Musicians - Rich Mullins

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	Musicians - Rich Mullins

Richard Wayne Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997) was an American singer/songwriter born in Richmond, Indiana. Starting in 1986, he was a well-known Christian music artist until his untimely death in an automobile accident in 1997. He is best-known for his praise choruses "Awesome God" and "Step by Step", which have been embraced as modern classics by many Christians. Two of his albums are considered among Christian music's best: Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth (1986) and A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band (1993). His songs have been covered by the likes of Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Third Day, Caedmon's Call, and Jars of Clay but his influence on his colleagues in the music business reaches further.

In addition to his music, Rich Mullins is also remembered for his sincere devotion to the Christian faith. He often called St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) his hero, and modelled his life after him by having great compassion for the poor and adhering to a vow of poverty. In 1997, he composed a musical about the life of St Francis (set in the Old West) called Canticle of the Plains.

Mullins was seen as an enigma to the Christian music industry. Often barefoot, unshaven and badly in need of a haircut, he did not look like the average American gospel music writer. Although he achieved a good amount of success on Christian radio, he never received a GMA Music Award until after he died.

Unlike most artists in Contemporary Christian music, Mullins did not consider his music as his primary ministry, but rather as a means to pay his bills. Instead, his ministry was the way he treated his neighbors, family and enemies. Taking a vow of poverty, he accepted a small church salary and spent the last years of his life on a Navajo reservation teaching music to children.

History

Rich grew up attending Arba Friends Meeting, a Quaker church in Lynn, Indiana . The Quaker testimonies of peace and social justice inspired many of his lyrics.

Mullins began his musical career with Zion Ministries in the late 1970s, where he wrote music and performed with a band called Zion. Zion released one album in 1981 entitled Behold the Man. While working for this ministry, Mullins penned a song called "Sing Your Praise To The Lord", which was recorded by singer Amy Grant in 1982 and became an immediate hit on Christian Radio.

In 1975, Mullins attended Cincinnati Bible College, where he became close friends with Sam Howard, the son of minister Maurice Howard .

In 1983, Debby Boone recorded Mullins' "O Come All Ye Faithful" for her Surrender album. In 1984, the song was also featured in a TV movie called Sins of the Past.

Mullins became a songwriter in the Contemporary Christian music industry by 1984, penning songs for Pam Mark Hall, and a second song for Amy Grant. Grant would go on to record yet another of Mullins' songs for her 1985 album, Unguarded, entitled "Love Of Another Kind".

By 1986, Mullins recorded his first, self-titled, solo project, and followed it with a second solo album in 1987 called Pictures in the Sky. Neither album had sold very well and it looked as though Pictures might be his last, until Mullins wrote a song called "Awesome God". Mullins recorded that song and released it on his third album, Winds of Heaven... Stuff of Earth and it quickly became a hit on Christian radio and a modern-day praise chorus sung in churches around the world to this day.

The Winds of Heaven... Stuff of Earth album also introduced fans to the hammered dulcimer, an instrument that would become a Rich Mullins trademark.

In 1988, Mullins moved to Wichita, Kansas to be part of Rev. Maurice Howard's congregation at Central Christian Church.

In the early 1990s, Mullins released a pair of albums entitled The World As Best As I Remember It, volumes 1 & 2. These albums featured more of a stripped-back, acoustic feel than his earlier work, with nods to Irish music. Step By Step, a song written by good friend Beaker and included on both volumes, became an instant hit on Christian Radio, and, like "Awesome God", with worship leaders.

In 1991, Mullins enrolled at Friends University. He would later draw inspiration from a lecture at Friends by author Brennan Manning. This is also where he met Jim Smith (his posthumous biographer), and Mitch McVicker.

In 1993, Mullins assembled a group of Nashville musicians (including Jimmy Abegg, Beaker, Phil Madeira, Rick Elias, Aaron Smith) to form A Ragamuffin Band, which was named after The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. The band recorded A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band, which was later named the #3 Best Christian Album of All time by CCM Magazine. The band got together again in 1995 to record Brother's Keeper.

Mullins graduated with a B.A. in Music Education from Friends University on May 14, 1995 . After graduation, he and Mitch McVicker moved to a reservation in Tse Bonito, NM near the capitol of the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona to teach music to children. They lived in a hogan at the reservation until his death.

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Musicians - Rich Mullins

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