By Jordan Studer
jstuder@wbcowqel.com
Hands were raised and feet were stomping Monday evening in the grandstands of the Crawford County Fair as many gathered to enjoy the 2016 Fair Jam Concert. This year the two groups that performed were Among the Thirsty and 7eventh Time Down.
Opening the night with a bang was the band Among the Thirsty. The band played many songs such as “Trust,” “Completely,” and “I Need a Savior”. Between each song the lead singer, Ryan Daniel explained to the captivated audience how each song was not only personal to the group, but was intended to help those in need.
Daniel explained before playing their song “Trust,” that the song was all about, “trusting God when it’s hard.” Daniel related the song to the crowd as well saying that everyone has had the challenge arise to trust when everything is going wrong or just give up and the song was ended to encourage during those moments.
Another one of the group’s songs, “Completely,” has an even more personal meaning for Daniel. He explained how in the midst of one of his biggest struggles in life trying to climb his way out of the hole of addiction, he wrote this song. At the point of the song he knew there was no way he could accomplish that on his own. Before singing the song, Daniel spoke directly to the audience explaining his struggles to encourage others that there is a way out of your darkest moments, if you surrender completely.
“Even God is at rock bottom!” a heartfelt Daniel encouraged the audience.
Daniel was very humble when addressing what the group has accomplished.
“We’ve not had overnight success. We all have second jobs, we all do other things to make extra money. But we feel like something big is coming for us and it’s just one of those things that I want our story to be a story of good-stewardship, of really working at something for a long time and working hard to achieve it,” Daniel said.
Judging from the captivated, singing audience, the group’s dream of having their name well known is moving right along. When looking at their band name, Among the Thirsty, many wonder what the meaning behind it truly is.
When talking with bass guitarist, Brock Douglas, he explained that contrary to everyone’s belief the name never started off having a deep spiritual rooted meaning. It came about when the band first got started and was chatting with one of their high school teachers. The group told the teacher their current name at that time to which the teacher snickered. The group asked him what they should call their group and to which he replied, Among the Thirsty.
Daniel explained that the name has actually formed a meaning of its own, “Now it’s more of a statement. We’re not better than anybody. We are right there. We are in the trenches. We struggle with things, we fail but that thirst we have that creeps up inside of us that brings us back to the Lord every time, that’s what Among the Thirsty’s about.”
After Among the Thirsty ended their last song, it was time for the main attraction for the night, 7eventh Time Down. The group had not but stepped foot on the stage when the crowd went crazy in anticipation.
7eventh Time Down has been rising as a group over the past few years, but this year has brought them an extra blessing. The group just had their first number one radio single on the National Audience Chart with their song, “God Is On The Move.”
The group was excited enough to find that their song was number one for one week, but the happiness did not stop there. The song has remained at the top of the charts for the past five weeks straight.
When asking the group about the excitement they felt when the single took off to the top of the charts and remained there, bass guitarist Cliff Williams replied, “It was huge! It was kind of like reminiscent of when we first heard our first song on the radio… we recorded it of it on the radio and us just hollering. It’s that same kind of feel…It’s humbling because you feel blessed that God is choosing you for this season to give you favor. Choosing that song in particular to minister to people and speak to people and to further the Kingdom in a special way. It was awesome.”
Listening to the audience sing and worship right along with the group, it was evident that the feeling of excitement was stirred in more than just the hearts of the band members. Just as the whole audience was worshiping to one of the group’s songs a significant occurrence happened, and the sound system crashed.
Normally, this occurrence isn’t uncommon for the group to have happen but the timing of the evening’s sound crash made the band feel there was something behind it. Once the system kicked back on, lead singer and guitarist Mikey Howard explained to the crowd in amazement how ironically, that part of their show is a scheduled alter call.
The crowd all smiled when Howard mentioned that it was clear that “the enemy was trying to work,” but he had not succeeded. The alter call then took place and the group then encouraged the audience to support their friends from Food For The Hungry.
Howard came off the stage and into the audience to personally set a goal to get three children the financial support they needed to eat and feed their families. He explained to the crowd that he was not trying to guilt them into anything, but if anyone felt that they had been blessed financially enough to support someone who didn’t have the means to drink clean water, now was a better time than ever to support them.
Howard’s small goal was immediately succeeded as hands were raised volunteering to support a child and family in need. It was evident that the group’s messages were speaking to the audience in a strong way.
Wrapping up the powerful evening, the group played their number one song, “God Is On The Move,” and the audience went wild. The entire crowd was singing, clapping, and jumping around praising with the group. Even well after the group ended their show, the smiles and happiness remained on the faces of those who were in attendance, showing that positive music really can have an effect on everyone lives.
“There’s so much chaos and garbage floating around in the world… I think there’s just a lot of negativity in the world. So, I think it’s awesome when people make things that are good and kind and gentle, and whether they know it or not, things that line up with the heart of God. It’s a good thing for our society and for people. I think that’s why people respond to it,” Howard passionately explained why the group feels positive music can make an impact.
One thing is for sure, the 2016 Fair Jam definitely brought in a good amount of smiling faces, but sent out a bigger amount of joyful people.