Biography
The Downing Family makes their home in Oklahoma. They grew up with Christian bluegrass music and love singing their testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. With fresh melodies, tight harmonies, and inspiring acapellas, their joyful message is always an encouraging one. Their strongest desire is that the music and the words will bless and inspire you. Be prepared to grin and tap your toes!
Jennifer plays the fiddle and sings harmony and lead vocals. She has been playing fiddle since age seven and grew up harmonizing with her sister, Angela. Since she loves coming up with new inspirational music for our group, Jennifer has just written three new songs that will be out on our new CD. She loves bluegrass music and is thrilled to be able to present the gospel in this way. Her prayer is that churches and families are touched by the music God put in her heart. She loves spending time with her nieces Ashley, Autumn and Addelyn and is teaching them fiddle. Some of her favorite things are calico kittens, aggravating her bro-in-law Luke, thunderstorms and coffee.
Angela plays the mandolin and fiddle, and sings lead and harmony vocals. She loves harmonizing with her sister, Jennifer, as they grew up singing together constantly. She participated in contest fiddling years back, and still enjoys twin fiddles today. She is married to Luke and we like to say she is Luke’s better half! Right now she is keeping busy with her daughters, Ashley Noel, Autumn Renee' and Addelyn Kate . She thanks the Lord so much for her little family and already has Ashley and Autumn playing the fiddle.Some of Angela’s favorite things are snow-skiing, house decorating, baking, flower-gardening and keeping Luke in line.
Luke plays guitar and sings both lead and vocal harmonies. He is our comic relief and keeps us on our toes. His sincere love for the Lord is evident in his walk. His voice blends with the girls’ like a brother, completing the sound. Currently he is working on more solos and has even written a few songs that we hope to sing. A few years ago we discovered our families (Millers and Downings) lived in the same neighborhood, and just a week after that, he met Angela at the mailbox. It was love at first sight. He won Angela’s heart and the rest is history. Luke loves his growing family and is looking forward to playing music with his little girls. He also enjoys snow and anything that has to do with it, like skiing, snowboarding, sledding etc.
Randy plays an outstanding bass (well, at least he thinks so). He also runs the technology company and is the handsome one of the band. (Now you know who really wrote these bio’s!) Randy sings just a little, but never loud enough for anyone to hear. We are trying to work up another acapella that needs a voice bass part, so you may actually get to hear him sing, but right now there's only one vote…. his. He is forever thankful to have a family who loves to serve the Lord, singing and playing his favorite kind of music… BLUEGRASS! By the way, the sparkle in his eye is for his lovely wife Kathy.
Kathy is our sound technician and continues to be our biggest encourager and prayer warrior. She is the backbone of the group, taking care of all the details while we’re “tuning”. From clothing, to transportation, to babysitting the grand-daughters, to running the sound board, Kathy keeps it all together. She loves the Lord so much! She has chosen to teach her children by the Word of the Lord, and has been a ready instrument in the hands of a mighty and awesome God. Some of Kathy’s favorite things are: Hawaii, shopping, sewing and chocolate.
Mark has been with The Downing Family for several years and…OH what a blessing! He fills in with his excellent guitar playing and amazes us everyday with his outstanding banjo licks. Mark is also a two-time National Mountain Dulcimer Champion. He has performed at many major dulcimer events throughout the country, and is a highly respected instructor. His latest creative energies have been focusing on writing Christian music for worship and edification. Check out his own website at www.tindlemusic.com
Mark also still loves to play volleyball - even though he's gettin' older!
written by Jim and Pete554
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