I'm so glad Terry took time in between his tours with U2 to beautify this album, and hold it all together, without stealing the whole show! (terrylawless.com).
Tony McManus - Guitar
Considered the best Celtic guitar player in the world, Tony ornaments several songs with fills and solos I can only hope to play in the next life (tonymcmanus.com).
Natalie Haas - Cello
A vibrant young cellist, recording artist and performer who commonly appears with Scottish Fiddler Alasdair Fraser. Natalie is a graduate of Julliard School, a genuinely wonderful person, and an inspiration to my Natalie who also plays cello.
Joe Craven – Percussion, Violin, Mandolin
Multi-instrumentalist, educator, visual artist, storyteller, "Joe's work is born out of respect and reverence and seeks to honor the creative energy in everyone." Joe isn't selfish with his gifts, as he continues to give back in our schools and on the streets...anywhere there's something to play and there are ears to hear.
Mark Satterfield – Sax, Flute, Oboe
Mark is a great musician, a great physician, and truly a great firend. We have played in a wide variety of venues together, and nothing ever rattles him. I have been truly blessed to have this jazz musician step inside my world and my tunes.
David Hollister - Drums
Full-time drummer for Unfinished Business, a highly popular 60s rock'n'roll band, David's flexibility in genres is quite remarkable. He is incredibly sensitive to the music, and unlike most drummers, truly wants to hear all the lyrics! Most of all, David is a great friend, and one of the most encouraging people to me throughout the whole project.
Steve Bennet - Electric Guitar
Steve was outnumbered by acoustic musicians, and we buried him a bit in the mix, but he added the texture we were looking for without the need to be noticed - a rare quality these days.
Recorded and Mastered by Bill Staek at Patchcord Studios in Redding, CA. Produced by Jeff Kepple (JeffKepple.com). Proceeds contributed to Compassion International and the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development.
Bright Avenue is a place where I want to be. A place of brilliant light, color, excitement and beauty. But the darkness is thick, and weighs heavy upon the light, and so often I walk only by the pale flicker of a dimly lit lamppost. Even so, there is hope of a brighter day...a deep longing for the Rising Son.
Bright Avenue is therefore the name given to our music group, composed of me, Jeff Kepple (aka Dad), and my three daughters Kelsey, Natalie and Claire. We are the ones on the cover, but also included in Bright Avenue is Tracy Kepple (aka Mom). She prefers to remain "undercover". We couldn't do it without her.
Lastly, Bright Avenue is committed to trying to shine like "a city on a hill which cannot be hidden" to use the words of Jesus. A place where there is love, light and beauty. We fail often, and Bright Avenue borders on "brown outs" at times. But by God's Grace we will shine like stars once again.
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
-Psalm 119:105
The Other Side is a collection of 12 original songs written by Jeff Kepple. Jeff and his daughters Kelsey, Natalie and Claire provide all the vocals for the album. Jeff also plays his old beloved Gibson guitar on all tracks.
The title track is in memory of Peter Delong. Peter shined with the light of Jesus, and even when battling bone cancer his faith and courage prevailed. Peter said “It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 100 – what matters is how you’re living and who you’re living for.” Peter’s new beginning on “the other side” was in October 2005.
Here are the other songs on the album and their inspirations:
FLY – For Troy and Kim Meeder, and the countless rescued lives of children and horses at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch.
WIDE NIGHT SKY – The difficult journey of a man (maybe me) losing and then regaining the wonder he possessed as a boy.
REMEMBER – Inspired by the beloved C.S. Lewis’ classic Prince Caspian, from the Chronicles of Narnia.
TGIS – (Thank God it’s Saturday) – my favorite day of the week!
FIRST AND LOVELY YOU – For Kelsey, my fun-loving and very cool first born.
PRETTY THING – The tragedy of young girls taken captive by culture; losing their individuality, creativity and beautiful innocence to the deadly poison of “image”.
I WAS BLIND – The inexpressible joy of the blind man healed by Jesus, gives us just a taste of the joy of having our eyes opened to the mysteries of God.
WORDS FALL – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Proverbs 18:21.
STAY IN LOVE – For my dearest Tracy, my beautiful and kind-hearted wife of 21 years, and to my dear parents, Larry and Katie, who have shown us the joys of “staying in love” for nearly 50 years.
BROKEN – Lyrics adapted from Psalm 51 and Psalm 139. “A broken and contrite heart, oh God, Thou will not despise” Psalm 51:17. “If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me” Psalm 139:9,10.
ETERNAL HOME – In loving memory of Ken Shea, a man of clear vision, pointing us to the Wonders and Glory awaiting on “The Other Sde.”
Awesome job tonight at Relay For Life! I recognized a few of those songs off of some of your albums and from Words and Music a few months ago. I was glad to hear "I Love the Rain" because my younger sibling likes that song a lot. That was off of "God In a Box", right?
