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Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009

Ky. native too busy to bask in success

RC TALK

The last time we checked in on Glasgow native Chris Huffman, in 2004, he was a single guy in a white-hot Christian rock band who got a charge out of seeing his group's CDs on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

Today, Huffman remains the bass player for Casting Crowns, but he's a married guy with two kids, which makes touring and getting back to Kentucky a bit more challenging.

"Everybody in the band has kids," Huffman said Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Casper, Wyo. "In fact, my wife and I just had our second child three weeks ago tomorrow."

That makes getting back home all the more important to Huffman, and leaving harder, particularly because his wife suffers from fairly serious car-sickness, so she can't often hit the road with the group.

"It can be hard," Huffman said, "when you call home and find out someone's been hurt or something big happened to not be there."

Still, despite the separation, Huffman said that Crowns is a valuable ministry, and the band's policy of returning home for services at its home base of Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta means he is rarely gone for an extended time.

"When you're passionate about what you do, the negative sides don't really bother you," Huffman said. "I get frustrated a lot of times, but you learn to overlook the frustrations and the hardships.

"I believe God has called me to do this, and as long as he has, my response is, I'm here; send me."

Huffman, who was born in Glasgow and lived there until he was 10, returns to Kentucky next week with the band's concert Thursday night at Rupp Arena. The band is touring in support of its new album, Until the Whole World Hears, set for release Nov. 17.

Huffman loves his job, but the band's fourth studio album and family obligations have quelled that Wal-Mart thrill. Somewhat.

"When I go to Wal-Mart, I'm usually going to the grocery and baby department," he said. "But sometimes I get to electronics, and it's nice to see we're there."

Jeremy Camp at Quest

After nearly an hour of performing rousing rock 'n' roll, ballads and worship, Jeremy Camp sat down at an upright piano Sept. 24 at Quest Community Church and sang a spiritual.

"Give me Jesus, give me Jesus," he sang, bathed in lavender light. "You can have all of this world. Give me Jesus."

Hunched over the keyboard, his face shielded from the crowd, Camp's voice filled the room with the same kind of power that seemed to exist in his biceps — toned by px90 workouts — and simultaneously had the tremor of a young man who already has endured some trials, including losing his wife to cancer and an unborn child in a miscarriage.

Whether in recordings or onstage, there is nary an un-genuine moment from Camp, which is a big part of why he can so seamlessly rock, worship and sing empathetic ballads. I'll Take You Back is his best tune, and he performed it at Quest with a bit more fire than some acoustic renditions that he has delivered in the past.

The new sanctuary at Quest proved an ideal venue for Camp and openers Natalie Grant and Bebo Norman. The 2,400-seat auditorium would probably be great for any artist seeking a midsize room. That describes a lot of Christian artists. It's not clear whether Quest intends to use its auditorium as a Christian concert hall — this show was booked by an outside promoter — but you have to think that word will get out about the room, which I had to keep reminding myself is a church.

Concert +1, -2

Two concerts that we mentioned in recent columns have been cancelled.

■ Derek Webb, whom we profiled in the last rc talk, will not play Lexington next week. The Dame, where he was scheduled to play, has closed, and he has not secured another venue. Webb's publicist said he hopes to schedule a Lexington concert later.

■ Starlit Platoon, which was scheduled to play South Elkhorn Baptist Church on Oct. 10 has broken up, so that show is scrubbed.

■ But here's a pretty good show for you: David Crowder Band will play Southland Christian Church at 8 p.m. Nov. 6. Tickets are $19 each, $16 each for groups of 10 or more, $24 day of show. You can buy tickets at www.ukcsf.org/crowder or send a check or money order to Crowder Concert, c/o Christian Student Fellowship, 502 Columbia Avenue, Lexington, Ky. 40508. Call (859) 273-5433.

Look for a review of the band's new album, Church Music, and an amusing video with the Crowdster at Copious Notes, the blog, at LexGo.com.