Looking back, it seems like I had always been a musician since I started playing drums and guitars before I was a teenager. Though I was prone to wander as a teen, God in his mercy rescued me with the truth of his glorious gospel and gave me a heart to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness; that made it easy for me to use my gifts and talents to serve him and his church first.
Over the years I looked for opportunities to serve by playing for worship services, youth meetings, and church sponsored events that included music. I did some sparse writing/composing over the years and even published a song in the late 70s called, “With All My Heart” (included w/Best Years). All the time, my desire was to serve my Creator and Redeemer – Jesus Christ. I had read a verse from Acts 13 that says:
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…
Wow, to serve the purpose of God was, and is still, the desire of my heart today. To quote the title track of the album:
I want to give the best years of my life to Jesus
I want to serve the Lord with the strength of my youth
I want to walk in all His ways, determined to obey
To give the best years of my life to Him
Time kept marching on and our little family was growing. My wife Tracey and I got married while we were both still in our teens. I had met her at a keg party at my brother’s house when she was just 14 and I was 16. Two weeks later we went out on our first date to see Jimi Hendrix. By the time I was 24 we had four children: Solomon, Benjamin, Jacob, and Abigail. Now we have 13 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. We will celebrate our 50th anniversary this November. Time is like a passing shadow, isn’t it.
Looking back at when Abby got into high school, she began to show interest in playing the guitar and singing. I remember teaching her a few chords and she was a fast learner. God also gifted her with an excellent singing voice and musical talent. I’ll never forget one of the first songs she learned: “I Am A New Creation” by: Dave Bilbrough
I Am a New Creation
No more in Condemnation
Here in the Grace of God I stand
My Heart is Overflowing
My Love just keeps on Growing
Here in the Grace of God I stand
And I will Praise You, Lord
Yes, I will Praise You, Lord
And I will Sing of all that You have done
A Joy that knows no limit
A Lightness in My Spirit
Here in the Grace of God I stand
Along the way I began to see a bit of music production in our future, especially with the advent of digital technology (making music on computers). In the late ’90s I invested in a “PowerPC” and loaded it up with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and we got to work on “best years”. Abby and I kept writing lyrics, composing melodies, making arrangements, and producing demos until we were happy with what we wanted to hear.
One area of lack though was in the area of keyboards. That’s where my dearest friend Roger Hooper stepped in and has contributed to our productions now for decades. His gifting and musical acumen has been essential to our ability to make the style and taste of music that we love and feel called to make. Thank God for his willingness to partner with us in the productions. He is truly a servant of God!
With Roger’s help we were able to make our production complete and we released “best years” on August 31, 2022. You can listen to the full album on all the major digital streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music, and we also have a playlist on our Youtube channel you can listen to.
As we have now transitioned to “the weak & the few” we have just finished our 5th EP and are currently working on several other projects including a Christmas project this year, a kid’s project to follow (mostly songs composed by my son Solomon), and a future hymns project. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep up with productions while not interfering with all the major priorities of our lives.
Please enjoy our sampler video of “best years” and keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming releases. Thanks for all the support!
Dave and Abby
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