Resurrection Band

Also known as "Rez", Resurrection Band started out in 1972 as a part of the hippie counter-culture "Jesus Movement". The band was part of a national travelling team known as Jesus People U.S.A., based in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Originally known as "Charity", the group had two different sounds: easy folk music for coffee houses, retirement homes and the like; and loud rock for college campuses, public rallies, etc. Soon the group became known as "Resurrection" and travelled around the U.S. in a beat-up school bus with JESUS painted on the side, passing out their free tabloid, Cornerstone ("The National Jesus Paper").

After settling in the unlikely city of Chicago (only a couple of years after Mayor Richard J. Daley's thugs beat the crap out of protesters at the 1968 Democratic Convention), the group recorded their first full album, Awaiting Your Reply. With its psychedelic cover art, Led Zeppelin-like guitar riffs, pounding drums and screaming vocals, it was the most original production to hit the gospel music market. Most radio stations wouldn't play it, or bible bookstores sell it. They felt the subject matter (sin, death, loneliness, relationships, hipocracy in the Church, racism, apartheid and more) would alienate their listeners/customers. These weren't your typical Sunday morning hymns. Most stores only stocked Resurrection Band records behind the counter, which didn't matter because their audience had a way of finding them anyhow!

Resurrection Band continued to record and perform concerts all throughout the 1980s, not only in the U.S. but also in Europe and the South Pacific. Their biggest fan base was (and still is) in Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. Not sure if the distributors there did a better job of promoting the albums or if the local populace just knew a good thing when they heard it.

The band continued until the mid 1990s when other business and family obligations ended their partnership as a musical entity. Some of their biggest successes actually occurred during the mid-1980s when their videos, "Crimes" and "Love Comes Down" were selected for rotation on MTV. A later epic video production (Lament, 1995) had less than successful results.

Currently, Glenn Kaiser and his wife Wendi tour the nation speaking at youth worker's conventions and parenting seminars. Glenn also has a pretty successful roadhouse blues band, with former Rez member Roy Montroy on bass and Rez sound engineer Ed Bialach on drums. John Herrin manages the annual Cornerstone Festival, and Stu Heiss is music director for a church in the Chicago suburbs (and a jazz guitarist!).

RESURRECTION:
Music To Raise The Dead (custom cassette, 1974; Grrr, 1990)
All Your Life (custom cassette, 1974)

RESURRECTION BAND:
Awaiting Your Reply (Star Song, 1978; Grrr, 2002)
Rainbow's End (Star Song, 1978; Kingsway, UK 1978; Grrr, 2002)
Colours (Light, 1980, 1992; Elektra, 1980)
Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore (Light, 1981, 1992; Elektra 1981)

REZ:
D.M.Z. (Light, 1982, 1991; Elektra 1982)
Best Of Rez (Light, 1984)
Live Bootleg (Sparrow, 1984; MCA, 1984; Grrr CD-R, 1999)
Hostage {Sparrow, 1984; MCA, 1984; Grrr CD-R, 1999)
Between Heaven 'N Hell (Sparrow 1985; Capitol 1985)
Compact Favorites (Sparrow, 1988)
Silence Screams (Grrr/Ocean/Word, 1988)
Innocent Blood (Grrr/Ocean/Word, 1989)
Civil Rites (Grrr/Ocean/Word, 1991)
Twenty Years (2 CDs) (Grrr/Ocean/Word, 1992; Grrr, 2003)
Reach Of Love (Grrr/Ocean/Word, 1993)

RESURRECTION BAND:
Lament (Grrr/R.E.X., 1995)
The Light Years (Light, 1995)
Ampendectomy (Grrr, 1997)
Music To Raise The Dead (3 CDs + 1 DVD) (Grrr, 2008)

Sources:
http://www.resurrectionband.com
http://www.glennkaiser.com
http://www.cornerstonemag.com
http://ccmdiscography.150m.com