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Fike & Dana

Christian / Pop

About

The story of Fike & Dana goes back to December, 1997, when Richie Fike visited Healing Place Church one Wednesday night and heard the angelic voice of Dana Cotten singing “Amazing Grace”.

Soon after that night, smitten and giddy as a school girl, Richie asked Dana to “join his band”… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. She stole his heart, and he stole hers. They were married a year and a half later.

In the process of connecting, music became the language of their hearts. There is, in fact, something beautiful about two souls connected through music. For Fike & Dana, it was like a hand in a glove. It just made sense. They married in the summer of 1999… Fike cried a lot. We have pictures. They’re hilarious.

Early in marriage, Fike & Dana were part of a band called ‘Facedown’ with good friends Adam & Ben Kennedy (brothers) and Jared Hornsby. Facedown was a beautifully collaborative effort and it brought F& D all over the south for concerts, worship events, and community outreaches. It was in these early years that their music was beginning to take shape and mature… along with their marriage.

After Facedown, F& D spent 2 years in Tyler, Texas… they call those the ‘shepherd years’. God had placed them in the wilderness, “picking fleas off of sheep”… and learning what they were made for… what they were called to do with their lives. Fike was inspired to pursue a life of local church ministry. God impressed upon his heart the value of the local Church, and the kind of impact that he would have one day when God would open up a door for his music.

Meanwhile, the Fike & Dana Band would do the weekend warrior thing all around Texas and Louisiana. It was in these days that F & D would strike up friendships with Shane Barnard, Shane Everett, Robbie Seay, Barry & Michelle Patterson and Trent Walton… not to mention the incredible sovereignty of collaborating with Mike Bethencort. The Fike & Dana Band was an 8-piece band… a force to be reckoned with.

When Kelly Williams called the Fike’s and asked them to come and interview for a job at Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs, it felt too good to be true. Vanguard is a unique church experience, and a great fit for the Fike’s. They came, they interviewed, they got offered the job, and they accepted. That was fall of 2002.

Since then, the Lord has inspired them to write songs for Vanguard Church and the “big C” church community. With two indigenous projects released, to date, they have done just that.

Quite possibly, one of the greatest things that ever happened to Fike & Dana was the sovereign connection between the Fike’s and Mr. Sean Mulholland. Producer, musician, and all-around brilliant guy… Sean and the Fike’s hit it off quick, and have become a weathered team together. Sean’s production & musical contributions on “In & Out of Season” and “The Morning is Come” are indelible marks on the duo’s musical expressions.

“In & Out of Season” was a bridge album between the happy-go-lucky praise-a-thon’s that permeate East Texas and the much more melancholy, pain-ridden honesty that the Fike’s encountered in Colorado. There were two parallel truths that ‘Seasons’ attempted to communicate, not so much as adversaries, but as companions… “Life is hard” & “God is good”.

“The Morning is Come” was another bridge album. It’s goal was to align another set of seemingly opposed ideas… “Sin is real” & “God has healed”. So often, post-modern Christians live a life resigned to the certainty of sin, but not so much to the certainty of God’s presence in their lives. “The Morning is Come” was Fike & Dana’s attempt to communicate the idea that God has given us all we need to live our lives in the palm of God’s hand.

The newest addition to their stellar work is the 2009 release, “Make a Sound”. In their most diverse release to date, F & D have continued to stretch the boundaries of what worship is and what it isn’t. Actually infusing Fike’s childhood preference of music… hip-hop, and Dana’s roots, country music. What an incredible array of sounds…

The story of Fike & Dana will continue, in and outside of the walls of music. Their little boy, Justus is a continual inspiration and motivation. Vanguard Church has become their home, and their favorite place in the world to be. But, the music of Fike & Dana will continue to live beyond Vanguard’s walls as well… and it’s that promise of influence and impact that keeps this incredible tandem going.

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