Water from the Well

In 1989, we (Acappella) released the album Growing Up in the Lord. It was originally intended to be a children’s album, but as the production continued it became clear to us that it would be much more. Consequently, it ended up somewhat of a hybrid (in my opinion). Not to say that it was a poor album… far from it. It remains a favorite of many people, even though I believe it is out of print.

One of the lasting favorite songs from the album is the song Water from the Well. It featured a solo by Keith’s daughter, Kimberly. She did a great job on it, especially at the tender age of 5 (I think). As the tour began (actually, it never ended… but that’s another story) we started adding songs from the album to the concert set. Water from the Well seemed a natural addition.

The trouble was, how do we handle the kid’s solo part? Wayburn’s oldest son, Brent, could handle it and he toured with us, as did all the families. We decided to take it just a little bigger. If you saw our concert during this time period, you know what I’m talking about. 30 minutes into the 1st set, we just paused everything and invited all the kids ages 3 through the 3rd grade up to the stage to sing this song with us.

Most nights, it was barely controlled chaos. We never knew how many kids we were going to get. Sometimes, we only had 10-12 children. Other nights, they spilled off the stage and down the stairs. And every night we had to identify a soloist with no advance notice. Occasionally, Brent would be available as a backup, and he often sang it for us. But usually this is how it would go: Once the kids started on stage, Wayburn, George and Duane would begin herding them into the center. I would start looking for the cutest kids I could find and drag them to the front. For the next 3-4 minutes I would interview and generally harass the kids. Again, you never knew what they would say. It was usually hilarious.

As all this was going on, my three partners in crime were mingling among the kids trying to discern which one might be a viable candidate to sing the solo. I would keep half an eye on them until one of them gave me the go, meaning they had found a soloist, and we would start the track and kick off the song. Every night was a new experience and it was always fun. The soloist was always great, even if they weren’t. We would sing the song in their ear as the mic was shoved in their face. That usually helped. And as the song continued, we would find other children from the “chorus” and let them sing over the mic as well.

Today, it is quite common as I travel around for men and women to approach me and tell me they were a “Water from the Well kid.” That’s pretty cool, even if it does make me feel much older than I should be.

Fast forward to now… Acappella has re-released a new version of Water from the Well, featuring little Kimberly who is no longer little. They did an excellent job with it, as I’m sure hundreds of now adult “Water from the Well kids” can testify. Here it is. Enjoy.

Comments

  1. At the risk of sounding like your average spambot, this made my day! … And then I realized Growing Up In The Lord is 22 years old… And it made me old.

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