Liberation Suite was a Jesus Music

Jesus music

Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement...

 era Christian rock

Christian rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

 band. They originated in San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is the seat of Hays County. Located within the metropolitan area, the city is located on the Interstate 35 corridor—between Austin and San Antonio....

 but soon moved to Great Britain, where they found their greatest success. Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...

characterizes the band as having a "special relationship" with the United kingdom and a straight forward approach to music and ministry. Typical of Jesus music, they played songs in a variety of styles including country, new wave, and rock.

Background

Liberation Suite formed early in the Jesus Music

Jesus music

Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement...

 era, prior to 1971. The band got their start as backup singers for a choral group called Sound 70, but soon began traveling with evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 Bill Lowry and the Christ is the Answer tent ministry.

In 1974 they moved for six months to Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, which was at that time war-torn by The Troubles

The Troubles

The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

. Here they ran what was essentially a street ministry, playing concerts on street corners and preaching. During this time they also played at the inaugural Greenbelt Festival

Greenbelt festival

Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. They then moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 after being signed to Word Records' Myrrh label. In 1976 they toured Europe with Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard is a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He was born August 27, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Santa Rosa, California in his young teens...

 before moving back to Texas sans two members, David Bynum (who worked as an accountant

Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...

) and Paul Lyon.

During a brief reunification period in 1980 they recorded their second album, Stride For Stride, and again toured Europe.

In 2008 they released Live In Europe, a live concert from 1976, recorded in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.

Discography

• 1976: Liberation Suite
• 1981: Stride For Stride
• 1990: Water and Blood
• 2002: Fight For The Light
• 2000: Liberation Suite - 25th Anniversary Edition
• 2008: Liberation Suite: Live In Europe

Members

• Randy Hill - drums, vocals;
• Howard Lyon - trombane, voc;
• David Bynum - bass, sax., voc (-1980);
• Paul Lyon - trump., flute, vocals (-1980);
• Barry Bynum - vocals, guitar, keyboard. (-1994)
• Jim Hazel, guitar (+1980)
• Fred Perez - bass (+1980, -1990)
• James Yager - keyboard, vocals (+1980)
• Matt Sutherland - bass (1996)
• Steve Fleming - engineer

External links

• Official site
• artist profile, reviews @ Cross Rhythms
  Cross Rhythms
  Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...