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Posted: 8/8/03

BIG DADDY WEAVE:
Weaving a way

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

Before they became successful recording artists, the musical group Big Daddy Weave grew accustomed to holding concerts at a variety of unique locations–ranging from used car lots to Chinese buffets.

With a surge in popularity, venues now include national tours, church camps, festivals and promotional appearances, such as at LifeWay Christian Store headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.

Wherever they perform, the focus remains directed toward Christ, who they consider their “audience of one.”

These five musical talents–the Weaver brothers (Mike and Jay), Jeff Jones, Joe Shirk and Jeremy Redmon–are based in Mobile, Ala., and met while attending the University of Mobile.

“We started leading praise and worship at various events, and God really just took it from there,” lead vocalist Mike Weaver said.

From the start, Big Daddy Weave felt led to share the message of Christ's love with songs of praise.

“We kind of use whatever means necessary to allow people to see God,” Weaver noted. “Our music is a blend of what people find in contemporary Christian music and what crosses over into worship music. The spectrum of where we can wind up and where God can use us is fairly broad. We sing some worship songs that may be familiar to people in the church. We also sing hymns every now and again, and we use our own original songs. We constantly point people to Jesus through the music and through our words. Hopefully, an event with us is not so much a concert as much as it is a worship gathering.”

In addition to receiving a New Artist of the Year Dove Award nomination, Big Daddy Weave has the distinction of receiving the highest charting single for a new artist in adult contemporary radio with the song “In Christ.”

This fall, Big Daddy Weave will join the musical group FFH on tour. They also will release “Fields of Grace,” the follow-up to last year's critically acclaimed debut, “One and Only.”

“We're really excited about the new album,” Weaver said. “I think it's a good representation of what we perform live. It has the whole aspect of worship from a congregational-side and testimonial-message songs. One song is a 'reverse-vertical' song, from God to us, called, 'Let Me Be Your Everything.' The songs are a cross-section of what God's been doing in the life of Big Daddy Weave for the past two years.”

Their success, they contend, is due to following God's plan.

“Over the past two years, we've just continued to walk where God's led,” Weaver said. “He's always confirmed what we were doing by the peace in our hearts. If we ever step out of that (boundary), he yanks the peace out from under us, and we have to come running back so fast. We've found that we can't really live without that peace; we shift into just existing. For us, it's all about following God's peace.”

By performing in more than 200 events, Big Daddy Weave is making waves around the country. However, they believe this is God's work and not their own.

“We've had some times where we were certain in our minds that we were totally messing up, and no one was getting it,” Weaver said. “Then, at the end, all these people come up and share all these different experiences. They've said, 'I was having a rough time, and the Lord really spoke to me through this.' That's so cool to see. … God is not nearly as interested in our ability as much he is in our availability.

“We have all wanted to play music for a long time,” he explained. “It has been a dream of ours to do this full-time. I think my favorite part is doing something we've always dreamed about, but it also being what God has called us to do. It's so cool to be doing something that is our job, but it's not just a 'job.' It's something that we would do even if we didn't get paid. We love doing what we do, and we feel like God has ordained it.”