Cam McVey

I’ve been blessed with good friends my whole life. I’m the kind of per­son that doesn’t tend to have loads of friends at one time, but one or two very good friends, com­rades, com­padres to share the jour­ney with.

So for me to have three good bud­dies at one time is unusual, and that we all shared a com­mon interest just made our time together cool. Ben, Dan and Allan and I have been in a band together for the last 9 months or so, but it’s all come to an amic­able end.

We were never entirely sure how long term the band was going to be or what it would look like. I was per­son­ally just enjoy­ing reg­u­larly hook­ing up with these fine men, hanging out and jok­ing around, and some­times play­ing music together. It took us a few months to see it for what it was: loads of fun together.

With Dan’s decision to move back to the USA, and with the know­ledge that there is a full-time wor­ship lead­ing call on Ben & Allan’s lives, and me know­ing that music is not my focus for now, we are all done as a band. We played our last gig at Dan’s recent CD launch night which was fit­ting as the CD was the only tan­gible out­put of the band, it being the main focus for the whole time we’ve been together.

So, this post is a wee trib­ute to three awe­some men of God — legends, even — who have been great fun to walk with.

Dan: thank you for all your encour­age­ment in the area of music, my abil­ity, and the oppor­tun­ity to take part in the cre­ation of the CD was awe­some. I pray your jour­ney is just begin­ning, that everth­ing so far is the war­mup lap, and now you are head­ing off for the real thing. Wherever you end up will be a blessed place indeed. You are a very very good man; be everything you can be. Do it!

Ben: you are such a bril­liant, bril­liant musi­cian. I think you greatly under­es­tim­ate your skills, but you are so invent­ive, so pre­cise, so pas­sion­ate! Thank you for always being the first to pray, the first to encour­age and the one who always knows the funny thing to say, even if it is just over the line! Pur­sue your dreams, mate!

Allan: you are SO gif­ted, and you are so humble with it. I’m so glad you have known from an early stage what your gift­ing is and how you’ve been faith­ful to pur­sue it. You have me in stitches, espe­cially when you and Ben are mess­ing around, and you are so encour­aging. You too need to go for it in a big way and watch how God blesses it.

All three of you are very tal­en­ted, gif­ted and annoin­ted musi­cians, humble and funny, loyal and encour­aging. I am blessed, and my life is enriched, by know­ing you.

The band is dead, but our friend­ships live on. Amen!