Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioner Joey Stec has a dream.
The 62-year-old songwriter/guitarist/performer/producer and studio musician --- who has worked with iconic bands such as the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles and Bon Jovi --- wants Catholic music to boldly enter the arena of Christian rock to help evangelize youth.
And, he's started with the Youth Mass choir in his own Santa Clarita parish, producing a Catholic Christian Rock album, "The Only One We Need," featuring the group's lead soloist, Tess Narciso, backed by many of Stec's rock band musician friends.
Produced by Stec and John McFee of the Doobie Brothers, the 10-track album also has musical contributions from Carlos Rios, music director for Fleetwood Mac, and back-up singer Sharon Celani of the Stevie Nicks band.
"When people hear the names on this album, they all want to listen to it. We do have something going for us that's a little bit more than the average Christian album," said Stec, CEO of Sonic Past Music who has started a new label, SPM Records, for the Catholic Christian rock project.
Except for the original title song, "The Only One We Need," written by OLPH Youth Mass band members Narciso, Allison Zema, Alec Bart and group guitarist Kris Espiritu, the album features covers of songs by several notable Catholic contemporary musicians, including Matt Maher, Jesse Manibusan, Ken Canedo and Sarah Hart.
Msgr. Paul Montoya, OLPH pastor, who asked Stec two years ago to be a musical mentor to the youth choir, is thrilled with the album. He occasionally plays Narciso's rendition of Matt Maher's song, "Jesus, My Everything," during the meditation after Communion. More than 800 copies of the album have been sold just in the parish, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to support church ministries.
"The buzz from the parishioners has been overwhelming," said Stec. Narciso's voice has also received rave reviews on Web 2.0 sites around the world. Amazon.com, which features the album in its Christian rock section, compares Narciso favorably to Christian recording artist Amy Grant as well as country-pop singer/songwriter Taylor Swift.
According to Stec, when his Doobie Brothers' buddy McFee heard a demo of Narciso, he was impressed. "He listened to her and went, 'Let's do it.' I almost fainted," said Stec, who spent a total of 18 months on the recording project.
Both Stec and McFee worked on song arrangements. "We put it together to sound like young music by young people so that it could be replicated on stage without any problem," explained Stec, who has played guitar for an evangelical church in Colorado led by a former Buffalo Springfield band member-turned-minister.
"I saw the power of this guitar. I couldn't believe it. We had up to 1,000 people every Sunday. They knew every word to every song," said Stec, who was encouraged when Msgr. Montoya invited him to work with the parish youth band to improve their sound.
"We were all amateurs," said Narciso, 23, who works three 12-hour night shifts a week as an RN at Children's Hospital. "Joey helped us focus on little things like staying on beat or how we should communicate while playing a song so we can all end at the same time."
A member of the OLPH youth choir since her freshman year at Hart High School, Narciso says the group, which mainly sings Catholic contemporary liturgical music, seeks to inspire their age group.
"Teenagers often think church is boring," she said. "We're here to say: 'No, it's not.' We can worship the Lord through our type of music. It doesn't have to be the traditional kind of [church] music. The Lord accepts all." The Sunday 4:30 p.m. Youth Mass, she added, is one of the best-attended parish liturgies
Group guitarist Espiritu, 17, who played guitar on the album's title track, said being part of a project with professional rock musicians was inspiring. "I felt so excited and it made me motivated to match up with their expectations to sound like them," said Espiritu. "Tess," he added, "is an amazing leader. She holds the group together. Everyone feels confident when she's here. She's like the heart of this group."
Narciso is scheduled to sing at Christ the King Church in Hollywood during weekend Masses on June 13-14. The purpose, said Stec, is "to let parishioners know what we've done, so maybe it will open their eyes that they can be doing this too." Catholic Christian Rock music, Stec added, can become a "wonderful platform for getting the Word to Catholic youth."
Album CDs may be purchased online at www.Amazon.com or www.cdbaby.com. For further information, contact SPM Records at (661) 255-2024 or JoeyStec@SonicPastMusic.com |