Nancy Honeytree (born April 11, 1952) is an American Christian musician and one of the leaders in what was known as

Jesus music Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music that originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movemen ...

Background

Born Nancy Henigbaum ("Honeytree" being a translation of her family's German name) was born into a family of professional classical musicians. As a teen, Nancy Honeytree was drawn toward the

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

kids at her school, University of Iowa High School, eventually drifting into the drug culture. In 1970 she met some Jesus People at her sister's art school, and became one herself. After graduating, she worked at a

youth ministry Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry of faith groups or other religious organizations, usually from ages 12 to 30, whose mission is to involve and engage with young people who attend ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

called "The Adam's Apple", a part of the

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement which began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, and Central America, before it subsided in the l ...

, and it was during these years that she began to write songs about her new-found faith, recording her self-titled first album in 1973. Billed simply as "Honeytree" most of her career, the singer's

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

-soprano style was influenced by mainstream artists such as

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her st ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

, but her lyrics were largely dealing with one's personal relationship with Jesus Christ. She continued recording throughout the 1970s and toured as a solo artist and with some of the best-known names of the Jesus Movement, such as

Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...

, Mike Johnson, and

Mike Warnke Michael Alfred Warnke (born November 19, 1946) is an American Christian evangelist and comedian who was exposed in 1992 for inventing stories of his past as a Satanist. Before being debunked by the Christian magazine ''Cornerstone'', he was v ...

. Her third album, ''Evergreen'', is often considered among her best. As her career progressed, Honeytree's style shifted to a classical/bluegrass mix. On October 30, 1983, Honeytree was formally ordained by her church, Calvary Temple, in Fort Wayne. During the 1980s she developed a ministry to single adults, a focus she maintains to this day.

Marriage

In June 1990, Honeytree married John Richard Miller, also an ordained minister. In 1995 the couple gave birth to their first child; however, he died less than three hours after birth. After the loss, a song, "Up to Something Good", became a song of her faith. Three months later, the Millers were able to adopt another child. John Richard Miller died May 15, 2018 of heart disease.

Discography

* ''Honeytree: The First Album'' 1973,

Myrrh Records __NOTOC__ Myrrh Records (also known as Myrrh Worship) was an American Christian music record label. According to ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for contemporary Christian ...

* ''The Way I Feel'' 1974, Myrrh Records * ''Evergreen'' 1975, Myrrh Records * ''Me & My Old Guitar'' (live) 1977, Myrrh Records * ''Melodies In Me'' 1978, Myrrh Records * ''Maranatha Marathon'' 1979, Myrrh Records * ''Merry Christmas, Love Honeytree'' 1981,

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

* ''Best of Growing Up'' 1981, Myrrh Records * ''Single Heart'' 1985, Benson Music * ''Every Single Day'' 1987,

Milk & Honey Records Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...

* ''Best of Honeytree Classics''. 1989, Milk & Honey Records. * ''Resurrection Sunday'' 1991, Milk & Honey Records * ''Pioneer'' (20th Anniversary Recording) 1993, OakTable Publishing, Inc. * ''Dios Ha Abierto la Puerta'' 1994, OakTable Publishing, Inc. * ''Change You Made in Me''. 2000, OakTable Publishing, Inc.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honeytree, Nancy 1952 births Living people American performers of Christian music Jesus movement Musicians from Fort Wayne, Indiana Myrrh Records artists