Big Daddy Weave
Just a bunch of guys hanging out having fun--making a little music, having a lot of laughs, and loving God. Sound like a crowd you wouldn't mind being a part of? Meet Big Daddy Weave, five guys borne out of the University of Mobile (AL) college circuit who have parlayed a love for fun, music and God into a full-time gig.
When you meet Mike Weaver, lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter for Big Daddy Weave, you'll be impressed by the sheer presence of this unassuming young man. Surpassing the obvious physical presence-because the band is named Big Daddy Weave for a reason-Mike Weaver has a joy for life that simply radiates from his being. While he's relatively quiet upon first glance, give him a few minutes and he'll have you in the palm of his hand, laughing along with him. And when he takes the stage along with his younger brother, Jay, and three more of his friends, you'll understand the appeal of Big Daddy Weave.
"We're not taking ourselves so seriously," says Mike, "But we take why we're there very seriously."
The Weaver brothers and college-town friends Jeremy Redmon, Jeff Jones and Joe Shirk comprise Big Daddy Weave, a band that is at once both focused and yet difficult to pinpoint. Their passion for ministry is contagious, and is the core of this group. But their unique sound keeps them from being just another run-of-the-mill new Christian band, combining a range of styles that have them often compared to mainstream favorite Dave Matthews Band or Christian pop mainstay Steven Curtis Chapman.
"I guess I'd describe our music as acoustic pop/rock with a twist. The twist is the sax, and a little something that you can't really put your finger on," says Mike.
On One And Only, their debut project from Fervent Records, both their sound and their focus are honed by a performer, songwriter, and now producer who has himself balanced both of these elements successfully as lead vocalist for Essential Records' hit-making group FFH. Jeromy Deibler chose to work with Big Daddy Weave as his label production debut, and serves to shape an already radio- and audience-friendly sound into a polished project.
"Before we got into any of the recording, I told the guys, 'Regardless of whether I work with you or not I want you to know that I believe in what you're doing, and I know your hearts are in the right place'," says Deibler. "I can honestly say that I sat down and listened to Big Daddy Weave's independent album and was ministered to by it. Something just resonated with me, Mike and the rest of the band, and we can tell that through the recording process that God knit us together."
The chemistry of these five friends and the extended family they've formed with Deibler is apparent on One And Only in songs like "Friend Like You," an exultant celebration of the relationship we have with God.
As the primary songwriter for the group, Mike draws his ideas from a myriad of places. "Neighborhoods" happened in about 15 minutes at the end of a church service-when everyone else was walking out, he found he had to sit back down and write it out. In the case of "Friend Like You," that inspiration was the voice of Val Kilmer, or more accurately, from the actor's role as the voice of God in the animated blockbuster The Prince of Egypt.
"I was watching The Prince of Egypt for the first time on video, and the movie came to the part where Moses was at the burning bush," recalls Mike. "Val Kilmer as the voice of God didn't come bursting in, but instead whispered, 'Moses.' For some reason the Lord used that moment to wake something up in me. It dawned on me in a big way that a long time ago in a desert on the other side of the world, God literally spoke to a guy named Moses. There were absolutely real people who knew God, and their lives had been changed because of it. I sat down on the living room couch and cried out to God right then and there. I said, 'God, I want to know you for real, like they did!' As I prayed, he showed me awesome images of His creation, and then I think I felt more than I heard His still small voice-the same one that had spoken to Moses and Elijah centuries before-tell me that He had made all of this and created a hunger inside of me, just so I would know Him."
"Being In Love With You" also brings to the forefront the importance of that close relationship with the Lord, but reminds us that we have full access to Him no matter what we do-that our relationship is based on His love for us, and not for what we do for Him.
"As Christians, we go to church every Sunday and hear messages that are like a holy pep talk to go back and 'do what you gotta do for God'," says Mike. "We don't have that motivation, though, unless we have God himself. The song says that it is easy to get tired of doing things for God without God as the motivation. I think that's what He saw in the Pharisees. Jesus came to fulfill the law, just so that we can have that relationship."
Other songs, like "Sacrifice," "One and Only" and "Exalted Forever" show the worshipful side of the music of Big Daddy Weave-an aspect of their music that they are as devoted to as the fun-filled pop side.
"We want to worship God, not because it is a music industry fad, but because we were created to worship God," Mike notes, describing the motivation for the praise-filled "Audience of One." "While our shows are billed as concerts, they're not necessarily for the audience that is there. They are for God, for all of us to participate in."
One And Only introduces new fans to the music of Big Daddy Weave by combining a few touring favorites from their indie project, Neighborhoods, with a number of recently written songs like the title track, among others. Together since the fall of 1998, Big Daddy Weave came together originally to get new musical ideas. "We just wanted to play and have fun," says soft-spoken saxophonist Joe. "We weren't really starting a band." After performing at a University of Mobile event called RamFest as the opening band, and following a change or two in the line-up, Big Daddy Weave quickly gelled and became a college favorite. After Ramfest, the band got a call to play at a church, then another, and another, and soon their calling became evident.
"Music to me is an expression of who you are," says Jay, the younger of the two Weaver brothers, and bass player for the band. "We are all Christians. Even if we played music that wasn't vertical music, it would still be Christian because that's is who we are-it just flows. We could sing anything, but because God has changed my life, and I am different, there's a call on my life to go out and tell other people. Making this music takes it out of my hands and puts it in the hand of God."
"I've played in jazz, funk, and house bands at hotels, and the whole time I'm doing it there's just an emptiness there," continues Jeff, the eldest of the group, who keeps the beat of the band as drummer and percussionist. "It's just a given to make Christian music for me. It has eternal value."
The indubitable force of the band is not the fluff and glitter of a packaged image, but instead the faith of these young men, and the revelation of that through their music. In fact, image is something that Big Daddy Weave hopes to portray in a new light.
"People can relate to us more than a band that is more image-driven," says guitarist Jeremy. "Our music is for average people, like us. All of us want to be on-stage exactly what we are off-stage. We're not putting on a show."
"The world wants you to look like something, or be this list of things, and when Big Daddies come walking out on the stage, we refute all that," says Mike with a laugh. "We don't have this image thing going on, but we have found out what is going on and we want to share it with you. Your image has nothing to do with your worth."
While Big Daddy Weave may not wear the flashiest new trends or sport the hottest dance moves, this is a band that has a chance to make an impact more lasting.
"If I have a goal or ambition in life, it is to be 100% used by God. God bless it, rip it apart, and use it," says Jay emphatically.
"In the studio I've felt like I was ripped apart," continues Mike. "The schedules we have to keep sometimes won't be comfortable. It isn't glamorous. This is not a glory thing-in fact, it barely pays the bills sometimes. But everybody knows they're supposed to be here." |
