Christianity: Details about 'The Choir'
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The Choir are an atmospheric alternative rock band. That's the best description for this surprisingly wonderful music, though even that hardly describes it. The Choir is made up of Derri Daugherty on guitar and vocals,Tim Chandler on bass, Steve Hindalong on drums, who also writes most of the band's lyrics, Dan Michaels on lyricon, electric flute and saxophone and the "new kid" Marc Byrd on guitar. Though this band is their passion, each member has a depth of musical history outside of this band: Hindalong produced the wildly successful "City On A Hill" albums in the last few years, writing the well-known song "God of Wonders" with fellow band-mate Byrd. Daugherty has been making albums for the last few years with Christian-alterna-pop-supergroup The Lost Dogs. Chandler has been the bass player for years for critical darlings Daniel Amos. In fact, that's one of the reasons the band came together at all. The Choir was originally formed as The Youth Choir in the early 1980s, by Daugherty and Hindalong. The two songwriters had been introduced by mutual friend Tim Chandler. Chandler and Daugherty were both touring with Daniel Amos at the time, Chandler as the bass player, and Daugherty as the roadie & sound man. Hindalong and Daugherty quickly became both friends, and a strong songwriting team. Their music was described by the L.A. Times as "magical songs that combine strains of murky psychedelia with pure pop". Billboard Magazine praised the band for its "dark poetic leanings, effects-laden guitars and strong melodic hooks." By 1986, the band dropped the "Youth" in their name (and the crazy haircuts of that period), and began calling themselves The Choir. Hindalong began writing most of the lyrics for The Choir at this point; songs that are known for their vulnerability and honesty, particularly about the highs and lows of romantic relationships. Some consider this period to be their artistic height, or did, until their most recent trio of albums surpassed even those heights. After years of trying to pursue some sort of music industry "success", the band nearly called it quits in 1996 after their final national tour. The members moved from their homes in CA to Nashville, TN. They found, though, in the ensuing years, that the freedom of working without the commercial pressures of a label has brought the band to a new level of creativity. Their next-to-newest CD, 'Flap Your Wings', was roundly praised by music critics and earned the band its first Grammy nomination. And their eleventh studio album, "O How the Mighty Have Fallen", looks poised to do the same. It is completely independent, and only available through . This album is even more personal than most, and touches on some painful subjects and the faith that gets the members through these times. It is an album that the band is quite proud of. According to Daugherty, their "only motivation is to do music that we feel good about. To offer it to whoever wants to hear it." Discography
Albums including and following Chase the Kangaroo were produced by D. Daughterty & S. Hindalong. Former Band Members
NOTE: There was also another rock band called The Choir in the mid-1960s from Cleveland best known for the oft-covered song "It's Cold Outside". With the addition of singer Eric Carmen, they became The Raspberries in 1970.
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