Rez Band

Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for their blend of blues-rock and hard rock, Resurrection Band is credited as one of the forerunners of the Christian metal genre. Christianity Today called them "the most influential band in Christian music history." Following their debut in 1978, the band's greatest popularity was during the early 1980's, but later in the decade they received some crossover success when they had two music videos featured on MTV.
Led by the husband-and-wife team of Glenn and Wendi Kaiser, the band sought to evangelize using Christian rock, and addressed a variety of social ills in the lyrics of their music. While the group is officially disbanded, they played several one-off dates at the now defunct Cornerstone Festival, which members of the band helped establish. Currently Glenn Kaiser has an established solo career as a blues musician and is also a speaker on various spiritual issues to youth and adults.
The band originally played together under the name "Charity" in 1972 with Jesus People Milwaukee, based in Milwaukee. When the community split into four groups, one became the "Jesus People USA Traveling Team", working primarily in Florida. Before their relocation to Chicago, the name "Resurrection Band" was chosen and the band became a primary focus of the community's ministry. After arriving in Chicago, the band recorded two independent cassettes that were given away after their concerts. These were performed anywhere Resurrection Band was allowed to play, from schools to prisons to street corners. The first cassette, Music to Raise the Dead, featured hard rock, while All Your Life comprised only their acoustic numbers. These were a reflection of the folk-oriented sets they would play at more conservative venues such as nursing homes and churches. The churches were deeply sceptical of Christian rock, especially the borderline heavy metal that Resurrection Band specialized in.
Four years later, thanks to a $8,000 gift from a friend, Resurrection Band recorded their first album, Awaiting Your Reply, over a two-week period of marathon all-night sessions. Although the band had completed the album, including the cover art, no Christian record label would risk releasing it, as the Led Zeppelin/Jefferson Airplane inspired music was considered much too controversial for the Christian market at that time. Star Song Records were warned away from the project by other gospel music executives, but the tiny label had nothing to lose so they signed the band and released the record as it was. To everyone's surprise, Awaiting Your Reply hit big in the Christian market, and reached No. 6 on the Gospel album sales charts. Although misunderstood by many critics at the time, the album has been re-evaluated and highly praised in recent years and is now listed at No. 91 in the book, CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music, released in 2001.
In July 2000, Resurrection Band brought almost 30 years of music and ministry to a close with a farewell performance, leaving behind them a transformed Christian music industry, and a platform upon which future Christian musicians could build.
In July 2008, the group reunited for the 25th anniversary of Cornerstone Festival. That same year, Grrr Records released Music to Raise the Dead 1972-1998; three CDs with 52 re-mastered songs, an 80-page full-color booklet detailing the history of Rez Band with scores of photos, and one DVD with over an hour of previously unreleased live concert video footage and special features.
In April 2010, the group reunited once again for the annual Easterfest Christian music festival in Toowoomba, Australia.