Kyle Dillard - Lead guitarist/vocalist
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Kyle Dillard
Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist
Kyle Dillard’s affinity for music became apparent at the age of three, with a Bugs Bunny drum set as his muse. By thirteen he was taking guitar, trumpet, piano, and voice lessons. In middle school, he was writing and performing his original songs. And by high school, his band was touring the east coast, performing his latest songs. It was then that Kyle began to fully understand his calling and passion for worship: simply “responding to the greatness and glory of God.”
With a Sacred Music degree from Appalachian State University, Kyle is an accomplished musician and best known for his gifts as an electric guitarist, vocalist, and truly inspired songwriter. He has performed and recorded with numerous artists, including Israel Houghton , Larry McCray, and Mike Farris. He has also led worship for speakers like Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, Nancy Ortberg, Lee Strobel, Reggie White, Dr. Joe Brown, Dr. Gary Chapman, Louie Giglio, and Max Helton (Founder of Motor Racing Outreach, a NASCAR ministry).
Serving full-time in church ministry—including Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago and now at Lake Forest Church in North Carolina—Kyle continues to write, perform, and record original songs. The count is now up to four CDs, including a Christmas CD and the most recent recording, Everything. As another highlight to his career, Kyle was commissioned to write the prelude for the 25th anniversary event for Willow Creek Church in Chicago. That spectacular prelude became the opener for almost all of Willow’s conferences the following year, including The Summit, which is attended and watched by over 100,000 people worldwide.
Kyle’s vision for worship has always extended beyond the boundaries of the church, reaching into local venues, from bars to schools, and as far away as Warsaw, Poland, where he performed at ten high-security prisons. In 2009 and 2010, Kyle performed his original music, leading worship for Samaritan’s Purse in Panama and Ecuador.
A passion for sharing his vision and encouraging other worship leaders has garnered Kyle numerous teaching and speaking engagements, including speaking at the arts conference at Willow Creek Church in 2009 and a variety of other breakout sessions, worship leading, youth camps, weekend church services, concerts, and retreats. In summer 2010, Kyle will be leading worship for churches in Appleton, WI; Huntersville, NC; Myrtle Beach, SC; and Greater European Missions conference in Krakow, Poland.
Robert Conrad - Bass, Singer, Production
After arriving in Charlotte, NC in 1997, Rob began to further his career as an Audio, Video and Lighting Systems Designer with historic Reliable Music. He love's live music and strives for excellence. He found himself also working with the Visulite Theather as the Production Manager. It was great to work with many National and Regional Acts. During the same time, he helped found the original group SATCHELFOOT performing original music and touring across the Southeast and performing with groups like Dave Matthews Band, Edwin McCain, Hootie and the Blowfish. He found himself enjoying production and found himself as a member of a favorite local 80's pop group "Cherry Bomb". Ten years with Cherry Bomb and he has perfomed regularly on the local and regional circuit at clubs, fundraisers and private events. Performing with the best musicians in town has helped him become a reasonable bass player. He joined Lake Forest Church 9 years ago when his brother Burns turned him on to the church by inviting his family to Jackson's (Burns son) baptism. He was invited to play with Kyle and Church Band and have enjoyed worshipping with the team and watching the ministry team grow. Traveling abroad to Warsaw Poland on a mission trip with the band was one of the more memorable things he has done, and seeing the world has helped ground him and grow him personally. He enjoys bringing friends and family into the Lake Forest family. He is married to his best friend Kate and has two children, Austin 6 and Delaney 4. They surely will sing and play instruments in time as they love to grab the microphones and sing out after church service. After Mike Farris came to our Hope in a House of Blues in 2008, they both love the song "Can't No Grave". Next time you see them, ask them to sing it out loud!
Bass-
Warwick- 4 & 5 String
Status- 5 String
Modulus- 6 String
Amps-
SWR
HARKE
BAG END
TRACE Elliot
SansAmp- Pre/Amp DI
SHURE- P6TRE1 System w/E5 Ear Buds.
JB Eanes - Electric Guitar
JB Eanes was born and raised in Lynchburg VA where he spent summers fishing and winters hunting like a lot boys in the south. He was first introduced to music listening to Jim, his father, sing and play country music on the guitar. Jim's strong voice and passion for music led him to be in high demand with the local acts around town. When the bands started showing up at the Eanes' house for band rehearsal JB made up his mind that he wanted to play guitar. He started playing the country tunes with his dad, and eventually worked his way into the local Southern Rock scene in the late 70's and early 80's. After acquiring a AA in Graphic Arts from Danville Community College, JB spent 15 years in the high-end offste printing industry. In 1991 JB took a chance and a traveling job with a nuclear service company. After working in the Chicago area for several years he could not avoid the influence of blues music and the down-to-earth musicians that make it. JB met several guitar players from the windy city and eventually wound up on stage at Buddy Guy's Legends sitting in with Larry McCray, a Point Blank records artist at the time. The nuclear valve work took JB to South Carolina where, in 2000, committed his life to Christ. He settled into a full time position with Duke Energy. Since then JB has played his guitar in worship bands of many shapes and sizes, on multiple mission trips to Peru and the Abaco Islands. JB met a very talented and beautiful hair stylist, Laura, in a Seneca SC church and they married in 2007. JB, Laura along with Heather 14, and Haley 17, relocated to Mooresville after the wedding and joined Lake Forest in 2008.
Burns Conrad - Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Burns grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was surrounded by music at an early age through his family and church. Growing up singing in the church choir, playing hand bells, and also singing in barbershop quartets, Burns realized he had a God given talent to learn music without formal training. He went on to develop his piano playing and guitar skills at the University of Tennessee where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business. While in college he had amazing musical opportunities which included performing with national acts such as The Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, 311, Driving and Crying, and many other bands that have since gone on to sell millions of albums. Burns joined Lake Forest Church in 2002 and has been playing in the worship team ever since. He lives in Cornelius, NC with his two sons Harrison 4 and Jackson 7.
Tracy Grubbs - Creative Arts Chick
Tracy Grubbs is prehistoric...at least when it comes to Kyle Dillard's history at Lake Forest Church. She's been at LFC working in music/worship/creative arts for 10 years now. She began this tour singing and leading worship, but as the church grew there was a need for someone specifically gifted with vision, talent, and a passion for worship...enter Kyle. As things changed Kyle found a new niche for her... creative arts/production. What is that, you ask? What started with table scapes, burlap and candles has grown into full on stage design to visually inspire worship. That end, leading people to worship the living God through a fresh creative environment, is her goal and she has a fabulous team of artists who create this week to week. In addition, she 'manages' the service and the artists each week, pretty much like herding cats. She love cats!
She is also a wife to Algie...almost 20 years and the mom of three remarkable teenagers who are her best creative endevour to date...Morgan, Molly, and Wyatt.
James Jones - Percussion, Vocalist
My name is James Jones. I live in Christmastown, USA aka McAdenville, NC with my wife and son Jackson (we are expecting our second child just after Christmas). I have been hooked on music since my grandmother gave me my first record player back when I was six years old along with my first record, Kiss Alive. I have an insatiable love of music and art that is a blessing from God. I came to LakeForest in 2001 when it was a much smaller place and fell in love with the way God choose to share his word through music and applicable teachings. At the time I was playing in a Rock-N-Roll band and was sure that was what I wanted for myself. Fortunately, I met Kyle Dillard and received the humbling equivalent of a Hobbling. I learned so much about myself and why I was here as a part of God's very big plan. I am glad to have the opportunity to play music with so many talented people and learn so much about what it is we are truly here to do. I am glad to have a place to respond to God's glory and AWESOMNESS. Thanks be to God for leading me to LakeForest.
Ron Randall - Drummer
Ron has been involved with the LFC worship team almost from the beginning. Shortly after the church started at the LKN YMCA, Ron answered a classified ad in Creative Loafing for a church searching for a drummer. He's been at LFC ever since.
Ron has played in various bands throughout his life and for almost ten years, ran his own sound engineering company providing live sound equipment and mixing services to bands like Devo, The Charlie Daniels Band, The Joe Perry Project and Bachmann Turner Overdrive.
Ron is married to Dana, and the father of Chris, Janelle and Briana. He is also the owner of Little Red Bird an advertising agency in Charlotte and when he's not playing on the worship team or working, you can find him waist deep in the rivers of NC fly fishing for trout.
JT Taylor - Singer, Lighting, Production Artist
Jeff "JT" Taylor, his wife Carolyn, and children Camille and Jody have been LFC ministry partners since 2001. JT and Carolyn are both Charlotte natives and served in the LFC children's ministry for 3+ years back at the YMCA. JT began working with Kyle, Tracy and the creative team soon after the move to the new facility and in any given week is usually singing with the band, building sets, running lights or stepping in where needed. For his "real" job, JT manages recruitment for a global software company. In his spare time, you can usually find JT out waterskiing with Carolyn, rebuilding a boat or two or heading out on some adventure and enjoying amazing fellowship with his best friends. JT's favorite memory at LFC was the Christmas when he and Camille sang in the LFC Christmas Choir together.
Kim Peterson - Vocalist
Kim has been at Lake Forest for 9 years and joined the Worship Team shortly thereafter. Growing up in and consequently being turned off of “religion”, she found LFC to be a place where she was able to reconnect with God and her faith. Kim enjoys any opportunity to sing with the LFC band and feels it is her place to give back and serve. She absolutely loves her job as a nanny caring for 2 amazingly sweet babies who have become like a part of her family. Kim lives in Huntersville with her best friend and husband of 20 years Greg and their 5 awesome kids: Nolen 19, Mason 17, Bryson 13, Peyton 10, and Regan 9. If that weren’t enough to keep life interesting, she also has 2 dogs, 2 cats, a hamster, a gerbil, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Reeve Coobs - Singer, Acoustic Guitar
A friend brought Reeve to Lake Forest in the Fall of 2007 and that same friend told Kyle that she was a singer. Kyle then came to a couple of Reeve’s shows and then every Sunday after that he asked: “Hey Reeve, when you gonna come sing with me?”. Almost a year later she finally said yes. In 2009 she took on the position as Vocal Director. She loves being a part of the LFC band and working and singing with Kyle. Reeve is a singer-songwriter from Charlotte, NC but her real job (if you can call it that) is teaching Music Together about 70 children a week. She lives in a cute little house in the NoDa Arts District in Charlotte and in her spare time she knits things while watching Paul Rudd movies ;)
Krissy Feighery - Singer, Artist
Krissy Feighery graduated with a B.A.from Christopher Newport University in Virginia, concentration in Theatre, and spent 8 years as a professional actress. She has performed on stage and in televison, radio, childrens programs and film. She also grew up singing in church where the other children would request not singing next to her.....they complained that she was too loud. After meeting and marrying her husband she gave up acting and turned to art for a creative outlet. She began selling her work to galleries around the country and after spending 6 years as a stay-at-home mom, she now owns an art gallery and gift shop called Sanctuary in Davidson, NC. After becoming a Christian at age 24, she resolved to use the talents God gave her for him. Her artwork reflects her faith and gratitude to the one who truly knows her. She now lives in Davidson with her husband of 8 years, Kevin, and her 2 sweet girls, Lilly and Molly.
Liz Butler - Acoustic Guitar, Singer
Liz picked up a guitar for the first time when she was seventeen. She spent hours in her room learning chords and writing some really bad songs… She still has that guitar and is still learning. She headed to college to major in art, but her heart was really for music. She graduated with a B.S. in Music Industry Studies from Appalachian State University. She started leading worship in college for small groups, and eventually for larger groups, including Intervarsity. She's still not sure why God picked an extremely shy introvert to do it, but… after graduation, marriage, and moving to Charlotte, NC (in that order) she played in a couple of bands and was eventually given the opportunity to lead worship at a church for five years. She loves singing, songwriting, and playing out when she has the opportunity. Most of the time, she's back in a little room with a guitar and scraps of paper all over the floor. No spectacular events or efforts to mention, she just loves God and loves to worship. She was invited by a friend to LFC during House of Blues 2007, and had absolutely no intention of staying. Two and a half years later, her husband and her are ministry partners and now call LFC home. She's thankful for the privilege to worship God with such talented people who desire to play for HIS renown. She lives in Charlotte with her awesome hubby Rusty. By day she's a secretary at UNC-Charlotte. When she's not doing music or herding her two cats, she's a pilates and yoga nut who avoids shoes whenever possible. She loves good family time, cooking, adventures, the mountains, and learning to enjoy the simple things.
Tony Monticello - Drummer
Tony loves God and has been a believer for all of his life. He has been playing drums for over 30 years, and has been playing in bands – cover bands, original music, and church bands – for most of that time. He is a business owner and is happily married to wife Dana, and has four boys – hopefully his future band-mates. :-)
Chris Dunaway - Guitar, Mandolin, Recording
Chris feels privileged to play in the band at Lake Forest, getting to be with so many more talented musicians than he. He plays the guitar and the mandolin. Chris' dream is to have a beat-boxer on stage during a worship set someday, but he doesn't think Kyle would allow that. He works as a home builder for Habitat for Humanity and spends many of his free hours hanging out with high school friends involved with the student ministry at Lake Forest. Chris isn't entirely sure why he's writing this blurb in the third person, other than that's the convention.
Danny Lloyd - Keyboard, Percussionist
Danny Lloyd is the Director of Bands at Pine Lake Preparatory Charter School in Mooresville, NC and is a doctoral student at Boston University. He has taught, composed and judged for middle school, high school, collegiate, drum corps and indoor/winter programs in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Mr. Lloyd received both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music Education from Appalachian State University. Mr. Lloyd marched with the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in 1993 and is a member of the Carolina Crown Alumni Association. In addition, Mr. Lloyd has written articles for Halftime Magazine and Drum Corps World. Mr. Lloyd is originally from Winston-Salem, NC and is married to Meredith and is the proud father of Melanie, Alex, and Sara-Alyce.
Kristy Rutter - Vocalist
Kristy Rutter grew up in Edinboro, PA. (Yes she is a Steelers fan) From a young age she has always been involved in choir and theatre. She worked as Head of the Cast at Waldameer, a theme park in Erie, PA and she was the vocalist for her high school jazz band. She has lived in Huntersville, NC for the past 6 years with her wonderful cat Leo. Kristy was baptized and became a LFC member May 2009. She enjoys being involved in Missions Trips, Worship Team and ministry wherever God needs her.
Debbie Barger - Singer
Debbie started at Lake Forest in 2004, soon after moving back to her hometown of Charlotte. She has been singing in church choirs, singing groups, and worship teams since the age of 14, (you can do the math!) Some experience in college and community theater rounds out her background. She truly enjoys leading worship at Lake Forest because it challenges her in new ways to be authentic and transparent in public and private worship of the God who knows her best and loves her unconditionally. She enjoys serving on the Creative Team at LFC because it is here that we can design with a pure ‘out-of-the-box’ approach, and we never hear the words “we can’t” or “we’ve never done it that way before…” It’s another way of worship, expressing her design passion in a team-approach that challenges and encourages her to grow closer to God and our great church family. She is a graduate of Lambuth University in Jackson, TN with a degree in Interior Design, and has completed several commercial design projects with architectural firms over the years. Currently she has diversified her professional direction a bit by turning toward marketing and graphic design, and is pursuing a degree in graphic design. She is the Marketing Director for Flooring Solutions, a commercial flooring contractor who incidentally were the folks who stained and sealed our beautiful concrete floors at LFC! What brings her the most joy and blessing are her husband of 25 years (and recently-ordained Elder) Jim, daughters Kaitlyn (proud ECU Pirate) and Bailey (proud Hopewell Titan). In her free time she enjoys beading jewelry, walking, and reading.
Kit Anderson - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Kit is a Christian and a lawyer, to the shock of more than a few people. He's played guitar from 1994-1997, 1999-2000, 2002-2004, and with Lake Forest since 2006. Kit lives with four females: One wife, two daughters, and a dog. Some say he is still sane.
Laura Coker - Singer
Laura was born in a small town in South Carolina and fell in love with music at an early age, thanks in large part to an older sister with excellent musical taste. After some moving around, her family settled in North Carolina, where she spent the remainder of her middle and high school days singing in church. Laura attended Lenoir-Rhyne College, where she had her first run-in with organized performing, with the college’s A Cappella choir. After graduating with a degree in theology, Laura eventually settled in the Hickory area and heard about Lake Forest through a friend. It didn’t take long for her to fall in love with Lake Forest; with the people, Pastor Mike’s awesome teaching, and the dynamic worship style. After becoming a ministry partner, Laura was given the opportunity to join the church band, which has been a truly awesome and awe-inspiring experience. “It’s pretty humbling to help lead worship on Sundays,” Laura says, “but I enjoy singing, I enjoy spending time with my bandmates, and I’m grateful for the chance to let God use me and work through all of us as a team.” When not at Lake Forest, Laura can be found working at Lenoir-Rhyne University, taking classes to work towards her second degree, and usually listening to music, including her favorite band, the Dave Matthews Band.
Mike Mooney - Percussionist
Mike Mooney has spent the past 16 years creating and activating dynamic marketing communications platforms to shape both athlete and corporate brand images through sports sponsorships. Serving in both agency and corporate positions, Mooney has managed sponsorships for Fortune 500 companies such as Sprint Nextel, Tylenol, Daimler-Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Sears and Motorola.
Sprint Nextel recruited Mooney in 2003 to be a key player in the design and launch of its NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series sponsorship. As the director of marketing communications, Mooney was responsible for creating an integrated marketing communications platform to both positively position and protect the Sprint Nextel brand while maximizing the activation of its reported $750-million-dollar sponsorship. He also initiated and implemented crisis and reputation management plans prior to, during and after the Series sponsorship transition from 33-year incumbent RJ Reynolds/Winston.
Mooney has also led high-profile programs for NASCAR such as the public relations for its 50th Anniversary celebration. Beyond NASCAR, he has also successfully leveraged sponsorships in the PGA TOUR, NHRA, IHRA, Off-Shore Powerboat Racing, B.A.S.S., CART/IRL and ATP Tour Tennis.
A graduate of Elon University, Mooney lives in Mooresville, N.C., with his wife and three children.