Barnabas was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band that was active from 1977 through 1986. The name of the band was in honor of the New Testament disciple

Barnabas Barnabas (; ; ), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christians, Christian, one of the prominent Disciple (Christianity), Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jews, Cyprio ...

. Originating out of the

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

of the 1970s, they are considered one of the pioneers of Christian hard rock and heavy metal, along with Agape, Daniel Band,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and

Resurrection Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...

. Over their career as a band, Barnabas was based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...

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, and

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

. Barnabas recorded five studio albums and played a relatively small number of concerts. Throughout their career, the band suffered from attacks by prominent Christian lecturers, which ultimately contributed to their break-up in 1986.

Band history

Monte Cooley founded the band in southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1977 as according to him he was unaware of

and therefore did not know of any Christian groups playing hard rock or heavy metal at the time.Homeplanet Cooley placed an ad in Guitar Center that he wanted to form a Christian heavy metal band, and soon bassist Gary Mann and drummer Lance Johnson joined the band.MusicMight Cooley originally wanted

Darrell Mansfield Darrell Mansfield is an American vocalist, harmonica player, songwriter, recording artist, and performer of various genres including gospel, contemporary Christian music, blues, blues rock, rock, country rock, and soul/R&B. He is considered a p ...

as a vocalist, but Mansfield turned down the offer so Carolyn Joy was recruited instead. Lance Johnson and Carolyn Joy performed live with the band for a short time, and second guitarist David Storrs was also involved with the band during this period. However, all three left within the first year. The band briefly had a drummer known as Roy, but he was soon replaced by Kris Klingensmith (Kris k.) who took over on drums. Nancy Jo Mann (later Nancyjo or NJo) then joined the band on vocals after being discovered through an ad in a local paper. The band recorded their first album, ''Hear the Light'', in 1980 in a

studio. After this, the band briefly visited Highway Missionary Society in

Rogue River, Oregon Rogue River is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,407. History In the early days the gold seekers forded the Rogue River, and during high water they swam across by holding the tails of t ...

before moving to

Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. JPUSA emerged from Jesus People Milwaukee in 1972, and maintains one of the largest continuing communities ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for an equally short stay. Next, they moved to nearby

. After completion of the first album, Monte decided to leave the band, and was replaced by Michael (Mick) Donner. Two guitarists Michael "Mick" Donner and Kris Brauninger, joined the band, and the whole outfit relocated to

, the hometown of Nancy Jo. A second album, ''Find Your Heart a Home'', was recorded in 1981. Following this, both Mick and Kris Brauninger left after the second album was recorded, and Brian Belew joined as a guitarist. With this lineup Barnabas joined Light Records and recorded 1983's ''Approaching Light Speed'' and 1984's ''Feel the Fire''.Thompson, pg.153-154. The band then relocated to

. However, throughout their career the band faced constant criticism from church organizations and ministers such as

Bob Larson Bob Larson (born May 28, 1944) is an American radio and Televangelism, television evangelist, and a pastor of Spiritual Freedom Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books critical of rock music and Satanism. Life and career ...

Jimmy Swaggart Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostal televangelist and gospel artist. Swaggart is one of the most well-known televangelists in America. During the 1980s, Swaggart's crusades were a major part of his ministry� ...

, and

Bill Gothard William W. Gothard Jr. (born November 2, 1934) is an American Christian minister, speaker, and writer, and the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), an independent fundamentalist Christian organization. His conservative tea ...

, and this, combined with the pressures of maintaining the band, Barnabas decided to disband after playing at Toronto Greenfest in 1985. The band's contract obligations required them to release another album, ''Little Foxes'', which was released in 1986, after which the group disbanded. In 1992, Kris Klingensmith, Royce Priem and Dean Ross launched a project to release a compilation CD called ''The Gospel According to Barnabas'' on Thorne Records (Joyful Noise Evangelistic Association, JNEA), which was remixed by

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Dino Elefante of

Mastedon Mastedon is a Christian rock band formed by brothers Dino and John Elefante (former lead singer and songwriter of Kansas) in the mid-1980s. The band was formed mainly as a studio project and have released three full-length albums and two stand ...

. The original masters were licensed from Light Records. Due to legal restrictions, original cover art and song order could not be used. This was released in 1992, but CD-reissues of Barnabas's old albums would not come out until the late 1990s. The band's official website, "Homeplanet", was launched in February 1997 and continues today as a repository of Barnabas history, discography, posters, and other historic items. It also features the popular

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message board, "the manifest". Most of the former band members have posted there in the past. Currently, Kris and Nancyjo are participating actively on the manifest. Klingensmith was instrumental in developing the Homeplanet website content, and also pushed through the reissue of all five Barnabas albums on CD, a process that began in 1998 and ended in 2004.

Style and legacy

Barnabas are considered an important part of the 1970s

Jesus Movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

and played a pivotal role in establishing

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

, along with groups such as Agape, Daniel Band,

DeGarmo and Key DeGarmo & Key was a Christian rock band/duo formed in 1977 by Eddie DeGarmo and Dana Key. The group is notable for having the first Christian rock album nominated for a Grammy award and the first American Christian group to have a video entere ...

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

Servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

, and

Sweet Comfort Band Sweet Comfort Band was an American Christian rock band that first performed in 1973 in Riverside, California, and were active until 1984. The band was initially composed of keyboardist/lead vocalist, Bryan Duncan, and brothers Kevin (bass guitar ...

. They are also cited as a pioneer of

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal, or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian-themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band-members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

and

, filling the gap on a timeline after Resurrection Band and

and before Daniel Band. On earlier albums, Barnabas adopted a mixture of hard rock, heavy

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and metal, before adopting a full metal sound with a science-fiction and futuristic flair on their high-point album, ''Approaching Light Speed''. The

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

''The Phantom Tollbooth'' referred to the band's style as

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

.Chromey, 2003 They maintained a significant following before disappearing after their break up.

Nancy Jo Mann

Nancy Jo Mann's vocal style has been described as "powerhouse," drawing influence from Wendy Kaiser and

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

. After the break up of Barnabas, Mann went put her energies into Women Exploited by Abortion, which she had established in 1982. Eight years before, in 1974, Mann underwent a botched

saline abortion Instillation abortion is a rarely used method of late-term abortion, performed by injecting a solution into the uterus. Procedure Instillation abortion is performed by injecting a chemical solution consisting of either saline, urea, or prostagla ...

when she was twenty-two, which caused serious complications. According to

Randy Alcorn Randy C. Alcorn is an American Christian author who has written over sixty books, including both fiction and non-fiction. They have sold over 12 million copies and been translated into 70 languages. His influences include CS Lewis, A.W. Tozer an ...

, Mann was the first to identify consistent psychological effects of abortion. Nancy Jo Mann would later be one of many musicians whose stories were featured in the book ''God's Not Dead (And Neither Are We)'' by Jerry Wilson, which discusses pioneers of alternative Christian rock in the 1980s.Cross Rhythms

Members

Final lineup

*Nancy Jo Mann - lead vocals (1979-1986) *Brian Belew - guitar (1982-1986) *Gary Mann - bass and keyboards (1977-1986) *Kris Klingensmith - drums, percussion (1979-1986)

Former members

*Monte Cooley - guitar, vocals (1977-1980) *Lance Johnson - drums (1977-1978) *Carolyn Joy - lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1977-1978) *Rojelio ("Roy") - drums (1978) *Mick Donner - guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals (1980-1981) *Kris Brauninger - guitar, keyboards (1980-1981) *David Storrs - guitar (1977-1979)

Timeline

Discography

*''Hear the Light'' (1980) *''Find Your Heart a Home'' (1982) *''Approaching Light Speed'' (1983) *''Feel the Fire'' (1984) *''Little Foxes'' (1986) Later reissues and special recordings: *''The Gospel According to Barnabas'' (1992) - CD compilation of Approaching Light Speed and Feel the Fire *''Hear the Light / Find Your Heart a Home'' (1999) - CD compilation reissue *''Approaching Light Speed'' (2000) - CD reissue *''Artifacts and Relics'' (2000) - CD compilation of various unreleased tracks, including a recording of a Barnabas rehearsal *''Feel the Fire / Little Foxes'' (2004) - CD compilation reissue

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Homeplanet: Official Website of Barnabas

Official Facebook page of Barnabas

Early live recording

Early live recording at The Vineyard in Santa Monica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnabas (Band) American Christian rock groups Musical groups established in 1977