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From left: Andrea Kimmey-Baca,
Lisa Kimmey, & Danielle Kimmey |
Still in Eden
by Mark Moring
posted 02/02/04
Has it really been a decade since Out of Eden first came on the scene? Indeed it has. The three sisters celebrate their anniversary with a new album, Love, Peace, and Happiness (Gotee) and by planning a creative tour. What you might not have known about Christian music's original R&B girls is that they are surprised they've made it this far, and even discussed calling it quits several times in their career. In this interview, Lisa, Andrea, and Danielle shared some of their insights and memories about the 10-year ride—and what they're excited about in the days ahead. |
Hard to believe you've been doing this for 10 years.
Lisa Kimmey: I know! Most groups aren't around that long, and we always used to joke that we don't want to just be hanging on for the sake of hanging on. But people keep asking for more records, so as long as people are out there who want our music…
Andrea Kimmey-Baca: We're surprised we've been around this long. It's funny because we never said we'd do it this long.
Danielle Kimmey: I was 12 when we started doing this, and I just turned 23. If you had told me back then that I'd still be doing this at 23, I'd have been like, "No way!"
What are some of your best memories of these 10 years?
(All three sisters cite a performance at a 1997 Billy Graham Crusade in San Francisco.)
Danielle: That was awesome. The place was packed to overflowing, and the best part was just being able to sit behind him on the stage and watch him preach. I was just sitting there bawling. It was a really touching moment.
Andrea: When we sat on that stage, I thought of all the many people who have sat on that stage before us.
Lisa: We sat there while thousands came forward to give their lives to Christ. That was like … I mean, I could have quit right then.
Speaking of quitting, Out of Eden almost called it quits a few years ago, right?
Andrea: We've actually almost quit a couple of times. In 1998, we were about to go on a tour, about 25 cities, and it was really going to provide for us financially. Then it got cancelled at the last minute. At that point, we thought it was a sign from God that we should quit, because it felt like too much to handle.
Lisa: Out of Eden is our livelihood, so that was like getting fired. We had no source of income. We were devastated.
So why didn't you quit?
Andrea: We got together to pray about the tour being cancelled. We were just going to pray for God to provide to meet our needs, but instead, God totally transformed our thinking. We started praying for things that didn't have anything to do with the tour or Out of Eden. We were praying for each other, for our relationships, just getting things out of the open. After that, we started meeting weekly and praying together, and we started to see some change. It wasn't like we started making a lot of money, but we weren't looking at the money anymore. It was more like, "Okay, God, what's our vision supposed to be?"
And what is that vision?
Danielle: We became more ministry-focused. We began to do inner-city ministry, doing things with youth groups, talking to girls one-on-one. And as we saw what young people were in need of, we saw ways we could help fill that need—through our music and message. That's when the penny dropped and we were like, "Okay, Lord, we're in this for as long as you want us to be in this."
Let's fast forward to the present. Why's your new CD called Love, Peace and Happiness?
Lisa: When we started working on this record, we decided just do music that we love—not worrying about a certain genre or sound. And with what we've been going through as a nation and a world—terrorism, a war, a recession—there's just so much serious stuff. In these times, artists can either focus on what's going on, or you can decide to celebrate still. Like in the '70s, there was still music that kind of took our minds off Vietnam.
As we started to write, we came up with stuff that was fun. At first, I was like, Well, I don't want to feel like we're totally not even paying attention to what's going on in the world. But every time we did shows, it was like people just wanted to have fun. People were just clamoring to jump. So we thought, We have something to celebrate. Our life is not dictated by what's going on around us. Our joy is not dictated by circumstances. Our joy comes from Christ.
Then we began to have a freedom about this record. We said, "Let's give people a breath of fresh air."
Andrea: We just wanted to do something really fun with this album. It seems like a lot of people think Christians don't know how to enjoy ourselves, that we're all stuck on our issues and agendas. But we're just saying it's awesome to know Christ and to be free in that knowledge, so let's celebrate.
Do you have a favorite song on the album?
Lisa: One that's special to me is called "I Know." We got a letter from a 14-year-old girl who grew up in a Christian home, and she was pregnant with her third child. It was a heart-wrenching letter about her search for love and acceptance, and not ever feeling that God was relevant to her. She got ahold of our music at this time, and began to realize that God is not just for an older generation, but for her, that he will accept her no matter what.
That spoke to me. You think stories like that are limited to people who don't know the Lord, but this was somebody in the church, and she was going through those things. This song addresses that situation. It's a cry for us, as the body of Christ, to open our eyes and be willing to be used by God to influence the lives of others. There's so much work that needs to be done.
I hear you've got some interesting tour dates coming up.
Lisa: That's right. We're doing something called The Official Jump-Off Party Tour. We threw a party during GMA week last year, and it was such a success that we've decided to take it on the road. But it won't be just a party. We want to do something that's going to affect lives and really do something for the kingdom of God.
What will that look like?
Andrea: It won't look like a regular concert. It'll look like a party at a dance club. We'll have a DJ. You'll see a DDR dance game. You'll see break dancers, maybe a freestyle rap contest. You'll see balloons and confetti and fun things like that.
Danielle: And we'll be milling around, talking to people.
Will you perform as well?
Danielle: Yes, we'll do a show at the end. We'll crank it up, then we'll slow it down, and I'll probably talk for a few minutes because we recognize, even in a party setting, people are hurting. We want to address those things.
Andrea: We'll be doing our songs and then, boom, here comes the gospel. We'll have an altar call.
Lisa: It's all about ministry. We want people to bring their unsaved friends. We want to show Christians we can dance and enjoy our freedom in Christ, and we want to show unsaved people that there is a God who is relevant and that he's not so far removed from any situation. We believe the presence of God is going to be there and dictate the atmosphere.
For more about Out of Eden, visit our artist page for them, where you'll find archived interviews and reviews there. To listen to sound clips and buy Out of Eden's music, visit Christianbook.com.
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