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  ÀÚ·á½Ç (ÀÛ¼ºÀÏ : 2003/03/25
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 [ÀÚ·á] Mark Schultz

Mark Schultz


Biography (courtesy of Myrrh Records)


Mark Schultz isn't in Kansas anymore, but the whirlwind that brought this talented singer-songwriter to where he is today had nothing to do with the weather. As one of Myrrh Records' newest and most promising artists, Mark Schultz knew how to make noise long before his musical aspirations brought him to Nashville.

Raised in the rural farming community of Colby, Kansas, Schultz?who was adopted into his family at two weeks of age?showed all the early promise of a prodigy even though musical prowess was not a family tradition. He excelled in sports, running track, quarterbacking the football team and starting on the basketball team. But all his glories on the field were evenly matched by an emerging musical talent. Mark first experienced life on the stage as a member of the high school's jazz group. He joined the show choir in college, and eventually was spotlighted as a solo performer on the group's tours. And behind the scenes, Mark was quietly honing his skills as a songwriter. That's when the call came.

"It's just not like me to pack up all my bags and head somewhere," says Mark of the first step in his musical adventure. "I came to Nashville and I didn't know why. I wanted to do music but that wasn't working out," he remembers. "It was like God telling me I had to die to all that stuff." But when God closes one door, he always opens others. In this case, though, when God seemed to be asking him to set aside his dreams of music, He opened another door Mark had never even thought about.

When a friend gave Mark a scribbled youth pastor's name to call as a contact in town, Mark tossed it aside and kept waiting tables at a local hotel. "The last thing I wanted to be was a youth director," he laughs. But nearly a year later, Mark suddenly found himself face to face with the name on the paper when the enthusiastic youth minister from First Presbyterian Church, Mark DeVries, made a providentially happenstance visit to one of Mark's tables. "He told me, 'You need to work with kids.'" And since there was no denying God's voice in the matter, that's what Mark did, and soon fell in love with his new mission. Chasing a musical dream gave way to sparking real change in the lives of the young people who surrounded him at First Pres. It was DeVries, his mentor, who also eventually nudged Schultz back toward his first love?music.

Soon Mark was bringing not only his time and attention to the youth at church, but also his songs. In fact, most of the tunes he pens revolve around the lives of the people he met and worked with in his role as youth leader. Concerts at First Presbyterian started becoming regular capacity-crowd events. In a sweeping move that took faith, guts and maybe just a little madness, Schultz single-handedly organized and produced a benefit concert at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. Surprisingly, his leap of faith netted not only a full house of enthusiastic fans of his music, but also a sizable donation to the evening's charity.

His new Myrrh album, the self-titled Mark Schultz, is a powerhouse debut, featuring the production talents of Monroe Jones (Third Day, Chris Rice, Margaret Becker, Ginny Owens, Wes Cunningham, Watermark) along with a bevy of Nashville's finest studio musicians. Rocketown songstress Ginny Owens lends her silky vocals to the ballad "Remember Me," and throughout the album, Schultz's pop-vocal sensibilities stand out. As someone who's long admired such singer-storytellers as Billy Joel, Dan Fogelberg and James Taylor, Mark Schultz has mastered the fine art of creating memorable melodies and mixing them with tender tales of the heart.

Rousing group anthems like the high-energy "Let's Go" and "I Am the Way" give ample proof of this youth leader's ability to kick a crowd into high gear. "Cloud of Witnesses" and the emotion-ridden ballad/prayer "He's My Son" are just two of many tunes drawn right from the lives and experiences of Mark's fellow church members, while a forgotten Mother's Day card birthed the sentimental tribute to his mom, "When You Come Home." Musically eclectic but unified in spirit, Mark Schultz is an album with all the hallmarks of what's good in music today. Solid songwriting chops married to an engaging vocal delivery make this album a proud first offering.

As a youth director who has chosen to intricately weave his life into the fabric of his church's youth, Mark and his young companions have ventured off on mission trips throughout the country and beyond. And no matter what happens with "this music thing," Mark will always have his hand in the work of his church and will always, he hopes, be an integral part of the growing lives of his youth group. Besides, as he sees it, "It's just like a Ferris Wheel. You get on and ride and when your time's done, you get off." Since Mark's musical ride has just begun, though, you can be sure there's still a lot to come.

"I'm excited about being in Christian music. Here you can do what you love, which is sing and still minister," he says of his new life. "When you keep your focus on God, you keep your focus off your self and hopefully that makes your path straighter and you know why you're here and that you're doing it for the right reasons." There's a reason for everything it seems, and right now for this buoyant boy from Kansas, what started as a "what do you want me to do God?" question has become an inspiring musical odyssey. And a tale of just what a little bit of faith and a lot of love can do.



[ÀÚ·á] BLESSID UNION OF SOULS
[ÀÚ·á] Heather Miller

 
 
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