2nd Chapter of Acts Bio
The 2nd Chapter of Acts consisted of three siblings—my two sisters, Annie and Nellie, and myself. The group began in the early ‘70’s after the death of my father in 1970. My mother had died in 1968. There were still four children living at home at the time of my father’s death, so two of my brothers went to live with our oldest brother and his wife. They lived in the same town in the Sacramento area. Nellie and I moved to Los Angeles to live with my older sister Annie and her husband, Buck.
I guess you could say the group really had its beginning sitting around an old upright piano Buck had bought for my sister (I believe he paid fifty dollars for it). Nellie and I would come home from school and there would be Annie, sitting at the piano (self-taught, no less) playing some new chorus or verse she felt she had received from the Lord. Nellie and I would pull up a chair and start singing whatever parts came into our heads. I think those early days really blew Annie’s mind as far as us kids coming up with such natural and yet beautifully put together parts. I see those early days of singing together as a real time of healing after the loss of our parents.
Not long after that, other people started to hear us sing our simple songs. Most were drawn to the beauty of heart and harmony. Barry McGuire heard us around that very piano and was dumbfounded. Buck ended up producing the very first Christian record Barry did, and we sang the backgrounds on it.
We got to know Pat Boone through some mutual friends, and he helped us get a recording deal with MGM records. That move turned out to be a real mistake. I think the company at the time didn’t know what to do with a bunch of “Jesus Fanatics.” After we had been singing for awhile, we did a tour with Barry, and he really taught us the ropes, so to speak.
Afterhearing us perform at Baylor University, Billy Ray Hearn inquired about us being on a new label he had started called Myrrh Records. It wasn’t long before we fell in love with Billy Ray. Our first record, “With Footnotes,” came out on Myrrh in 1974. We continued a relationship with Billy Ray for quite some time. As a matter of fact, when Billy Ray left to start a new label (Sparrow Records), we went with him. Sparrow’s first release was Annie’s first album called, “Through a Child’s Eyes.” We went on to record numerous records for Sparrow.
Some years later, we (2nd Chapter) and some other artist friends started our own record label called Live Oak. The company did rather well, and we were able to put out several titles, which were quite successful. After “Acts” concluded, Live Oak didn’t survive long. “Acts” really brought in the bulk of what was needed financially to keep the company going, and I think we were growing weary of wearing all the different hats it took to run a record company; i.e., record executive, artist, songwriter, producer, cover concepts, layouts, graphics, and so on.
From the time I was about 15 or so, 2nd Chapter of Acts toured a total of 17 years. I grew up on the road, which presented its own set of problems that I won’t go into here. I did much of my schooling through correspondence, which allowed me the freedom to travel. During those years, we were fortunate enough to tour most of Europe, New Zealand, Australia, much of Canada, and all but one state in the U.S. (Alaska, which I have since been to three or four times and loved it. “Acts” had a tour scheduled for Alaska, but it fell through at the last moment.)
I enjoyed the years traveling with my family. As I got older, I began to recognize a need to express myself musically outside the framework of 2nd Chapter. Annie’s songs were good, but I wanted to rock a little harder than the rest of my family. I was also beginning to write more and could see that my style differed enough from 2nd Chapter’s to warrant doing my own music.
When I would record a new solo album, I would open up the second half of our concerts with a few songs off it. Those were interesting years because after a while people started knowing me as an artist in my own right. Many people would come to see 2nd Chapter of Acts and this new artist, Matthew Ward. It was funny because a lot of folks didn’t know I was in 2nd Chapter. They became familiar with my music through radio, and when I took the stage to perform my songs, you could see the lights go on for many as they realized, Hey, wait a minute—wasn’t he just out here singing with those girls? I had no idea Matthew Ward was in 2nd Chapter!
I got a big kick out of that.
My wife Deanne and I were married in 1983, and we continued to tour for five more years. By that time we had two children, Megin and Morgan. After 2nd Chapter concluded, I took a break from performing. I did record and release a few albums during those years, but I really wanted to stay home and help raise my little ones for a while. I supplemented my income by doing things locally, such as producing CD’s for other artists. I think I produced 8 or 9 projects one year. I also did some “jingle” work (commercials) as well.
Just after I began getting back in the swing of doing concerts again, I was diagnosed with cancer. That was absolutely no fun whatsoever, but I did learn a tremendous amount about the character of God, how He sees me as a son, and how I should view Him as Father. The next CD I recorded (“My Redeemer”) was directly related to my bout with cancer. Some of the songs speak directly to what I was going through at that time.
When I originally proposed the style of CD I wanted to do, the record label I was with was not thrilled with the idea. They felt I should stick to the style I had established with my last five solo projects. What they wanted was another rock-pop CD, but I knew in my guts that I wasn’t supposed to do one.
We ended up leaving the company we were with, and my wife and I took out a note on the house and paid for the CD ourselves. For the first year we literally shipped it out of our house, made deals with Christian bookstores (a little harder to do these days), did all the promoting, hired a radio tracker, and so on. We had very good success with the CD, and considering we did it all outside the realm of the normal “big machine of the industry,” the music was received well. We ended up with a couple of number one songs on the charts, which at the time was unheard of for an “independent” project.
It was an amazing thing to watch during live concerts as the Lord touched thousands of lives deeply through the healing message and music God had given me. It reminds me of a quote I heard once. The man who said it originally I’m sorry I don’t remember his name) missionary at the turn of the century. He said, “God’s will, done God’s way, never lacks God’s provision.”
A few years later I released a CD called “Even Now,” which was a natural follow-up to “My Redeemer.” I could clearly see the Lord was calling me to minister to the body in a more intimate way. There are so many hurting, disillusioned Christians waiting for a word of encouragement, for someone to say, “God sees where you are—trust in Him, not man.” I hope to do another CD which could come out in 2004.
My prayer is that the Lord will continue to use music’s mysterious ability to reach into hearts like nothing else can.