KENANIAH REUNITED
Group sings for the first time in 11 years

It has been almost exactly 11 years since Jay Lobaugh, Brad Martin, Jim Rispin, Mark Schweizer and I have sung together as Kenaniah.  In fact, we have not all been in the same room at the same time since 1997!  Not because of any "VH1 - Behind the Music" fanfare, but because after college, the group scattered around the country to pursue careers or attend graduate school.

But on June 10, Kenaniah reunited in Chicago as a special surprise for my parents' retirement from The Salvation Army.  Lt. Colonels Harry & Barbara Brocksieck retired after 47 years of active duty - an amazing achievement for any career.

While we were all at Friends U., my parents became very close to all of the members of the group and loved to hear us sing.  We often sang at special occasions for them such as parties and birthdays. 

They had no idea the guys had come from Kansas, Texas and California to surprise them until they literally walked on stage singing.  Their reaction was golden.  In all, we sang "I Feel Good", "View that Holy City", "Where you There?" and "Amen!"  We also learned a new song to honor their years of service to others called "Change in my Life". 

Brad and I also reunited to sing "Lily's Eyes" from Secret Garden.  This has been one of my parents very favorite songs since we sang the duet as part of the Singing Quaker's Symphony of Spring, Friends University's annual spring concert.

Since we were all coming in from so far away, the only rehearsal time we had was the afternoon before the retirement service, but it was fun to remember what everyone sang and work out the details so quickly.  In fact, the first time Brad and I sang Lily's Eyes with our accompanist, Eric Britcher, was when we performed it on stage during the service!

Special thanks to all the guys for making the weekend so great!  You can view a short slide show here.

SLIDESHOW     MORE INFO     RECORDINGS

ABOUT KENANIAH
From 1992 - 1997, we sang as the a capella group KENANIAH, and enjoyed great success in and around Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.  Jim, Jay and I began singing at Wichita Heights High School years before, and wanted to form a group once we were all students at Friends University, where we met Mark and Brad. 

We soon developed the "Kenaniah sound" based on the close, varied harmonies of five voices, and Jim's freakishly low voice.

The group released Honest Work in 1994 and stands as our only recording.  By 1997, all of copies of the album were sold (so if you have one, be sure to hang onto it!)

In our five years together, we performed and toured through many states, toured Eastern Europe in 1996 and performed with Randy Bonifield (co-producer of Honest Work) and Rich Mullins, premiering his song "Midwestern Boy", which became a hit on Mullins' Liturgy, Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band album called "Hard".

For more information on Kenaniah, or if you are interested in receiving a reproduced CD of Honest Work, please e-mail here.

Kenaniah 1994

Kenaniah 2007

MUSIC BY KEVIN BROCKSIECK

- Click here to listen to some music samples or buy the CD Almighty Fear here.