4th January, 2006

JOE MONTAGUE

The 31st December marked the end of an era in more than one way. New Year's Eve is normally associated with reflecting upon the last year's happenings and ushering in a new year. In the town of Murphy, North Carolina, in the southern United States, the legendary rock band Petra were performing their last concert.

What makes this event special is that Petra were one of the very first bands to begin playing rock music within a Christian context. Through their 25 albums (plus two special edition farewell CDs) and many memorable concert moments, this Illinois-based band revolutionised the way we think of Christian music.

FAN TURNED LEAD VOCALIST: John Schlitt, who joined Petra in 1986, says that when he first heard the band's music "It made perfect sense to me that you could use this rock power and bring across a message that can change lives". PICTURE: Joe Montague.

As rock bands go, only the Rolling Stones surpass their continuous and lengthy career. In fact Petra has been making good music for so many years that it led founder and primary songwriter Bob Hartman to comment at a recent concert: "Fans yell out the names of their favourite tunes as if we would actually remember them”. They include songs such as Rose-Colored Stained Windows (1980), Love (1990) and the gritty It's All About Who You Know (2003).

Petra's 2005 Farewell Tour has not seen the band go out whimpering. Hartman has proved he can still lay down some sweet licks on his Gibson guitar while the powerful raspy vocals of John Schlitt, who has served as lead vocalist for the past 20 years, have walked the “petheads” (their fans) down a hit-filled memory lane with songs such as No Doubt (1995) and Dance (2000).

The two men are a contrast in styles. Hartman’s the soft-spoken guitarist who gave his heart to Christ while reclining on the sofa in his parents' living room. Schlitt, on the other hand, is outgoing and prior to becoming a Christian was a coke addict who also abused alcohol.

Prior to joining Petra, Schlitt spent several years as the lead singer of rock band Head East. Flat As A Pancake, the first of six Head East records, was a monster album that made good use of the Moog synthesiser with the album's hit song City of Gold foreshadowing the change that would come for Schlitt several years down the road.

"My first record went gold,” he recalls. “It allowed me to do some touring with all the major acts that were happening at that time from about 1973-80."

The band's second and third albums didn't fare nearly as well. Head East's song Since You've Been Gone from the fourth album and a self-titled record flirted with the top 40 chart. But by now Schlitt's life was in a deep downward spiral.

It was while Schlitt was experiencing the highs and lows of rock stardom that Bob Hartman and three of his friends from a Bible study group decided to form a rock band. Through their conversations they had discovered they shared a common interest in rock music and a belief that it could be used to deliver the Gospel message.

About the same time as Petra was beginning to make waves on the music scene, another young artist by the name of Billy Smiley was fronting WhiteHeart. In fact, Smiley was roommates with Petra keyboardist John Slick.

"They (Petra) were very influential because they were doing the hardest music (being played) at that time and with a Christian message,” says Smiley.

“It was unheard of back then. WhiteHeart had focused more on the studio and Petra were really focused on getting out and playing in front of youth groups. I think their biggest impact was they showed that rock had a place in the church for kids."

While Petra was busy blazing new trails in Christian music, Schlitt was burning bridges and was eventually kicked out of Head East due to his lifestyle and a personality clash with another member of the band. In one of his rare sober moments, he fulfilled a promise he had made to his wife Dorla about going with her to see her pastor. It was through that initial August 1980 meeting with the pastor that Schlitt became a Christian.

Petra, meanwhile, were proving they were much more than a one dimensional rock band, with the creation of hit ballads like For Annie from their 1981 album Never Say Die. The singer weaves a story of a lonely child whose family is simply too caught up in their own lives to notice her needs. In desperation Annie commits suicide. The song speaks to lost opportunities to comfort those in need and to the backdrop of tender cello instrumentals the lyrics softly remind us:

"And it's not too late for Annie,
she could be next to you
Don't miss the chance to tell her before her life is
Through,
We gotta' tell her Jesus loves her, tell her Jesus cares
Tell her He can free her, and her burdens bear
It's not too late."

After a brief fling with the Johnny Band, Schlitt left the music industry in 1980.

"When I quit and became a Christian I thought I was done,” he says. “I spent five years outside of music. I tried to find out what God had in store for me. I thought I would never sing again and then one day in 1985 Bob Hartman called me."

Schlitt had already discovered Petra's music. "By this time I was a big Petra fan. Somebody had given me a tape and said, 'You have to hear this. The band sounds just like your old band only Christian.' I listened to it and said, 'Praise God, that is such good stuff.' It made perfect sense to me that you could use this rock power and bring across a message that can change lives.

“It was just so exciting to me but at the same time it was frustrating because I felt like, man, I could have been doing this. I thought (my career) was over. I was a mining engineer for a few years and miners would come in and say, 'What are you doing here? Why aren't you singing? Why aren't you a rock star?' I answered the only way that I would sing again would be in a band like Petra. I said that knowing there was no possible way that would ever happen. It is surprising how God will listen. You better watch out for what you say because He will take you up on it.”

In 1986, Hartman invited Schlitt to become Petra's new lead vocalist. The rocker-turned-mining engineer was now firmly established in his faith and jumped at the opportunity. As Schlitt would soon discover however, the Christian rock scene was a much lonelier landscape than the one he had long ago left behind. Petra's contemporaries were few with groups like WhiteHeart, Stryper, Randy Stonehill, Guardian, Bride and Larry Norman among their peers.

Although acceptance was slow in coming, the tide slowly turned. Asked about the turning point in terms of the Christian community embracing groups like Petra, Hartman responds: "I don't think there was any one turning point, but I think that more and more pastors who had been touched by CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) were coming into the church."

It’s somewhat ironic that a style of music so different to the rock Petra played had such a key role in the band’s music gaining a foothold in the Christian music industry.

Alan Scott, music director for WDCX in Buffalo New York, says that today “there is not one successful Christian band out there that isn’t keenly aware of the road paved for them by Petra”. 

ROCK PIONEER: Petra founder Bob Hartman hopes Petra's legacy "will be that we were a band who would not compromise our beliefs and our calling”. PICTURE: Joe Montague.

“The word ‘pioneer’ doesn’t fully describe the broad scope of Petra's finished work...Petra broke new ground for the Kingdom where so many others could not.”

Discussing the evolution of rock as an acceptable genre in Christian circles, Schlitt says the public's endorsement of rock music in the Christian market now is more dependent on swings in the music industry as a whole rather than being based on personal beliefs or biases.

"I think it has gone up and gone down. It sort of depends what is happening with secular music. If the secular system is playing rock, the Christian market will buy it. If they're not they won't. As far as the 'Doubting Thomases' are concerned they are always going to hate anything that is contemporary that gets past the church doors. The difference now is there aren't as many of them that are opposed (to rock). They have listened to rock music and can see how it is going to work."

Schlitt says more people today view rock music as a means to reach a certain segment of the population with Christian lyrics than might be the case with other genres.

Petra's influence has extended beyond their fans and influenced other artists over the decades.

“Petra has always been one of the biggest names in Christian rock,” says Wes Campbell, Inpop Records president, and manager of the Newsboys.  

“Petra's contributions to our industry are innumerable, and the band was very instrumental in the beginning stages of Newsboys career. We are honoured to have supported Petra in its ministry and music.”

Hartman says Petra's music has continued to evolve over the years.

"I think my earliest writing reflected the zeal and lack of knowledge of a young Christian, which I was. I would hope that my later writing reflects the wisdom of a man who has walked with the Lord for many years."

As a group, Petra has always wanted their audience to know that the most important thing about their concerts is not how great it sounds, but the message it has created to deliver. The band members always extend an invitation to those listening to invite Christ into their lives.

In speaking about the song No Doubt on his website, Schlitt eloquently puts it this way: "This song has probably become an underground classic for Petra; it's the title cut off of one of our albums. It's just a statement that says, 'Hey!' When fear starts getting to you - you just let it go, because with Jesus Christ there is no doubt about His love, there's no doubt about His promise, there's no doubt about His existence with you."

Hartman says he hopes Petra's legacy "will be that we were a band who would not compromise our beliefs and our calling”.

“That we remained steadfast in our mission for 33 years."

~ www.petraband.com