HISTORY (By: Jer)

Still Water has a pretty deep background musically, spiritually, and relationally.  I have been involved in music for a long time.  It is a passion of mine, and of each member in the band.  Growing up, I loved to listen to Robert Plant howl out vocals to Babe I'm gonna leave you and Ramble On.  I loved to listen to Jerry Garcia play extended solos that spoke to who I was as a person and helped me form my social identity.  And I loved the song writing of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.  I loved to write poetry when I was in high school. One of my favorite courses was a creative writing class I had in the eleventh grade.  I really felt that I could express some imagination that I had never realized was within me.  I took off writing short stories, poems, and even a few small plays when I was younger.  I knew music was something that would be a big part of my life.  When I was seventeen, I had some very soulful experiences with the music I was listening to and thought that one day I would express myself in that way.  I was not a Christian at that time and could not see where I was headed.

I started playing the violin when I was in the first grade and continued until age thirteen.  I picked up the piano in the third grade and then trumpet in the seventh.  Although I had moments of enjoyment and fulfillment on those instruments, I wanted to be playing the guitar like my older brother Wesley.  He would sing me old folk songs in his room and would have to make me leave so he could practice: Mr. BoJangles.  When I became a Christian during Christmas of 1991, my heart and soul was sparked towards the guitar in the area of worship.  The Vineyard churchthat I was going to in Rolla, MO, offered so much in the way of cool music that I could relate to from my background.  Some friends there turned me on to this worship leader named Kevin Prosch and my spiritual musical experience has never been the same since.  I started playing the guitar within four months of my spiritual epiphany and have been developing and expanding ever since.  My sophomore year in college I formed a folk band called "the Zoe band" with a few of my college friends.  This band consisted of acoustic guitar and male vocals (me), female lead vocals (Christina Sawin whose last name is Graves and she currently sings and play piano with the band  Waterdeep),  violin and an incredible visual art (Juliana Georgiades), and bass guitars of all kinds played amazingly (George Georgiades who married Juliana while the band was rolling). The very strange and interesting thing about this band is that there was no formal percussion.  Our rhythm was the percussive drive of the band.  This is where I developed a deep sense of rhythm and learned the value and need for major variation in rhythmic pulses that move any band towards inspiring the soul.  The words of a friend of mine ring true in my head and in my experience, he said in reference to playing the guitar, "What your left hand is doing is not nearly as significant as what your right hand is doing" (Randy Wakeham).  It's all about rhythm!  My guitar playing and song writing came alive while working with these great friends and talented musicians in the Zoe band.  Together as a band we created: one studio tape, one live tape, and one studio recorded CD. That experience has proved to be invaluable to me now.  We spent a lot of time playing on the Evangel campus and at a coffeehouse called Second Story Underground (which is above the Greek Corner where the Magic Bean is now).  The last major outing for the Zoe band was playing at the Cornerstone Festival put on by the Jesus People of Chicago in the summer of 1995.  This was a great experience for the band to be a part of and really allowed us to receive some recognition and meet people in the music scene and in the industry.  We played two different sets on the 5-Minute Walk stage.  This is where I met Don Chaffer, the lead man for the band Waterdeep.  They were playing on the same stage and were being promoted by the New Earth Coffeehouse out of Kansas City, MO.  This was a great opportunity for us to get connected with Sheldon, who runs New Earth.  As a result, Zoe ended up playing at the New Earth several times and I have a good relationship with Don, Lori and each member of Waterdeep who has transitioned in and out in the past three years.  These people are genuine!  I love their spirit!  Don has been an inspiration to me in my song writing.  He is a great songwriter.

I left the Zoe band  in the fall of my senior year of college (1995) to pursue my academic career (History - Secondary Education).  I was still writing music at this time and quickly found the opportunity to record again in the studio during the spring of 1996.  I put a few musicians together to make The Jeremy George Project.  This was a compilation that consisted of folk and blues with a new star added to the line up: hand percussion!  This little band put together was born in the dorms at school from small jam sessions.  My dreams of the folk/hippie sound were beginning to unfold (little did I know what was coming up in SWR).  This was a fun project and recording but there was never any live playing by the members of the project.  The members of the project included Priscilla Jeschke on female vocals, Luke Hughett on bass, Josh Butrin on harmonica, Mick Hartman on lead guitar, Stefan Nelson the incredible on hand percussion, and Christina Sawin even appeared on there for a few vocal tracks, and me on acoustic guitars and vocals). Worship times were great in the dorms back in college.  A few guys sitting around with guitars and an occasional drum or two.  These were intimate times where I really felt the Spirit of God preparing me for future worship moments.  He was touching lives in those dorm rooms, even during hard times in my life. While I was struggling, He was still ministering to His people through me.  That is His Grace.  That is His Mercy.  That is the way He does it.

After I graduated from college, I still continued to play and write music.  I was living with my great friend Brian Bojanowski and his brother Dan.  Their spirits in music and inspiration in friendship supported my music and writing. I was busy getting my teaching career off the ground and I did not have a lot of time to focus on playing out or getting a group of musicians together.  There just wasn't anything flowing in Springfield for me as far as creating music with other people. I started playing hand drums during this time with the influence of Brandon Graves from Waterdeep who encouraged me to pick up the djembe and let the rhythms that were in me flow.  I did just that and I fell in love with hand drums.  I found so much beauty in playing them for worship and for the blast that I got out of it.  These drumbeats are so primal; they strike at my inner man and call me by the Spirit of God to deeper worship and a more fulfilled experience in the Spirit.  My life beats to His pulse, and that is how I see and experience drums in worship.  Now I have accumulated many hand percussive instruments that our whole band shares and jams with (including several djembes that I brought back from my month long trip to Morocco, Africa, in April of 2000).

In the spring of 1997 I approached Don Chaffer and Waterdeep about my idea for starting an Archives for them to record their live shows and document the band. Don was digging it and so I began putting it together.  I spent a lot of time with Waterdeep during this year (considering that I lived in Springfield and they were in Kansas City).  Thus, the Waterdeep Archives were born.  Now it has developed, as hoped, into a large network of Waterdeep fans trading live shows and Waterdeep songs.  You can still catch me at an occasional Waterdeep show supporting my friends and grooving to some good tunes (especially at the annual Everyone's Festival in Kansas City, MO).

In the summer of 1997 I ventured North to my homeland in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the shores of the Great Lake Superior.  I put together a small little folk-jam band called Fun Lovin' Spoonful.  This was a fun time and very free flowing.  These jams brought together my old friends that I grew up with (Miles, Buster, and Becky).  We played a few small spontaneous jam gigs at the local coffeehouses in Houghton, MI (Motherlode). Randy Wakeham on guitar / vocals, Tom Alwin on bass, Shawn B. on drums, and me on acoustic guitar, vocals, and djembe.  Those were good times for me as I breathed in the fresh air of the Great Lake Superior.

During the fall of 1998 the Lord started giving me a vision for a band, but I wasn't sure what would transpire from it.  I love the fall season.  The emotions and feelings reflect the colors and weather change. Everything is so vibrant and peaked out.  So I continued to explore the possibilities for getting some people together.  This began the journey through prayer and searching for the musicians that God wanted to fulfill the vision that he had birthed in me. Around Christmas of that year I met Aubra Wilson and we started to hang out a lot and spend time together.  As our relationship progressed, I mentioned to her that I felt that God was leading me to start a band, but that I didn't know all that was going to be involved or all the details.  She wasn't sure what to think because people are always talking about getting something together.  I told her I was serious and that I wanted her to be a part of it.  She has had a very extensive background in formal vocal training in high school and at Evangel University;  She also played the flute.  I thought that those were perfect additives for what was to become our band.  It turns out that Aubra's flute playing has been a defining element in Still Water.  One strong point that drew me towards Aubra was her love for God and for worship.  I feel that we really connect there (as does the whole band in that area) and that was the basis of our first discovery of our ability to sing together.  Aubra grew up here in the Ozarks of Missouri and has been here her whole life.  She is an outdoors girl. Our first practices were a myriad of worship songs.  She was singing with the Chi Alpha worship team at SMSU in Springfield at that time.  Aubra also loves
photography and she loves to travel.  She has taken a mission trip to Peru, a photo mission to Jordan and Israel, and she traveled to England with me in the summer of 2000.  Some of her musical influences are Alison Krauss, Mercy Me, Enya, and some seventies Jesus bands like Bread and Lamb.

Approximately one month after Aubra and I started hanging out; I met Chris Como (hippy).  I went to CPO one night in Springfield to check out some of the new Grass Roots music that was coming out.  (There is some good Christian music out there, you just have to look hard. you won't find it on the radio.)  As I was perusing the racks and listening to CD's, this guy asked me if I knew any good songwriters that he might not have known about.  I told him that I sure did and I pointed him to Don Chaffer of Waterdeep and to Kevin Prosch.  I picked out a couple of albums for him to listen to and visited with him for a while.  I recognized him from seeing him a few years earlier at the Church of Philadelphia.  He had short hair now though (sadly).  This was Chris.  We started talking about playing music and he told me that he played bass.  His experience in starting his instrument was similar to mine, he felt motivated by God in worship.  Some of his early musical influences were Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller Band, and Pearl Jam; and some of his bass influence include the legendary Jaco Pastorius, Eric Nitzberg of Caedmon's Call, and Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck.  Chris moved to Springfield in 1995 from Houston, TX, because God changed his life while he was on vacation up here.  He never went back to Texas.  I mentioned to him that I was getting a band together and that the Lord had given me a vision for the band.  We talked about getting together sometime soon and we exchanged phone numbers.  As we were leaving CPO, I got into his car and we listened to some tracks off the new Kevin Prosch CD he had just bought by my request, it was funny because I didn't even know the guy.  A week later Chris called me and we set a time to get together and jam.  I talked to him about Aubra and that I was seeking out these two percussion players that I was good acquaintance with.  We had fun jamming and decided to stay in contact and that I would let him know what became of the drummers.

A couple of days later, I called Andy Whaley and Rusty St.Cyr.  I knew both of these guys from college and they were finishing up their last semester at Evangel.  Andy's primary emphasis is on congas and auxiliary percussion and Rusty's emphasis centers around the drum kit.  Andy grew up in Kansas City, MO, playing drums at the Metro Vineyard there.  He has even played with Kevin Prosch (which quickly brought us together).  Rusty grew up in Louisiana on the Bayou. He has spent a lot of time playing drums for youth and worship services.  I spoke the vision to them and told them that God had shown them to me (even though I hadn't talked to them in years and didn't even know them that well at the time, just in spirit). They were both playing percussion for the weekly Chi Alpha meetings at SMSU that Aubra was singing at.  I went to that next meeting to hear them play and to hear Aubra sing.  I knew that night that they were the ones.  That we needed both of them, and that God was going to do it.  After the meeting I spoke with them and asked them if we could get together and jam with Aubra and Chris.  They both wanted to and were very open to what my spirit was saying.  We decided to jam in Andy's basement.  On February 10, 1999, Still Water Rhythm was born.

We continued to get together and jam and we played several small gigs at this coffeehouse called the Walnut Grind on Walnut Street in Springfield.  This small Victorian style house gave us an opportunity to blend together as musicians and start to get our sound developed and our name established.  During my Spring break (from my teaching at Hillcrest) of 1999, I was traveling up interstate 35 to Minneapolis to spend some time with my brother and his family and my dad.  As I was driving with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, I as listening to a live worship show of Kevin Prosch.  When he sung the words, "lead me by still
water", I knew that that was the name for the band: Still Water Rhythm Band. When I returned home I told the rest of the guys that I found the name for the band and where it came from (Psalm 23).  We eventually dropped the word band from the end and became Still Water Rhythm.  This name defines us in spirit and in music.

We have made a lot of developments in the last two years.  Needing to get some of our music out, we recorded a live CD that is self-titled in January of 2000. This CD is 73 minutes long with some extended jams.  It has a very free flowing feel.  You can hear cuts from this CD on this web page (www.stillwaterrhythm.com) and on mp3.com under Still Water Rhythm (running out of daylight).  Andy has officially stepped out of the band to play with his other band Next Door; although he still plays with us all the time (which we love) and is spiritually committed to us.  Andy just got engaged to Cheree. They will be getting married on June 30, 2000.  Congrats guys!  Rusty got married to Stephanie last fall and they are busy with graduate school, Chi Alpha, and working with their youth group at New Life.  Rusty still jams with us but cannot play all the time.

In May of 2000, we added Nick Kofahl as our new percussionist.  Nick grew up in Kansas City, Mo.  He moved to Albuquerque, NM, for his last years of high school and then moved back for college.  His mountain spirit is exactly what we want and need in the band.  Nick is currently finishing his last year in college.  He had not been playing the djembe for very long when we added him; but he has been great for the band spiritually and rhythmically.  I called him up in the spring of 2000 and asked him to come over and jam with me so I could feel him out. After that meeting, we got together at Churchill's Coffeehouse and visited with him as a band and by the end of the night, he was in.  Nick is our full time drummer.  He is finishing his last year of college and brings his girlfriend Jackie Kelley with him into the Still Water Family.  100 Portraits, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, and Pearl Jam have really influenced him.  Lately I have turned him on to the wonderfully rhythmic band Rusted Root (one of my favorites).

The newest member of the band is Brian Moody.  Brian is from Oklahoma but has resided in Springfield, MO, for many years now.  We explored bringing Brian into the band in the early parts of Winter 2000.  Brian is our Kit drummer and percussionist.  He brings an array of phenomenal rhythms and drum techniques to the band.  Brian is a humble guy who loves to serve and bring glory to the Spirit.  Brian has had a long history of playing in worship bands in college and currently plays for the worship band @ James River.  Brian has a great sense of humor.  He loves to tell stories; and when he gets going he gets loopy and out of control with laughter.  He's a warm and sensitive guy and very spiritually disciplined. He has a different  approach to drumming than what Still Water had been breeding in the past year and a half and that is exactly what we needed; freshness of rhythm.  He brings out new life and new rhythms from the rest of us.  We knew Brian through Nick and some other mutual friends. When Nick contacted Brian, he came around to hear the band and eventually sat in with us at the Mudhouse and Churchill's in December of 2000.  Almost immediately through prayer and jams, we new that the Spirit was leading us to Brian and vice-versa.  The final meeting before we asked Brian to join was an evening at the Still Water house.  I asked Brian to come over (Andy Roscoe) was over hanging out, and I wanted Brian to play along with me on the guitar to see if he could follow the different rhythms and with my flow.  It was funny because I set Brian up with all this percussion around him (all sorts of drums, shakers, and other auxiliary instruments).  Put to the test - he did awesome.  He had four hands it seemed.  His feet were rocking tambourines and shakers and drums were beating everywhere.  I looked at Andy - Brian was in.  He has been with Still Water officially since January of 2001.

We have gone through a lot of changes in the past year.  Rusty St. Cyr and his wife Stephanie left Springfield to pursue ministry opportunities in the country of Scotland.  Rusty no longer plays with us as a member but lives in our music and spirit.  Andy Whaley is getting married to Cheree and has most recently (4/2001) stepped down from the band.  This was a mutual agreement between Andy and the rest of us.  We love Andy, he is in our spirit, rhythm, and our hearts and we are in his.  This was decision was made to suite the best interests of all of us.  He will still be jamming with us at various gigs and doing some recording with us on upcoming projects; but will not be officially in the band. We love Rusty and Andy deeply and release them with blessings and love. So currently (4/2001), Still Water Rhythm is: Jeremy George, Aubra Wilson, Chris Como, Nick Kofahl, and Brian Moody.  Artist Creator is Andy Roscoe and Product Manager is Jackie Kelley.  Mat Worthy and Heather Bopp are a significant help and encouragement to our family.

In March of 2000, Andy Roscoe came to the band to propose building a web page for us and for his senior final art project at SMSU.  Of course we were delighted and started supplying him with who we were so that he could accurately portray us on the web page in the artwork.  He is incredible!  Over the past year we have built a great relationship with him and he has also become a close member of Still Water as a band and as a family member.  He has designed all of our logo artwork for t-shirts, posters, and our new CD  (Aubra has also done some artwork.  She designed our first CD artwork and gig flyer).  Andy brings a very flowing spirit to the band and his ideas and art are one with our vision and soul.  We wouldn't be where we are if we hadn't been blessed to have him. His parents live in Peru, South America, right now.  He has brought to us his experiences there and I hope to join him on a trip there in June of 2001.  He is the "Peru Man."

We finished recording our first studio album last Fall called Jam Pot.  This album is layered with rhythmic treats.  The song writing is more Dylan style than the last album, in that most of the songs speak a story to the listener that relays a truth.  Andy Roscoe, our logo art & web designer, said that he could hear the rhythms in the album just by reading the lyrics (and he hadn't heard the music yet).  Aubra's flute playing is amazing along with Chris' bass solos and our three amazing percussionists on a myriad of drums.  I am really excited about it and believe that you will be too.  We recorded this at Mid City Sound studio in Branson, MO, with Stephan John.

The latest news and accomplishment is that we have entered into a relationship with the record company "True Tunes Records" out of Chicago, IL.  True Tunes is a subsidiary of Rhythm House Records.  In February of 2001 we sent out this earthy collection of music, info, promotional stuff about who we are and what our vision and mission is.  These promo packs were sent to different labels, festivals and industry contacts that we had.  About one month later we received a call from David Bunker, President of True Tunes Records.  He was really excited about us.  The packaging of the promo pack and the earthy-jam style of our music on the album Jam Pot, really caught his attention and spoke to his spirit.  He was sold on our relational focus and the building of community that we desire to create through the Spirit.  Through a series of phone conversations and emails, we built a relationship that progressed into a record contract.  We leased the (all ready recorded) cd, Jam Pot, for 18 months which will be released on the national circuit in July of 2001.  True Tunes Records vision is very similar to that of Still Water Rhythm.  We really connect on the community aspects and their focus is to support bands that are already established in their region and provide a national platform for their music and ministry. That's us!  We are so stoked about this new relationship and are anticipating what God is going to do through us with True Tunes and all of the other opportunities that He has been opening up and bringing our way.

On any given weekend you can find us @ the Mudhouse Coffee House in downtown Springfield, MO; @ Barnes and Noble; in Bolivar, Nixa, St. Louis, Kansas City, or at some festival.  We are looking to expand and branch out.  Please let us know if you have a new place for us to jam in your town.