With more than 600 cheering fans singing, clapping and dancing along to their music, this newbie Christian band is on a natural high. “It’s a better response than we thought we’d get. It’s more than we could have imagined,” said Hillary Hulzinga. “We were told they’d go crazy, but we didn’t expect this. It’s such a thrill.”
The Witnesses were created for Canada Youth 2006, and are comprised of musicians from the Hamilton, Ont., area. Seventeen-year-old Hulzinga also leads the praise team at Knox, Waterdown. “I thought it would be a good opportunity, and a great experience,” she said.
Hulzinga has been crowned the band’s leader, as she was the one approached by CY06 worship planner Rev. Susan Kerr to create a band for the event — a first in CY history. The piano-playing Hulzinga held auditions and by November, the band was practicing every Saturday night.
“I see this as a learning experience,” said Jenn Kerr, 26, who lends her vocal, keyboard and flute talents to the group. “Could this be the next step where God wants me to go? It has caused me to do a lot of thinking.”
The band is rounded out by vocalist Heather Brown, 17, of Knox, Waterdown, drum player Josh Vander Veen, 18, Knox, Waterdown, guitarist Scott Marsh, 17, of Chalmers, and 17-year-old Reuben Sweet of Chedoke, on bass. Their various talents and musical tastes allow them to play anything from contemporary Christian songs, to traditional pieces, to mainstream pop and rock. Hulzinga’s fiddle talents even prompted a folksy, country piece that had many of the youth rushing the stage to dance and jig.
The CY event is by far the largest audience The Witnesses have played for, but it won’t be the last. Before singing their last song at Canada Youth, the band had already sparked excitement among church-goers, with requests for CDs and performances in local congregations.
“I’ll remember all the energy,” Hulzinga told the Record. “Even when I’m tired and don’t want to go on, I get all my energy back on stage. As soon as we start playing, they go crazy.” – AM
