt led into ministry--but
like many, he postponed the decision over many years.
He explains certain elements come into play when the call
becomes so strong it can't be ignored.
"I think when God wants you to do something, he starts making
the situation you're in very uncomfortable, so it makes it not
so hard to leave," he begins. For Peter, being on the road,
away from his growing family, for 200 to 300 days a year had
become unbearable.
"My family needed me and I thought I'd like for them to
remember me by name at some point in time," he says. "I just
knew, I had a sense that God just really wanted me to be in
ministry full time and was drawing to a close my other
options."
When Karen's home church in Smithville began looking for a
music and youth minister, Peter expressed interested in the
opportunity at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church but was
insistent upon accepting the position only if he would be able
to pursue ordained ministry.
That is when he learned about Bethel College, where summer
offerings include the Program of Alternate Studies, an
intensive 15-day extension school of the Memphis Theological
Seminary. Typically a three-year, nine-course program, Peter
says he will finish the program in four years this summer.
On a July night last summer, Cumberland Presbyterian minister
Rev. Dr. Jeff Clark, one of the program's professors, heard
Peter perform in a PAS community "hymn singing" in which Peter
sang and played the piano. Clark was also, unbeknownst to
Peter, director of Bethel's startling new recruitment tool,
Renaissance.
"He asked, 'Would you be willing to do that again tomorrow
night?'" Peter relates. "So the next evening, when he brought
Dr. Prosser, I knew something was up. It was July 27, and that
night he said, 'We would like for you to be fulltime at Bethel
on August 7.'
The Jeffrey family: Peter,
Karen and children Hannah, 12; Seth, 10; Christian, 5; and
Caleigh, 2.
"I had two churches I was serving, four kids, two dogs, and a
double wide in the holler (hollow for those who prefer correct
spelling.) It sounded like a fabulous opportunity; it was
right down my alley," continues Peter, who discussed the
proposition with Karen.
"We prayed together a lot; we just knew that's what God wanted
me to do," he says.
The family stepped out on faith to make the move to
McKenzie--their third in three years--less than two weeks
before Renaissance's summer camp began, not to mention school
for the Jeffrey clan--Hannah, now 12; Seth, 10; Christian, 5;
and Caleigh, 2--and the fact that Karen was unable to find a
teaching position nearby. For the first two weeks in McKenzie,
the Jeffreys lived at Bethel's brand new dormitory, Prosser
Hall.
"People would ask the kids where they lived and they'd say, "I
don't know," laughs Peter. "And I still had to serve the
churches for awhile (Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church
and Trinity First Church of God in Nashville.)
Serving both churches was hectic even before the move. "I'd
lead worship services (at the CP church) at 8:30 and then
drive like crazy into Nashville and do their 11:00 service,"
he says. "But by the end of August we were moved and
semi-settled and here I am."
Peter's most amazing story concerning the spur-of-the-moment
move, however, was his wife's originally fruitless search for
employment.
"She had applied as far away as Jackson," he says. "But there
was nothing. My wife's teaching job turned up after school
started when there were 40 extra kindergarteners to enroll
within ten days and they had to hire an extra kindergarten
teacher in McKenzie. It's funny the way things worked. God
didn't want her in Jackson, He wanted her here, and with a
five year old in kindergarten, it was great for her, too."
With the first year of Renaissance winding up with a two-week
tour to the west coast, Peter says, "I think that we've got an
incredible foundation. The vision and concept for the program
is outstanding because its potential for excellence is
determined only by how far we're willing to go, because it's
not an academic program--it's a marketing tool. We're the only
college in the country doing this and in five years other
colleges are going to be copying what we're doing, because
it's such an exciting concept. We get to do any musical style
we choose and, after this year, we could also start music
theatre and produce a big musical every year.
"Who knows what we can do; the possibilities are limitless. My
plan is to stay right here and develop this program to its
full potential."
The position has given new life to Peter's creative abilities.
"I love to arrange old hymns, old Christian songs," he says.
"I love to try to make them new and fresh. I also like to
arrange the performances in a way nobody has done before so we
can knock people off their feet. You just don't have college
groups doing things like this.
And his service to students extends way beyond the musical
aspect of his job.
"This college and this program is my ministry right now;
helping the students adjust. I've done more pastoral
counseling this year than I ever have. It's an adjustment
period for them and a spiritual one. Some kids go to college
and go wild and some retreat. This helps them mature and grow.
We hold devotionals, and it's great knowing the other
conductors (Clark, John Hall, and Rev. Billy McGarrity) are
very spiritual. We pray together on the road and hold church
service and I like that. I feel God put me here. I don't know
if he'll keep me here, but I'm here for awhile."
WITHOUT YOU (I HAVEN'T GOT A PRAYER)
music and lyrics: Robby McGee, Scott Rath,
Peter Jeffrey
The sun's gone down
And the night's closing in
I'm sitting here all alone
Trying to figure out
Why life seems so unfair
Lord, this world is too heavy
For one man to hold
And I'm feeling like
It's spinning out of control
Chorus:
Where would I go, who would I turn to
Tell me if I didn't have You
Whose name would I call
When I need to escape, You're my hiding place
You're my shelter from despair
There have been times
When everything I touched
Seemed like it turned to gold
Started believing I
Could make it all on my own
But I've seen fortunes fade away
And turn to dust
And if there's one thing I've learned
It's in God I will trust
Chorus:
Where would I go, who would I turn to
Tell me if I didn't have You
Whose name would I call
When I need to escape, You're my hiding place
You're my shelter from despair
Without You I haven't got a prayer
|
2005 Feature Archives: |
|
|
|
|
|
2004
Feature
Archives: |
|
|
|
. |
|
2003
Feature
Archives: |
|
|
|
. |
|
2002
Feature
Archives: |
|
|
|
. |
|
2001
Feature
Archives: |
|
|
|
