Here is a photo from the Praises Concert in Saratoga, NY
Although this photo is not the greatest, we tried to lighten it up quite a bit to see some of the friends who joined
in for the last song of the show. Some of the guys and gals.. are Jen, that's Tom's wife on the microphone. In
the group photo, many old EF players, Anthony (tony) Lucido, ( with the light brown hat on), next to him is
Nathan Blackstone, also there are Jason Gardner and Dennis Gardner and another local singer Bob Marcelo.
Anthony (Tony) Lucido
One of the founding members of EF. Anthony played with the band from
the begining for about 5 years. Many songs the band still do were written or
co-written by Anthony. He formed Scot Rd. with a few friends, ( Nathan
Blackstone, Justin Carey ), then went to Nashville. In Nashville he played with Out
Of Eden for about a year or so. Co-author the Out of Eden song on the
Wow99 album. Did several tours with Jennifer Knapp and some album
work. He went on to play with DC Talk, lots of Studio
work.. with his latest being on a song by Hilary Duff titled "Hide Away" ..
He is currently working with Ginny Owens, who he completed a tour with last year
Nathan Blackstone
Nathan was one of the early players with EF. He was the first
drummer to actually do lots of work with the band. He help co-write some tunes and
was with us most of the 5 years Anthony was with us. Nathan went off to College and
left the band, he now has finished college and moved to Nashville. He is
presently rooming with Anthony. Recently, Nathan auditioned and made the cut for a
hot new Christian band in Nashville. Nathan was working with Small Town Poets.
He worked with a ministry
(Joyce Meyers) going into Public
schools all across the US.. The ministry is call Rage Against Destruction
www.ragead.org . He
played a few tours with Jennifer Knapp and is currently touring with John
Davis.,
Mark VanCuren
Mark
was with EF for a long time. He co-wrote many of the classic tunes you
hear from the band. Many of the Melodies or music lines were created by
Mark. He was injured in an auto accident somewhere around 1999... I don't
really recall the exact time.. it seems forever that he has been gone.. He
is doing better now.. we even had him jam a bit with us before he moved to North
Carolina... don't have an email address yet.. when we do we'll update how he is
doing.
Greg Emmick
Gregg was with us for several years. He played with EF in the early beginning days with Nathan and Anthony. The last we heard Gregg was married and playing on a worship team in the Greenville area of NY.
Mike Gapp
Mike played with the band in the very early days. He brought a rhythm guitar player into the band named Mark VanCuren, who later took over as lead guitar. Mike was playing with Revealer for a while and also some other bands in the area.
Mark Rider
Mark was one of the very first drummers EF had before Nathan Blackstone. He played the opening gig at Solomon's Porch with us. Mark later went on to play bass for a local band called "The Victory Band". Mark is currently leading worship at a church in Nassau, NY
Don Howe
Don played guitar with Mark Rider and I for a short time. We never got to play out much but we had a fun time practicing. Not sure with Don is now but recently someone told me they ran into him doing some acting or impro. Still leaving somewhere in the Albany area.
Dennis Santa Lucia
Dennis
played only one gig with the band and that was the first gig we did at Solomon's
Porch. He helped put things together and get me back on my feet after an
intense year of recuperating from heart surgery. Dennis and his band JADE,
helped my with my singing and playing after the year long battle to get back
into music... that was before EF really got formed and moved out in ministry.
Dennis still plays in the Albany area with JADE, you will also find him
and his wife with me during our Christmas Outreach to area Nursing Homes.
Claxton (STICKS) Wilson
Sticks one
of our heavy drummers over the years.... and a great friend and brother.
Sticks came to help us out when we need someone for a temporary gig. He
stayed for over 2 years. We love and miss him and his wife Michelle who
would many times open up the set for us with our great powerful voice. we
hear she is singing with one of the local area bands along with Sticks.
They now have 2 boys they have adopted and are still living in the area.
Sticks was one of the only EF drummers to do a long long drum solo..
miss you Sticks........
Jason Gardner
Jason
played with us for about 2 years. He started when we had Ed and Frank playing.
He came with us when Sticks had to finally leave his temporary stay with us.
He left just before he got married and presently has two children. He
still leaves in the Albany area and occasionally sits in with some of the local
bands.
Dennis Gardner
Dennis came with us when Frank Burns originally left the band. Frank was playing bass at the time. When he left it left and opening on bass. Jason suggested his brother Dennis. Dennis stayed with us a little while and left when Jason did. He went to school for Radio Broadcasting and was on the local stations for a while. He got married and is still playing bass. He plays with Ken Tyrell and I think he has also played with Scott Wormer's band our of Grace Church in Latham.
Ed Bornt
Ed joined the band when Mike Gapp and Mark VanCuren first left. He and Frank had opened for us with a band called Soul Survivors at Solid Rock Church. Ed was and still is a great lead guitar player. He lives in the Albany area, is married now and playing local gigs in and around Albany.
Tom Bernhardt
Tom played
with the band for about 3 years. He was a very solid part of the band and
did the bass for the "Light in the Darkness" CD. He presently does
recording in his studio and works with a studio in Albany (Gary T's studio).
He played bass for a short time with Spontaneous Combustion. He also has a
business he runs and remains a close friend of the band
Frank Burns
Frank was
with me for so many years I don't recall when he started and when he left.
He originally came into the band as a bass player. Then after a year or so
he left, allowing him to work extra hours to take care of some financial
concerns. But God soon called him back. When Mark got hurt I called him to see if
he was at all interested and if his situation had changed. He was ready,
and came back to the band as our lead guitar player. He did a great job
and became one of my closest friends and brothers. I miss him a lot.
Frank added all the heavier guitar parts and did the "Light in the Darkness CD"
with us. He also wrote several songs with the band, one on the CD - Face
Reality and also "I play one in Church" which we don't play since Frank left the
band. He is currently working on a project in Florida, where he now lives.
He plays on the worship team at the church he goes to and likes to visit us in
the summer time. We try to stay in touch with Frank and will keep you
updated when we get new info. Frank was also the former editor of our
Newsletter. Miss you man.....
Glenn Fuller
Glenn was
with the band since about 1996 or 97 and stayed till the end of 2004. I
know it was eight years however that works out. Glenn came in when Jason
left. It was Mark and myself and we had Frank come and help a bit on bass
so we could have a full band to try him out. Later Tom joined the band to
fill the gap on bass. Glenn had played in a heavy metal band in NJ
before moving to upstate NY and hadn't played in anything but worship here.
We tried him out and took him in.. He stayed for 8 years. He played on the
"Light in the Darkness CD". and had traveled with me all over the eastern NY,
Ma, Conn and where ever. He became a good friend and brother and we still
eat lunch together. Glenn just wanted to reach out and try some other
projects. He is also playing bass guitar. He is sitting in as a
drummer or bassist where the Lord leads him. He also plays on the worship
team at Christ Church.
Mike Sowek
Mike came
in to fill the hard spot Frank left empty. That was a hard spot to fill but Mike
did a great job of it. He learned the songs and added many spots to make
2002 to 2004 really sound good. Mike had played many gigs in the world and
some worship bands. This was his first venture in a Christian Rock band.
It was a place the Lord had put him to prepare him for his own ministry.
Presently Mike is making plans for his wedding in June. He is also
preparing music for his soon to be band "Born from Above".
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